He dazzled the interiors of the first tower on Billionaires Rownow, Thomas Juul-Hansen shows off his current work and fave NYC spots
Divorced and “rootless,” Danish-born architect Thomas Juul-Hansen had just graduated from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design with a Master of Architecture degree when he decided to go on a two-month, cross-country motorcycle tour. “I started in New York and that’s where I ended,” Juul-Hansen told Gimme Shelter.“It’s the only part of America where I could see myself staying.”And so, he did.
The “people, and the energy of the city,” is why he stayed, remarried and raised his beautiful children here. But it’s not just his personal life that thrives in the Big Apple — it’s his professional one, too.Through his work, he’s left an everlasting, not to mention stylish, mark on the city’s skyline.
It’s a canvas he loves dearly.New York City is inspirational, he added, because, “It’s an enormous melting pot, not only in terms of who resides here but in terms of who you interact with — people from all sorts of different economic, social and cultural backgrounds across the whole spectrum of the planet.You don’t get that in a car culture, where you are just in and out of your car with no interaction with humanity, just, ‘Get the f–k out of my way, a–hole.’ “The “constant energy of the city is inspiring,” said Juul-Hansen, who often travels the city by way of the subway and Citi Bikes. Juul-Hansen got his start working for starchitect Richard Meier before becoming one in his own right, launching his own firm in 2003. He made his name dazzling the interiors for One57, at 157 W.
57th St., the city’s first “supertall” condo tower on what’s now known as Billionaires’ Row.One57, he said, became “the DNA for all of 57th Street.
It’s the most attractive real estate proposition.” Juul-Hansen has since created 505 W.19th on the High Line and his latest building, Sutton Tower, is an 848-foot-high limestone tower on the Upper East Side — currently the area’s tallest.
It’s likely to stay that ...