Starck on New Gramercy Condo: ‘Can We Talk Sex Instead?’

“A building, the architects think, is made of metal, steels, aluminum, glass,” said Philippe Starck, arguably one of the most peculiar and famous French designers in the world, speaking to The Observer on Tuesday morning. “Between the greedy money guy and the architect, where is the life? Where is the love? That’s what we are; that’s what we bring. We are flesh. We are sweat. We are human.”

Mr. Starck was on a long-winded, tangent-littered response to the question: Is his latest building, Gramercy, really in Gramercy?

The 207-unit luxury condo on 23rd Street, between First and Second avenues, officially started sales this week during a Tuesday P.R. press, powered by marketing superstar Michael Shvo. The first and only building designed from lobby to roof garden by Mr. Starck, the 21-story Gramercy aims to reinvent the low-rise, brownstone-lined neighborhood surrounding the exclusive Gramercy Park at East 21st and Lexington Avenue.

After about 10 minutes discussing how “everything is possible” and insisting that he doesn’t “design the apartment—I help you know the apartment,” Mr. Starck finally answered the query about the condo’s exact location: “I don’t know,” he shrugged, his signature red leather gloves peaking from his jacket’s pocket.

“Clearly, it will be your island into poetry; your creativity, tenderness, honesty, respect, even sophistication and elegance. That’s a value that’s not really used in real estate.”

Mr. Shvo is selling the apartments as being located “just a few blocks” from the park, but they are truly located in that gray area sandwiched between the Gramercy and Rose Hill neighborhoods that’s still scrubbing off its grime.

According to press materials, Mr. Shvo wanted to bring “a new level of luxury living to 23rd Street, in addition to bringing a global brand that was instantly associated with style, good taste and incredible wit.”

Mr. Starck described the building—which will feature yellow glass elevators and fake black deer heads draped in pearls—as “a frontier between the regular world, dark and gray” and “your home. You must have a symbol, a territory.”

“As much as he’s designing, he always comes up with a new idea,” Mr. Shvo said during a tour of a mock Gramercy unit, with buttery black leather couches and huge chandeliers made from seashells.

Mr. Starck, who arrived at the Tuesday P.R. event 15 minutes late, said he wasn’t really interested in discussing the development. “If we could speak about life or sex,” he said, “something more interesting, that’d be better.”