The Dutch firm MVRDV has completed its first building in the United States for developer Youngwoo & Associates, Located in Washington Heights, in upper Manhattan, the building houses a hotel, office space, and hospitality amenities, and is called Radio Hotel and Tower.

The project consists of a pile of blocks that reflect the size of the other buildings in the immediate context. The volumes are covered in glazed bricks of eight different colors. This compositional approach has given rise to a kind of vertical village so that the building does not disrupt the surrounding environment, as often happens when much larger buildings than their neighbors are built. This stacked shape also has the advantage of providing multiple outdoor terraces: each block has in fact its own outdoor space that extends over the roof of the block below.

The brightest colors – such as blue, bright green, orange, red and yellow – were placed on the upper blocks, while the softer colors – such as grey-brown, plum, and teal – are at street level. The interior of the hotel, designed by Workshop APD, takes up the exterior as inspiration and will serve as an important hospitality center for people who needs to reach the conferences held at Yeshiva University or New York Presbyterian Hospital.