Maharam Showroom, New York

This October, Maharam opens a multibrand showroom for Edelman, Knoll Textiles, and Maharam at 257 Park Avenue South in New York's Gramercy Park.

The 3,500 square-foot space marks Maharam's first multibrand showroom in New York, located on the ground floor of the historic tower originally known as the Eagle Building. Named after J. H. & C. K. Eagle Corporation-a once-prominent New York silk manufacturer that commissioned the building and originally occupied the street-facing storefront-the site was designed in 1911 by venerated Warren & Wetmore architects. Responsible for numerous architectural landmarks, Warren & Wetmore also designed Grand Central Terminal in association with Reed and Stem architects.

Following recent openings in Chicago, Los Angeles, and London, Maharam's newest showroom offers visitors a unified point of connection to a comprehensive range of textiles and leather. Designed in close dialogue with New York-based architect Neil Logan, who specializes in reimag­ining functional spaces and original architectural features with modern understatement, the showroom is the latest in an ongoing collaboration spanning over twenty years.

In keeping with Maharam interiors around the world, the new location features a reduced, gallery-like setting for optimal viewing of an extensive product library. Displays and furnishings made of solid fir and marine plywood provide warm, neutral counterpoints to textiles and leather. The showroom's eastern wall previews The Conversation, Sarah Morris' forthcoming contribution to Maharam Digital Projects-a series of digitally printed, large-scale wall installations. Echoing gridded features throughout the space, recessed wooden shelving systems serve as wall-mounted sample libraries. Partitioned tabletops display products in Mondrian-like fields of color, pattern, and texture, and leather-wrapped door handles provide a tactile invitation upon entry.

The showroom's design integrates key architectural details and historic characteristics that recall Warren & Wetmore's focus on Beaux-Arts classicism. Honoring the original design intent for the façade, and in homage to Maharam's roots in New York (beginning in 1902 when Russian-immigrant Louis Maharam founded the business selling textile remnants from a pushcart on the Lower East Side), the company's official registered name "Maharam Fabric Corp." is mounted in bronze lettering over the entrance flanked by columns and capped with a decorative pediment. Expansive windows line the north-and-west facing walls and highlight the room's exceptional height-a novelty at the time of its construction. Cantilevered granite slabs run along the windows and serve as interior perches that create visual continuity between interior and exterior environments. Plaster restoration preserves historic interior details, including egg-and-dart crown molding with acanthus leaf coffers. Herringbone parquet floors painted luminous gray nod to those of the original space.

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