The under-construction Brooklyn flagship of the iconic French luxury brand Hermès has been making waves on social media since its unveiling from scaffolding in recent weeks.

Standing prominently on a high-traffic corner in Williamsburg, the storefront at 111 North 6th Street gives the impression of a cluster of 19th-century brick buildings, complete with bricked-over windows and striking modern openings cut into the facade. But it’s entirely new.

Not everyone is in on the joke.

“Those large windows are an abomination,” “agreed,” “so bad” were some of the comments on an Instagram post from observer of neighborhood businesses Williamsburgbedford.

“Preserving historical design while updating for modern use. The best form of renovation,” said a commenter on a Reddit post in the R/Bad Architecture feed.

“Seems like a really cool way to preserve historic neighborhood character while also getting big windows,” said a poster on another Reddit thread.

Another commenter clarified: “This is a brand new building. They tore down the original and built a fake old building in its place.”

Another said: “I don’t understand this building. Is it supposed to look like someone bricked in the windows of an old building and then cut into them with a big aluminum frame window? Why would you build from scratch something that looks like a cheaply and insensitively renovated old building? Is this ironic architecture?”

But others liked it: “Gotta say this is a pretty nice looking building, even if it is selling a ‘look’ of abandonment while stocking items I could never afford.”

Building Studio Architects, known for adaptive reuse as well as all kinds of projects from religious to housing, is designing the store for property owner L3 Capital, according to YIMBY, although Mancini Duffy is the architect of record, permits show. The real estate investment firm in recent years has acquired a slew of commercial properties in Williamsburg, including some previously belonging to Red Sky Capital. Hermès is leasing the property from L3, whose other tenants in the neighborhood include Chanel, Everlane, Google, and Madewell. Construction could wrap in 2025 or 2026, according to L3’s website.

“New or renovated, all of our architectural projects share a commitment to contextual design, buildings that show a devotion to the industrial brick and steel window character of the neighborhood,” says a website blurb from the architect about their work with owner L3 Capital. “Detailed brickwork inspired by this traditional building stock is integrated into many of our projects for L3.”

The two-story red brick building replaces a shorter two-story brick building with big multi-pane steel windows that appeared after the 1980s tax photo. (It may have been an update of a three-story 19th-century brick building that originally stood on the corner, old photos show.) What appears to be an adjoining three-story black brick building is also part of the same development.

The new store is rising on what was once three separate tax lots, 111 to 115 North 6th Street. Like others on the street, the buildings housed meatpackers in the early 20th century.

More recently, the corner was home to Marine Layer and Gant, and before that, fittingly, The Future Perfect. The innovative home-goods store, which has since decamped to Manhattan, showcased creative Brooklyn design, including modern designs and messages screen printed and layered over vintage china — not unlike the apparent superimposing of modern over old here.

Just down the block at 91 North 6th Street, an Hermès popup with limited inventory opened in 2023. Apart from the temporary venue, the new shop will be the brand’s first outpost in Brooklyn. (It has three locations in Manhattan.)

The new building is an arresting sight on a prominent corner in what was once a meatpacking district and is now a prime shopping street. The Soho-ization of Williamsburg since the historic but derelict semi-industrial neighborhood was rezoned in 2005 has been extensively covered here and elsewhere.

It’s also a bit reminiscent of the nearby Domino Sugar factory, a landmarked mid 19th-century red brick factory that was turned into a shell encasing a modern glassy office building.

Perhaps Hermès will say the building is a metaphor for the brand — blending the new and old, the traditional with the forward thinking — adapted to a particular place, Williamsburg, where the old is constantly being altered, not always sympathetically, or outright replaced.

This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site Brownstoner

South Korean American singer Woosung turned the Great Hall at Avant Gardner into a rave last month, enrapturing audiences with the perfect amalgamation of EDM and indie rock for his “B4 We Die” tour. 

