Becoming a world-renowned architect takes more than talent. It takes more than education. It takes more than skill. What architect Isay Weinfeld has managed to achieve in his decade-spanning career is an eye for detail and a vision for the future that recognizes has the impact a single piece of architecture can have on the look, feel, and history of a single street, city, or the world at large.
The Brazilian-born architect has been making his mark on a global scale for decades as a tastemaker heavily invested in the often-disparate worlds of residential and commercial real estate. From Switzerland to the States, Weinfeld infuses everything he touches with a Brazilian sensibility, combining cutting edge design with nods to mid-century modernist architecture. Among Weinfeld’s signatures, one he’s implemented across continents is a love of the natural world, making plant life an integral part of his vision in countless projects.
At Hotel Fasano Las Piedras, in Uruguay’s Punta Del Este, for example, Weinfeld has kept the building’s design sleek and minimalist, allowing the emerald grass and rocky terrain that surround it to shine.
At Casa Geneses in Sao Paulo, there are trees and bushes and flowers as far as the eye can see. Weinfeld has taken a similarly restrained approach in his furniture design, creating wooden tables, chairs, and accent pieces that eschew ornamentation in favor of functionality and are often outfitted with surprising details, like what appears to be a plan white box that unfolds to reveal a full bar.
In creating his first residential building in New York, Weinfeld has not strayed far from his roots. Weinfeld is the visionary behind Jardim, a stunning luxury tower in Manhattan’s West Chelsea neighborhood that embodies the standout design he’s long been known for. To create the right atmosphere at the unique luxury tower, which feels like a tropical slice of paradise surrounded by urban landscape, Weinfeld teamed up with landscape architecture firm Future Green Studio, who helped bring his vision to life.
The building now boasts floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking lushly-planted terraces and decks, as well as a green roof atop the building’s pool, offering swimmers a pleasant view from a surprising perspective when they look up. Residents of Jardim will also have access to a landscaped private courtyard between the building’s two towers, as well as views of the High Line park, just steps away.
Isay Weinfeld’s designs keep getting better and better, and his work in New York may be his piece de resistance. After decades of creating superlative spaces like Casa Cubo in Sao Paulo, Brazil, his ultimate love letter to Mother Nature has found a new home.
