1/12
RL reconceptualized the organization's facilities with a new street identity, interior renovations & rooftop extension. Internally, program areas are expanded to include two theaters with integral bar zones, rehearsal, educational, administrative, and support spaces distributed over five floors.
2/12
The existing facade with its array of cuts, fills, additions, and other modifications reveals the building's history. Rather than restoring the building to its original state, RL adds to the composition an overlay of new large window openings cut in the facade with only partial regard to older features.
3/12
RL reconceptualized the organization's facilities with a new street identity, interior renovations & rooftop extension. Internally, program areas are expanded to include two theaters with integral bar zones, rehearsal, educational, administrative, and support spaces distributed over five floors.
4/12
Original rough brick walls are exposed and frame new contemporary performance spaces with associated bars formed from blackened steel.
5/12
The original Nuyorican Poets Cafe sign will be preserved & reinstalled behind the new blackened steel bar at the main street level performance space.
6/12
An expansion at the roof level creates a new performance space with an associated bar formed from blackened steel & featuring the work of artist, Cecilia Biagini.
7/12
An expansion at the roof level creates a new full floor for a second performance space. New stair & elevator infrastructure make the facility fully accessible.
8/12
Early programming section study with entry, enlarged street level, Stage 1 performance space & bar, new flex/rehearsal space & offices, and new upper level Stage 2 performance space & bar.
9/12
Section model showing enlarged street level performance space & bar, new flex/rehearsal space & office floors, and a second performance space & bar. The rehearsal/flex and administrative areas are situated on the mid-levels, acoustically separating the street performance space from the new upper level performance space.
10/12
Enlarged street level performance space, bar & balcony. Existing masonry walls will remain exposed retaining the space's current raw, substantial character.
11/12
Early study for new rear lot garden with ivy wall.
12/12
New windows add a dimensional layer to the building which has accumulated features over decades. These incisions are organized by and reflect the contemporary programmatic arrangement within.

NUYORICAN POETS CAFE

Nuyorican Poets Cafe, New York, NY

Proposal 2014
Project 2015-19, 2022
Projected Completion 2024

The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, a cultural icon situated on NYC's Lower East Side, serves as a forum for groundbreaking works of poetry, music, theater and visual arts. A multicultural and multi-arts institution, the Cafe gives voice to a diverse group of rising poets, actors, filmmakers, and musicians, championing performance as a means of social empowerment for minority and underprivileged artists. RL reconceptualized the organization's facilities with a new street identity, interior renovations & rooftop extension. Internally, program areas are expanded to include two theaters with integral bar zones, rehearsal, educational, administrative, and support spaces distributed over five floors.

The existing facade with its array of cuts, fills, additions, and other modifications reveals the building's history. Rather than restoring the building to its original state, RL adds to the composition an overlay of new large window openings cut in the facade with only partial regard to older features. These incisions create a new layer of visual history organized by and reflecting the contemporary programmatic arrangement within. Internally, spaces are organized around a new elevator core sheathed in shingled, blackened steel panels. In this LEED Silver certified project, original rough brick walls are exposed and frame new contemporary performance spaces with associated bars formed from blackened steel. Sectionally, rehearsal/flex and administrative areas are situated on the mid-levels, acoustically separating the street performance space from the new upper level performance space.


Rice+Lipka Architects
Principals: Lyn Rice & Astrid Lipka
Associate Principal: David Pendergast
Sr Associate: Hanson Liu, Taylor McNally-Anderson; Design Director (SD): Benjamin Cadena
Sr Designer & Project Manager: Hannah Perrino
Sr Designers: John Diven, Timothy Khalifa, Andrew Mack, Ahmad Khan, Igsun So
Project Team: Michael Choi, Su Yeon Chi, Marisa Musing, Jiawen Huang, Sidian Tu

Structural: Silman
Geotech: Langan
Environmental: Plus Group
Lighting: Tillotson
Theatre: FDA
Acoustics: Cerami
Security, Technology, Audiovisual: Cerami
Food Service: Cini-Little

Artist: Cecilia Biagini