Over a thousand fans clamored through the dark industrial streets of Williamsburg, past abandoned train tracks and loading trucks, each vying for a barricade spot inside of the quintessential Brooklyn warehouse.  As the crowd corralled themselves into the venue, they smiled in awe, watching streams of light bounce off of the exposed beams and brick walls which created the perfect dance hall for Woosung fans. 

Known for his role as the lead vocalist and guitarist from rock band The Rose, Woosung has touched upon numerous genres of music, cultivating a sound so unique and fresh that fans continue to crave more. But this time around he has embodied EDM, carving a new musical path for himself. 

“I love being back to New York. It feels like my second home. So, thank you. If you guys haven’t heard already, I have a new album out called ‘4444,’ It charted number six on the EDM [Billboard] chart,” Woosung told the crowd.

For the 31-year-old singer, his most outstanding instrument is his voice.  There are some musicians, the likes of Kurt Cobain and Johnny Cash, whose voice is so distinguishable that it sets them apart from the masses. 

It was Woosung’s soothing, raspy voice that first attracted Manhattanite Angely Kurniadi, 51, to his music with indie rock band, The Rose. 

“I like his voice. He has a very unique raspy voice and it’s just different when he sings solo then with The Rose,” Kurniadi said. “I like that he is honest, and he is not afraid to say something. He recently condemned toxic fans who judge other artists [maliciously.] He is very real.”

To say that Woosung electrified the stage is a sheer understatement. With his bandmate Dojoon, also known for his DJ moniker Parclassic, mixing Woosung’s new sound, it was certainly a start of something great.  Featuring sounds from his second full-length album “4444,” the crowd was aglow with exhilaration to finally hear his beautifully written songs live for the first time.   

“I started looking into this perspective of why people hate the [number] four so much and everything. And for me, I came to a realization that people are misunderstanding the number four…I think they’re thinking that death is tied [to it] with being scary, sad, you know, uncertainty. But in my opinion, I think death could be conceived as beautiful moving forward,” Woosung said. 

For Woosung, the number ‘4’ has personal significance, and he strongly believes that everything has energy, and he says that it’s a number that has been a constant in his life. 

“The number four has been around me and pulling me into its energy for the longest time. To give you guys a couple examples, my bank password I used since middle school adds up to a number four to a single digit. My phone number that I’ve been using since elementary school, the four-digit ending number adds up to number four to a single digit, and the house that I live in right now, also the address adds up to a four. So, it’s kind of unique. It could be a coincidence. But also, I think if coincidence is repeated, it is not a coincidence, just like how, if you wanted to come to this show and you’re here, you’re meant to be here,” Woosung said.

Prior to the show starting Iön, warmed up the crowd with a mixture between house music like “Show me love” and mixes from his EP CÖURAGE, which got fans waving their light sticks as if they were at a rave. 

The party was just getting started as DJ Parclassic officially opened the show with a smash up of Frank Sinatra’s iconic “New York, New York” with Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind,” showcasing his appreciate for the Big Apple and setting the mood for the night.  Throwing his hands in the air like a masterful conductor, Parclassic got the crowd jumping with excitement stating, “New York, it’s getting hot in here!” 

Woosung’s tour was unlike any other outing he has held previously, igniting a fanbase diverse range of fans from across the world and among different age groups. 

Julie Verhoff, 47 traveled from Delaware just to see Woosung perform live in Brooklyn. As a audiologist she bid farewell to her last patient of the day and booked into a train to support her favorite indie rockstar. 

“I love that WOOSUNG is super positive, and his songs are amazing…I just came from work. I seriously saw my last patient, got on the train and came here, and hoped I made it,” Verhoff said. 

Woosung’s last “B4 We Die” tour stop was on Nov. 17 in Los Angeles.

THE BROOKLYN CHILDREN’S MUSEUM has transformed scaffolding — NYC’s ubiquitous construction infrastructure — into a two-story play space.

The post Kids can play on the scaffolding at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum appeared first on Brooklyn Eagle.