Tracey Towers is a pair of high-rise residential buildings in the Bronx designed by Paul Rudolph. The project consolidates structure, enclosure, and spatial organization into cast-in-place concrete, using aggregated semicircular bays to form corrugated elevations and radial apartment layouts. Positioned along Mosholu Parkway’s green corridor, the towers register as vertical markers while their offset siting preserves daylight, air, and shared exterior space at grade.
Tracey Towers Technical Information
- Architects: Paul Rudolph
- Location: Mosholu Parkway, Bronx, New York City, United States
- Project Years: 1967 – 1972
- Photographs: Flickr Users, See Caption Details
Architecture is the art of dealing with space.
– Paul Rudolph
Tracey Towers Photographs
Urban Presence and Site Strategy
Set along Mosholu Parkway’s landscaped spine, the twin volumes operate as calibrated markers in a broad urban field rather than isolated objects. Their siting aligns apartments toward long views across the green corridor and out to the city, while the space between towers preserves daylight and air movement. The offset orientation prevents direct face-to-face exposure and gives each volume a distinct register within the linear parkway frontage.
At grade, the spacing and relative rotation between the towers temper wind acceleration common to high-rise clusters and reduce overshadowing on circulation zones and planting beds. The interstitial ground plane accommodates shared outdoor areas and legible entries without resorting to perimeter fencing. In a context of dispersed high-rise slabs, the pair establishes a coherent address and clear public-to-private thresholds, linking lobby sequences to the parkway’s pedestrian paths.
Massing as Aggregated Geometry
Each tower is assembled from interlocking semicylindrical bays wrapped around a compact core, producing pinwheel floor plates with expanded perimeter length per dwelling. The arrangement increases the number of exterior exposures available to each apartment and distributes daylight and views across several orientations. Rooms nest within these curved cells, so domestic scale remains legible within the high-rise aggregate.
Vertical stacking of the bays creates a deeply fluted envelope and serrated skyline. The corrugation breaks down bulk and individualizes dwelling edges, avoiding the monotony of flat slab facades. The geometry yields a clear hierarchy from the room module to the tower silhouette, allowing for the reading of unit boundaries in elevation while maintaining a coherent overall figure in the city.
Structure and Material Expression
Cast-in-place reinforced concrete serves as both a structure and an enclosure. The curved perimeter walls serve as continuous shear elements, stabilizing the slender forms against lateral loads and reducing reliance on interior frames, thereby enabling compact cores. The structural depth is situated at the facade, where it can perform multiple roles: stiffening, shading, and defining inhabitable edges.
Standardized curved formwork was repeated across the elevation, providing construction efficiency and producing the pronounced shadow play associated with late Brutalism. Balconies and projecting bays are not applique but integral to the structural rhythm, thickening the facade to improve thermal lag and reduce direct solar gain. The material articulation is unapologetically tectonic, translating load paths into a readable pattern of ribs, reveals, and voids.
Housing Typologies and Environmental Logics
Apartment plans utilize multiple perimeter bays to enhance daylight penetration and diversify the outlook. The radial disposition multiplies corner conditions and reduces fully internal rooms, supporting cross-views and, where operable, cross-ventilation paths. Unit boundaries often straddle several curved cells, allowing living areas and bedrooms to claim distinct orientations without excessive corridor length.
Projecting semicircular rooms and balconies serve as transitional spaces between the interior and the city, offering small exterior recesses, shade, and perceptual depth in a high-density setting. The robust concrete envelope buffers traffic noise from adjacent parkways, although the curvilinear interiors complicate conventional furnishing and can necessitate built-in solutions. Exposed concrete demands sustained maintenance in a freeze-thaw climate, and slab projections risk thermal bridging if not carefully detailed, underscoring the long-term material commitments embedded in the design.
Tracey Towers Plans
Tracey Towers Image Gallery
About Paul Rudolph
Paul Rudolph was an American architect based in New York City, renowned for his bold Brutalist designs and complex spatial arrangements. He founded his architectural practice in the mid-20th century, following his tenure as chair of Yale’s Department of Architecture from 1958 to 1965. His work is characterized by expressive structural systems, strong urban presence, and a commitment to architectural tectonics, most notably through exposed concrete geometries that blend visual depth with functional rigor.
Credits and Additional Notes
- Architect: Paul Rudolph
- Client: New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)
- Research references: Paul Rudolph Foundation, New York City Housing Authority Archives
