# 121 E 22nd

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2017-02-25

121-e-22, 121-e-22nd, architecture, architecture-geek, architecture-nerd, cities, delirious-new-york, new-york, new-york-city, oma, rem-koolhaas, starchitect, starchitecture, toll-brothers-city-living, uncategorized, urbanism

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My friends in New York tell me that if you want to sell a luxury residential building, you need a name brand architect. People care about architecture and it’s part of the buying process: “Oh, it’s a Herzog building.”

To that end, Toll Brothers City Living just released the following video for their [121 E 22nd](http://www.tollbrotherscityliving.com/residences/new-york/121-east-22nd) project in New York. If you can’t see it below, [click here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSQq8W8od9g). What’s notable, is that it is [OMA’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_for_Metropolitan_Architecture) first full building in New York. So the story is: star architect + first building in the city.

\[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSQq8W8od9g?rel=0&w=560&h=315\]

But there’s more. It’s almost unbelievable that, until now, OMA hadn’t designed and constructed a full building in New York. I reread [this Dezeen article](https://www.dezeen.com/2017/02/24/rem-koolhaas-describes-oma-first-new-york-apartment-building-121-east-22nd-street-movie/) 5 times just to make sure I wasn’t missing something.

So much of Rem Koolhaas’ career (founding partner of OMA) is centered around New York City. In 1978, he published [Delirious New York](https://www.amazon.ca/Delirious-New-York-Retroactive-Manifesto/dp/1885254008), where he both dissected and celebrated the city’s “culture of congestion.” Oysters at the downtown athletic club, anyone?

This book was so influential that I bet you’d be hard pressed to find an architect that doesn’t have it in their collection. I have [his approximation of New York](https://www.moma.org/collection/works/104696) hanging on my wall. So this was clearly overdue. Kudos Toll Brothers City Living.

_Note: OMA’s New York office is led by_ [_Shohei Shigematsu_](http://oma.eu/partners/shohei-shigematsu)_._

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/121-e-22nd)*