© SlideshowAptly named Hell’s Kitchen Bench, due to the building’s close proximity to this iconic area of the city, this original piece enters into a consummate dialogue with the sleek and refined lines of the tower, revealing in its design the poetic modernism that is so characteristic of Álvaro Siza’s work.
© SlideshowThis is the first time that a project is produced within the First Stone programme that combines Portuguese stone with another highly sustainable material: wood. In the case of Hell’s Kitchen Bench, the variety chosen is the exotic Sapele, native to various african territories. The singularity of this combination is evidenced by the lines of the bench itself, as well as in the contrast between the pure white of the Estremoz marble and the dark tone of the wood.
© SlideshowAnother notable feature of this imposing piece of furniture (it is around 5 metres long and weighs 530 kilograms) is the fact that it is built through a modular fitting mechanism that allows it to exist without any other materials. The bench relies only on the natural raw-materials that compose it to be constructed, thus significantly reducing assembly effort, as well as the consumption of other resources.
© SlideshowI chose the name for this bench in marble and mahogany, which will be placed in the elevator lobby of the building I designed in Manhattan: Hell’s Kitchen Bench, in the hope that the experience of sitting on it is in no way a hellish one.
Álvaro Siza
Early sketch of Hell's Kitchen Bench © Álvaro Siza
© SlideshowÁlvaro Siza has this rare ability of relating to different architectural scales, encompassing product and industrial design, without ever deviating from the unique way in which he correlates proportion, detail and beauty. The bench in Estremoz marble that he designed for his tower in Manhattan is an example of this, as well as of his unparalleled mastery. The initiative of offering it to New York in the scope of the First Stone programme and that fact that Siza accepted the invitation makes us exceptionally happy.
Guta Moura Guedes — experimentadesign
From left to right: Amit Khurana (Founding Partner at Sumaida+Khurana), Célia Marques (Quality, Environment and Territory Director at Assimagra), Dr. João Pedro Matos Fernandes (Portuguese Minister of the Environment and Energetic Transition), Álvaro Siza (Architect), Guta Moura Guedes (President at experimentadesign) and Miguel Goulão (Executive Vice-President at Assimagra) © Slideshow
It is with immense honour that the Cluster of Portuguese Mineral Resources offers this exquisite bench to Álvaro Siza’s tower in the city of New York. It’s design, conceived by one of the best architects of our time, is a wonderful example of the quality, versatility and beauty of Portuguese stone, as well as the exemplary craftsmanship and excellence of the Portuguese stone industry.
Miguel Goulão — Assimagra
© SlideshowHell’s Kitchen Bench was unveiled on the 24th of September with the presence of the architect Álvaro Siza. It is a gift from the First Stone programme to the city of New York and will be permanently installed within the lobby of his new skyscraper.
The First Stone programme had Sumaida + Khurana & LENY as partners for this presentation in Manhattan.
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