The Diamond District, centered on West 47th Street is known around the world as the hub of diamond & jewelry trading in Manhattan.  The 47th Street Diamond Exchange is on the southeast corner of Sixth Avenue and West 47th Street. The same family has traded on this corner for four generations and have owned the building since 1938. 

Into this hectic, visually cacophonous streetscape, a spare, rectilinear facade, almost serene in its aspect frames a super graphic banner of a woman blowing bubbles that morph into diamonds. The banner exploits a loophole in the Zoning Resolution that allows for what appears to be a sign in a district where signs are prohibited.  The real innovation, however, is the introduction of revenue production at the vertical surface. The self-promotion banner has been changed on numerous occasions to a for-lease advertising banner.

Project Team

Jerry Caldari
R. Scott Bromley
Naoya Hiraide
Greg Hess