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Proof that public opinion can influence building design? SSJ Development has hired Durukan Design to rein in the crazy space-age look of the 70-unit apartment building now rising at 785 Dekalb Avenue in Bed Stuy.

Durukan Design sent this new rendering and details to Curbed, which published them yesterday. (Click through to Curbed to see more details, including an interesting atrium.)

The new plans are nothing short of amazing, because the structure of the building, including the balconies, is already in place. The new design jettisons the gold dome and the slanted oval portholes, swaps in more sober cladding materials, and flattens what appeared in the first rendering to be an undulating facade.

That’s quite a feat, but a quick stop by the work site this morning revealed the building facade is, in fact, already flat. (Except for the rounded center, which is staying.) The balconies, however, are wedge-shaped. Perhaps they will be able to shave them down into rectangles?

Of all the many controversial new building designs planned for Bed Stuy recently, we have to admit, this was one we actually had a soft spot for because it was just so out there and wacky. But we were probably alone in that view. We find the new design much more tasteful and in keeping with the look of the neighborhood.

Click through to see the previous rendering and lots more photos. What do you think of the building’s new look?

Formerly Hideous Bed-Stuy Rental Is a Monstrosity No More [Curbed]
785 Dekalb Coverage [Brownstoner]

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What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. The southern half Bed-Stuy is not just any neighborhood. It’s one of the largest areas of intact Victorian buildings in the country. It’s a fabulous museum of 1880-1900’s life and domestic design. To hodge-podge it up with modern “innovative” design is careless, needless, and common. Just plain common. People who think it’s not worth it to preserve the feeling here with new infill architecture that works with the local context are not innovative. They’re just visionless.

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