The Clocktower

[libertango]

The Clocktower.

It's insane, it's over the top, it looks more like something a tycoon from a Marvel comic (good guy or bad guy) would have...

...and I think I'm in love.

$25 million dollar asking price; 6800 square feet; 360 degree views; 3 interior floors, plus an aerie on the roof; an interior glass elevator that looks like a modern interpretation of the Bradbury Bldg in LA.

Wow.

Comments

[jadine.livejournal.com]

Want.

[hal-obrien.livejournal.com]

Yeah, moi aussi.

Mind you, I'm enough of a traditionalist to also hanker after the penthouse at The Pierre -- if for no other reason than the room service -- but I have to admit... The wide open spaces and the clockfaces just really do speak to this former comic book reader's heart. It's all just so Will Eisner-ish.

And the rooftop writer's office would be isotopically cool.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

It's a bargain compared to the asking price at The Pierre, much though I, too, am much more a traditionalist than a modernist when it comes to living space. The views are better and more varied in The Clocktower, but the Pierre penthouse has location, location, location. And, yes, as you mention, better room service. Well, better ~25 years ago, which is when the Direct Mail Marketing Association footed the bill for the one delicious meal I enjoyed there. I trust Le Caprice is as good or better.

So, how do you find these things? Please, keep up the good work! The fantasies are a rush.

[hal-obrien.livejournal.com]

Geri, the chain went roughly like this:

I like reading: http://thisisadesignblog.com/

They had a post on: http://rockorosor.blogspot.com/

They said they had found *that* link at: http://heartanddesign.blogspot.com/

The posts there frequently have, "You might also like..." to their archives and that pointed to: http://heartanddesign.blogspot.com/2009/08/no-need-to-wear-watch.html

Once I had that, I was able to find this piece at the New York Times, these pieces on Curbed, etc.

(I'll also mention in passing this page, just for the name of the blog: TwistedSifter, "The best of the Web, sifted, sorted, and summarized.")

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

That is a rather odd clock they have as their logo. Not only is it reversed (obviously), the Roman numerals for 4 are IIII and not IV, and both 7 and 8 are VII. It must be deliberate but I can't figure why.

[drplokta]

IIII instead of IV is common on clockfaces. I suspect VII for 8 is a mistake.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

The Roman numerals for the 4 are as they are on the clock faces themselves; anything else would be untrue to the property. The design is reversed because that's the view of the clocks from inside the residence, which is what they're selling. But I'm with drplokta, I suspect the 8 is a mistake (it's right on at least one of the actual clockfaces and I expect it's right on all four of them). If we're right, it's an indication that the developers might well have been sloppy in other areas, too, and that's just not how you want to come across when you're trying to sell a $25 million dollar property (and presumably other units in the building, too).

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. Wow.

The property taxes look like they're for the unoccupied, undeveloped building; they're more than improbably low anything with that price tag.

[(Anonymous)]

It's really getting under my skin that this place which rightly belongs to Nicola Tesla, Mister X, David Bowie, or Bruce Wayne is almost certainly going to end up being the home of some shmuck who does some corporate BS that actually makes the world a worse place.

[kateyule.livejournal.com]

I don't know that I'm ready to be clonking my head in that under-the-eaves 6' by 27' bathroom. And the kitchen's too sterile. Otherwise, fuckin' yeah.

What is the word "triplex" doing in their descriptions? Do they mean three-story?

[hal-obrien.livejournal.com]

What is the word "triplex" doing in their descriptions? Do they mean three-story?

Yes. Thus "duplex" (which you've probably seen more often) is 2-story.

I know what you mean by the (apparent) tightness of the angles and the sterility. OTOH, it's hard to tell absolutely because of the lack of furniture, and hence scale. Oddly (for me), I'd be tempted to keep it fairly spare, just to keep the Eisneresque quality to it. Kinda like the warehouse loft in the movie Diva that Gorodish and Alba live in.

Also... well, it's all tradeoffs.

[hal-obrien.livejournal.com]

A propos of your icon, I understand the offices that have the triangular windows at the top of the Chrysler Bldg have similar challenges re angles. I think this is the piece I'm remembering from The Times.

Or, see this architect's office up there.