Tetris apartments maximise outdoor space

Anyone familiar with the game Tetris may find the external facade of this New York apartment building familiar. But there’s a genuine, problem-solving reason for its blocky appearance.

According to architects ODA New York, this ‘jutting out’ configuration results in around 30% more outdoor space than would otherwise have been possible.

Allowing apartment block residents enough outdoor space can be a difficult problem for architects, and often results in balconies being somewhat compact, particularly in congested cities. But ODA took a step back from current, sleek apartment trends and borrowed an idea or two from the early twentieth century Brutalist style.

The intriguing arrangement of apartments within 2222 Jackson may seem random. But it has been carefully designed to ensure residents have as much outdoor living space as possible, thanks to a total of 50 terraces that would not have been as generous without the building’s apparently haphazard protrusions.

In total, 2222 Jackson comprises 175 one, two and three bedroom apartments over 11 floors and has a number of amenities including a residents’ lounge, fitness centre, outdoor pool and a rooftop deck.

ODA are no strangers to abandoning conventional beauty in favour of ensuring the inclusion of more sought-after features. According to the firm, “ODA rejects what would otherwise be a generic rental box, instead producing a new template…with a uniquely articulated facade accommodating substantial outdoor areas (highly coveted though often conventionally impractical amenities in many urban environments.”

With architectural campaigners jumping to the cause to save great examples of brutalist architecture being demolished in recent years, it’s refreshing to see the style still has its place in the contemporary apartment market – and a genuinely practical purpose.

source: oda