Fiedler Marciano transformed this once dark and cramped Gramercy Park apartment into a gracious and light-filled interior that gives the owner, a long time friend of the architects, the ability to easily reconfigure the space into a variety of spatial settings. Functional areas, including the kitchen, a small work area, storage shelves, and a television nook, are consolidated into an iconic blue box. The box establishes a center of gravity for the living spaces and allows light and air to flow around it. Three floor-to-ceiling sliding panels made from translucent plastic and aluminum framing, allow the owner to rearrange the apartment on the fly. A cluttered bedroom can be quickly concealed before unexpected guests reach the front door and the kitchen can be screened off from the living area, all without diminishing the lofty openness and spatial clarity of the design.

Existing red oak floors, first bleached then pickled a light gray provide a neutral canvas that unifies the space. A commercial kitchen in stainless steel, bright yellow plywood cabinets, and bare bulbs in porcelain sockets complete this bachelor pad ensemble.

Photos by Jeffrey Krantz.