Vertical village of modular blocks adds a pixelated punch to the LIC skyline

A new vertical village in Long Island City is pumping visual excitement back into a streetscape that lost much of its color after the demolition of the neighborhood's beloved <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/index.php?s=5+pointz">5 Pointz graffiti mecca</a> several years ago. Gershon Equities tapped <a href="http://oda-architecture.com/">ODA Architecture</a> to design <a href="http://2222jackson.com/">2222 Jackson Avenue</a> as a rental building that would double as a work of art for the creative Queens community, and the result was a playful tower of stacked concrete modules that are as practical as they are fun to look at.

Slightly reminiscent of Moshe Safdie's famous <a href="http://inhabitat.com/habitat-67-montreals-prefab-pixel-city/">Habitat 67</a> in Montreal, <a href="http://2222jackson.com/">2222 Jackson</a> is a 168,000-square-foot rental apartment complex in the heart of Long Island City.

Situated directly across from <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/index.php?s=moma+ps1">MoMA PS1</a>, the building is something of an art installation in itself with its funky, blocky design.

ODA also chose to use concrete as their main medium for the property as a way to echo the museum's iconic walls, creating a visual link between the two sides of the street.

The building's unusual format comprises 12-foot-wide concrete modules stacked atop another to form a series of "bays".

From <a href="http://oda-architecture.com/projects/2222-jackson">ODA's description of the project</a>: "Divided into a modulated grid of 12 feet by which all structural and building systems are stacked, the site functions as a matrix with three apartment typologies: studios with one bay, one-bedrooms with two bays, and two-bedrooms with three bays. The studios are longer than their one and two-bedroom counterparts and project seven feet beyond the facade, dancing along the face of the building, creating corner windows for apartments above. During construction the push and pull of exterior lines provided unparalleled flexibility in layout, while post-construction it resulted in 50 terraced apartments and a vertical city with 30 percent more outdoor space than the footprint of the building itself."

Thanks to this system of "inclusions and extrusions", the design is able to offer renters more corner windows, more layout flexibility and more terraces than a traditional block-like building.

The building has 50 terraces.

2222 Jackson Avenue Long Island City

ODA's renderings show how studios, 1-bedrooms and 2-bedrooms are arranged throughout the volume.

2222 Jackson Avenue Long Island City

2222 Jackson Avenue Long Island City

In addition to its singular design and covetable location just a few subway stops away from Manhattan, 2222 Jackson boasts an impressive suite of amenities like an indoor swimming pool, a full fitness center, a mezzanine lounge and a landscaped terrace with sweeping NYC skyline views.

A rooftop terrace offers great views of the NYC skyline.

Landscaped terrace at 2222 Jackson Avenue.

2222 Jackson Avenue Long Island City

2222 Jackson Avenue Long Island City

2222 Jackson Avenue Long Island City