Emily Abruzzo and Gerald Bodziak have been named to this year’s class of Curbed Groundbreakers for their exceptional quality of work and their “gently transgressive approach to vernaculars.”
“The practice, which employs two other junior architects, has a current docket that includes a studio for a renowned artist, a retail space that will open in a few months, three townhouse revamps in various stages of completion, and a new office for themselves. For the latter, the firm will transform a Bedford-Stuyvesant-area bar into a multifunctional studio space with room for all kinds of activities (the team has started making its own fixtures for projects, like HVAC grilles with custom patterns.)
There’s also a major civic undertaking in its early stages: an extensive renovation of a branch of the New York Public Library. The branch library, a prime example of the firm’s intentional shift from temporary projects to more permanent works, is also one that allows them to think more broadly about the role of architecture in the contemporary city.
“There’s a disappearance of true public space,” says Abruzzo. “Particularly space that doesn’t require some kind of entrance fee, be it a coffee or a ticket.” And the library, she says, is the last public, indoor space of its kind. For that reason, it has to take on many roles, whether that’s as a source of newspapers, air conditioning in the summer, or internet access.”
– Jenny Xie, Curbed
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Abruzzo Bodziak Architects Has an Eye For Detail and a Heart For the City, Curbed