Townhouse, Upper East Side, NY

This project transforms a historic red-brick carriage house in New York’s Upper East Side into a deeply refined private residence for an art collector. Originally renovated by architect François de Menil and once inhabited by gallerist Larry Gagosian, the home presented a rich architectural legacy. Architect Nicolas Schuybroek led the new design together with local architect Matteo Fraticelli, FROM Architecture, creating a contemporary reinterpretation that honors the building’s history while elevating it into a carefully orchestrated space for living with art.

The design is conceived not as a neutral container but as a “score” composed of moments—shifts in tension and calm—unfolding from room to room. Materials alternate between light and dark, rough and refined: travertine and black marble, Douglas fir planks and leather, sculpting a spatial rhythm that evolves throughout the townhouse.

Art and architecture operate in dialogue. The placement of paintings and sculpture emerges from close collaboration with the client, creating an environment where artworks are encountered naturally—at the turn of a staircase, within intimate alcoves, or against soft, changing light. Original steel-framed windows inspired by Pierre Chareau’s Maison de Verre bring a distinctive New York–meets–Paris character, while new and reworked skylights act as carved geometric voids that modulate light and perception.

The interiors balance sculptural furniture by masters such as Jean Royère, Pierre Paulin, Jean Prouvé, Charlotte Perriand, and Carlo Scarpa with contemporary art, producing a harmonic contrast of softness and architectural rigor. Rounded forms—sofas, armchairs, organic silhouettes—counterbalance the home’s structural strength, offering intimacy and human scale.

Throughout the project, Matteo Fraticelli collaborated closely with Schuybroek and photographer Adrian Gaut to capture the evolving essence of the spaces. Their decade-long creative partnership highlights architecture as a sequence of atmospheres—light, rhythm, and emotion—rather than static compositions. The result is a residence of nuanced transitions and layered history, reimagined as a living landscape for art, design, and daily ritual.