page_title: Blue Condominium
section_title: Site and context
hierarchical_section_title: Blue Condominium / Construction / Site and context
caption_attribution_description: English: Bernard Tschumi's Blue Tower, Lower East Side Neighborhood
context_page_description: The Blue Condominium, also known as the Blue Tower, is located in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City at 105 Norfolk Street. Designed by Bernard Tschumi, it is his first residential and first high-rise structure. At 16 stories tall, it opened in 2007 with 32 condominium apartments, a ground floor commercial space occupied by the Thierry Goldberg Gallery, and a third floor roof terrace for residents. Commercial at the ground floor with residential above is a common method of programming space in urban residential projects. The tower is not LEED certified. The faceted pixelated form, a reaction to the zoning and set back requirements, is clad in a blue panel and window curtain wall system, contrasting with the low rise brick buildings that typify the neighborhood.
context_section_description: The Blue Condominium is located in the future Essex Crossing development, with Delancey Street and the Williamsburg Bridge to the south, public housing and the East River to the east, low-rise apartments and Houston Street to the north, and the Essex Street Market and Sara D. Roosevelt Park to the west.
  The tower is positioned within the primarily residential neighborhood of the Lower East Side where several urban planning projects have been built. Notable interventions include the Williamsburg Bridge that opened in 1903 and the Essex Street Market that opened in 1940. The Lower Manhattan Expressway, planned by Robert Moses but never constructed, would have been a monumental public intervention, including the probable destruction of the Blue Tower site along with thousands of other properties lining Delancey Street. The Essex Crossing, to break ground in 2015, is also planned to be an imposing site; some of the buildings will be high-rise residential buildings.
  Beginning over a decade ago, Manhattan experienced a boom in development and construction, including the Lower East Side with the construction of high-rise luxury residential towers. The Hotel on Rivington, completed in 2005, was the first high-rise building in the Lower East Side. Just north of the Blue Tower site is the nArchitects Switch Building, also a luxury residential building. In 1996, the site was a parking lot, along with several other lots across the street. These have all been replaced by infill construction consisting exclusively of luxury condominiums.
  
  Since the Zoning Resolution of 1961, the site has been zoned as R7-A (residential) with adjacent lots zoned as C6 and C4, both commercial areas. The area is included in the map amendment of 2002, and adjacent to a Business Improvement District (BID). The area is not a part of a designated historic district, nor are any surrounding buildings landmarked. As of 2012, the site is located within a FRESH program district, along with all of the Lower East Side. Food Retail Expansion to Support Health program (FRESH) is a New York City program providing zoning and financial incentives to establish grocery stores in underserved areas, thereby providing residents with the means to obtain a full selection of food products.
caption: The building towers over the surrounding neighborhood.
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