Taking cues from its predecessor on Ruskin Place, the Parador townhouse done the year before, this townhouse also calls upon Italian typologies. This time, however, Gorlin uses the idea of the Roman palazzo to design this classical townhouse. The three-story facade presents the hierarchy of orders. Doric columns support the ground floor, home to commercial spaces, while Ionic columns fall back above on the piano nobile level balcony. Highly-detailed Corinthian columns decorate the third-story arcade, where the facade of the house steps back to create depth, shadow, and a sense of privacy for the homes most private functions. Hidden from the view of the street below is a fourth floor sitting room that opens onto a roof deck. A skylight stair forms the central core connecting the open plans of the public spaces on the second floor and the bedroom suite above.
By Katlyn M. Springstead
Parador is a three-story mixed use townhouse on the southeast block of Ruskin Square. Italian and Spanish precedents inspired its facade and architectural character. Parador's architect, Rome Prize Laureate Alexander Gorlin, followed a traditional mixed-use form: the first floor is commercial space, the second, a proper piano nobile, contains all public living spaces, and the third contains bedrooms. Its cornice and band heights relate properly to its neighbors', but its glassy facade and bright salmon stucco make it stand out in the square.
By Eric Dean Hageman
