New York architecture is one of the most recognizable in the world. And it is in New York that one of the top architects firms is located – Peter Pennoyer Architects.
Featuring twice in the Architectural Digest Top 100 World’s Architects and an award winnig firm, Peter Pennoeyer and his firm have an international practice in traditional and classical architecture, or New Classical Architecture. Based in Manhattan and with an office in Miami, Florida, the firm has built a substantial and varied body of work across the country and abroad for residential, commercial, and institutional commissions often involving historic buildings. For the past twenty-five years, Peter Pennoyer and his partners have grounded the firm’s projects in a forward-looking interpretation of history; they believe that architectural practices in the past leave us potent lessons that are relevant to contemporary architectural challenges.
Peter Pennoyer Biography
In 1981, Peter Pennoyer received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Columbia College and in 1984 a Masters of Architecture from Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
A fluent and nimble classicist, Manhattan architect Peter Pennoyer possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of pediments and porticoes, balustrades and bolections. Such tried-and-true details are fundamental to his distinguished—primarily residential—portfolio, which ranges from a Shingle Style manse in Maine to an elegantly updated Beaux Arts townhouse in New York City.
n accomplished author, he has cowritten monographs on Warren & Wetmore, Delano & Aldrich, and Grosvenor Atterbury, patrician firms that he deeply admires and whose legacies he compellingly carries forward.
The Most Iconic Projects by Peter Pennoyer
Set within a historic residential neighborhood in New York City, 151 East 78th Street is a new stone and brick, 17-story, 57-foot wide, 66,000-square-foot condominium flanked by a 1900 tenement house to the west and a line of 1850s brick Italianate row houses to the east. The façade acknowledges the scale of the street by the introduction of a rusticated granite and limestone base that anchors the building into its context. The arch at the center emphasizes the entrance and elevates the split pediment as a proud emblem of the structure.
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In the upper floors, the scale of the building is controlled by the use of carefully detailed elements which appear in many typical early 20th century New York apartment houses: limestone spandrels join banks of windows into vertical accents, traditional wrought-iron balconies add texture and ornament that relieves the mass of the tower, and multi-light double-hung windows add a domestic scale that was once typical of apartment houses in this district.
The project features fourteen three-to-six bedroom floor-through units that include two penthouse duplexes, one penthouse simplex, and one maisonette duplex. Following the examples of some of the great historical architects in this area of the city, Peter Pennoyer Architects used the required setbacks to achieve romantic asymmetries, creating terraces and bay windows at the top of the building.
Interesting Facts about Peter Pennoyer (awards included)
1. From 1981 to 1983, Peter Pennoyer worked as a designer in the Manhattan office of his Columbia professor, Robert A. M. Stern, one of the most renowned architects of his time.
2. Peter Pennoyer Architects won the Stanford White Award for new construction for a house in Dutchess County, NY.
3. Pennoyer was the recipient of The Victorian Society of America’s Metropolitan Chapter 2009 Annual Publication award for co-authoring The Architecture of Grosvenor Atterbury with Anne Walker, and Veranda Magazine’s 2009 Art of Design award, winning in the Environment’s category (see the video below)
4. He also received the Victorian Society in America’s New York Chapters Annual Publication award in 2007 for authoring The Architecture of Warren and Wetmore with Anne Walker.
5. In 2007 Peter Pennoyer was named the Fourth Ambassador to the Upper East Side by the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts.
6. Pennoyer is co-author of The Architecture of Delano & Aldrich, The Architecture of Warren & Wetmore,and The Architecture of Grosvenor Atterbury with Anne Walker, and “New York Transformed: The Architecture of Cross & Cross”.
7. Peter Pennoyer Architects supports The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America, the Alliance for the Arts, Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, Historic Hudson Valley,the Municipal Art Society, The Morgan Library & Museum, New York Preservation Archive Project, United States Green Building Council, and World Monuments Fund.
Quotes by Peter Pennoyer
“By mastering the interpretation of historical architecture, my colleagues and I seek to create designs that are singularly modern”
“My colleagues and I look for poise and harmony in the connections between modern taste and great historical models”
In the picture above: Peter Pennoyer and the 151 EAST 78TH STREET Residentidal Project
Peter Pennoyer and his partners have grounded the firm’s projects in a forward-looking interpretation of history; they believe that architectural practices in the past leave us potent lessons that are relevant to contemporary architectural challenges.
Peter Pennoyer Architects relies on traditional methods of design, such as hand drawing, but embraces cutting edge technology and computer design tools. The firm’s investment in 3D imaging and 3D printing gives it the infrastructure to imagine forms and see them through to tangible prototypes within the design development period of many of its projects. This remarkable bridge from design to production allows the firm to bring individuality to every project.
* All Pictures © Peter Pennoyer Architects
