our clients, long-time residents of North Brooklyn’s Greenpoint, had long been looking for a townhouse to renovate in the area when they decided to take on a full gut remodel of this 1900 established wooden 3-family building to accommodate their growing family and eventually turn their home into a cross-generational residence.

Jennifer, a filmmaker, whose personal and creative sensibilities deeply shaped the design approach, envisioned not just another house, but a long-living home. One that unfolds like a story, having chapters designed to adapt to different stages of the life of their family. They also wanted a house to build community, to host gatherings, dinners, and play nights, having friends and their children over for play-dates, and room to host friends visiting.

Rather than freezing the house into an array of singular uses, the renovation focused on a flexible framework ready to grow with the family’s needs. It honors the present while preparing for what’s to come. Most of all, it gives shape to a shared vision: one where family, friends, and the owners’ individual needs, all inhabit the same evolving spaces over through the passage of time.

From the outset, cinematic references played a key role in developing the project's conceptual and material language. Two films in particular, “After Yang” and “Her”, were key inspirations for the owners. Both movies depict speculative futures not as clinical or high-tech dystopias, but as serene, organic environments where humans and machines coexist peacefully. They offer worlds that feel tactile and tender, suffused with natural light, wood textures, and quiet emotional undercurrents, laced with moments where colored lighting, reflections, and pops of color allude to what lies beyond.