475 Clermont is a 12-story building with 363 residences that opened last April at the intersection of two Brooklyn, N.Y., neighborhoods, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.
Designed by Aufgang Architects, with interiors by Durukan Design, and built by Broadway Construction Group, 475 is the first residential development in New York City for RXR Realty. To help call attention to the building, the developer commissioned a 90-foot-tall, 5,800-sf exterior mural painted by Mona Caron, a Swiss-born and San Francisco-based artist who is known for her community-specific and multistory artworks that highlight urban flora.
To select a wildflower for the mural that was indigenous to Fort Greene’s landscape, Caron worked with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s curator of native plants and the NYC Greenbelt Native Plant Center on Staten Island. Her choice—the Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa)—is a medicinal plant used by Native Americans.
Caron completed the mural in 10 days working with assistance from the firm No Entry Design; and Anne-Laure Lemaitre, an independent curator. (A time lapse video of their work can be viewed here.)
The 12-story 475 Clermont Building is RXR Realty's first residential project in New York City. Image: Courtesy of RXR
The mural is painted onto the side of an adjacent building that overlooks 475 Clermont’s courtyard, and is visible exclusively to its residents. RXR also worked with horticulturalists from Blue Plant NYC that picked up the mural’s theme within the building’s landscaping so that residents could touch and smell the plant as well.
The cost of the mural, which was unveiled last May, was not disclosed.
Mona Caron - Brooklyn Weeds from RXR Realty on Vimeo.
Related Stories
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Engineering/Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, AECOM, Parsons Brinckerhoff top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest engineering/architecture firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Fluor, Arup, Day & Zimmermann top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest engineering firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Gensler, Perkins+Will, NBBJ top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest architecture firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
2014 Giants 300 Report
Building Design+Construction magazine's annual ranking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S.
| Jul 17, 2014
A harmful trade-off many U.S. green buildings make
The Urban Green Council addresses a concern that many "green" buildings in the U.S. have: poor insulation.
| Jul 17, 2014
A high-rise with outdoor, vertical community space? It's possible! [slideshow]
Danish design firm C.F. Møller has developed a novel way to increase community space without compromising privacy or indoor space.
| Jul 11, 2014
First look: Jeanne Gang reinterprets San Francisco Bay windows in new skyscraper scheme
Chicago architect Jeanne Gang has designed a 40-story residential building in San Francisco that is inspired by the city's omnipresent bay windows.
| Jul 10, 2014
Unique design of Toronto's townhome The Tree House
Plans for a new Toronto townhome brings cutting-edge design.
| Jul 7, 2014
7 emerging design trends in brick buildings
From wild architectural shapes to unique color blends and pattern arrangements, these projects demonstrate the design possibilities of brick.
| Jul 7, 2014
A climate-controlled city is Dubai's newest colossal project
To add to Dubai's already impressive portfolio of world's tallest tower and world's largest natural flower garden, Dubai Holding has plans to build the world's largest climate-controlled city.
