LOT-EK
VAN ALEN books

an architecture bookstore and a public reading room in conversation with the sidewalk and street

completed

2010

location

22nd street, New York

size

approx. 500 SF

client

Van Alen Institute

collaborators

Sara Valente, project lead / Silman, structure

fabrication

Craft Workshop, Andreas Scholtz

photography

Danny Bright

award

2012 NCSEA Excellence in Structural Engineering

concept & vision

a 14-foot-tall seating platform crafted from a stack of 70 recycled doors ascends to create an amphitheater overlooking 22nd Street through glazed storefront windows

design & architecture

a new architecture and design bookstore and public reading room motivated by an urgent need for spaces where architecture books can be discovered and discussed, and by the equally urgent desire to engage with the street. The triangular installation splits the space in section creating a shared area for reading and conversation

impact & significance

lots of solid wood doors are sourced from Build It Green! NYC, a nonprofit supplier of salvaged building materials, and reimagined as a public space to gather

Dec 12, 2025

WE START WITH THE THINGS WE FIND

WE START WITH THE THINGS WE FIND