Building Inspired by Townhouses, Ultimate Background Buildings, Takes the Foreground

From WSJ writer Dana Rubinstein: "When a building project has been cloaked in controversy for the entirety of its creation, it should come as no surprise that its architect would opt to design something extremely demure.  So it was with the new Wilf Hall, a quiet building that seems to want nothing more than to be left alone.  'This is more of a background building that fits into a neighborhood,' says Morris Adjmi, the architect who designed the 53,706-square-foot structure at the southwest corner of Washington Square Park.  Mimicking the original four dilapidated townhouses that the new building replaced, Mr. Adjmi created what, upon first look, appear to be four new red brick townhouses.  Unlike its predecessors, the structure is also exceedingly green. Its bricks are made from recycled waste, and it has bike parking, bike showers, high-performance windows, and three green roofs planted with golden stonecrop, sweet woodruff, Allegheny foamflower and Solomon's seal."  Full article here.  (Photo credit: Philip Montgomery.)