Giovanni Valle Portfolio

Giovanni Valle

Liberty Luxe & Liberty Green

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Architecture and Master Planning

Vornado Realty Trust Development & Space Planning NJ

Rego Park Center

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Mixed-Use and Exterior Architecture

Buffalo Canalside

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Urban Design & Master Planning

Penn Plaza & Times Square

Liberty Luxe & Liberty Green

Perkins

Sites 23 and 24, later rebranded as Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green, were the last two residential towers built in Battery Park City, nearly 30 years after the original master plan was conceived. Zoning regulations and the guidelines of Battery Park City require very specific massing and use of materials. The challenge, therefore, was to design a building that was both unique, while at the same time maintaining the character of its surroundings as required by the guidelines.

The bulk requirement was redefined by breaking up the massing into separate parts through the use of glass –essentially dissecting the solid to create separate elements with a vertical emphasis. Additionally, a degree of liberty was taken in shifting, turning, and projection portions of the tower where zoning was less restrictive. This, coupled with specific attention to the detailing of brink through the use of recessed patterns and color, gave the building its own distinct character.

Liberty Luxe & Liberty Green

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Liberty Luxe & Liberty Green

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Liberty Luxe & Liberty Green

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Liberty Luxe & Liberty Green

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Liberty Luxe & Liberty Green

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Liberty Luxe & Liberty Green

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Rego Park Center

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

The challenge of Rego Park Center was to bring traditional big box retail to an urban location with limited land area and, in the process, redefine the perception of “big box” among its residents. The solution was to stack the big box stores into a vertical format, introduce smaller scale ground level retail, remove cars from the street by creating a multi-story parking structure, and introduce a high-rise residential component, creating a true mixed-use development with a human scale.

The project was successful in creating a new identity for the neighborhood, while introducing new public space via a pedestrian promenade which serves as a vibrant corridor both for shoppers and community residents alike. The outdoor experience is further augmented by the overhead platforms which help to connect the large-scale retail buildings with the parking structure and additional retail spaces.

Rego Park Center

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Rego Park Center

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Rego Park Center

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Rego Park Center

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Rego Park Center

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

NJ Transit Entrance & Signage

Perkins Eastman | EE&K

Seventh Avenue is New York’s front door for commuters and visitors alike. The area bounded by 34th & 31st Streets is the city’s most significant transportation hub with Amtrak, LIRR, NJ Transit rail services, connecting with 6 lines of the NYC Transit system. This area is also the largest concentration of retail merchants. Madison Square Garden establishes the area as the city’s sports and entertainment destination.

The proposed entrance and signage structure would provide a unique and needed visible icon for the currently out of sight, below ground transportation complex. The large retail signage above the structure was a requirement by the client and serves to further emphasize the intersection and the access point to the underground transportation. Wire mesh was used to clad both the entrance building and the signage post in order to create a cohesive, integrated structure. The top of the sign tower includes lanterns to highlight the location at night.

This master plan concept at the foot of Main Street in Buffalo, NY is part of the larger 1.1 million sq. ft. Canal Side development. Canal Side pays creative homage to the harbor’s commercial and industrial past while looking ahead to the city’s future. The district’s dense network of streets, waterways, and open spaces is designed to convey a sense of constant, bustling movement, recalling the original energy of the canal itself.

The Canal is a three-foot deep channel of water at the Center Canal and 18 inches deep in the other segments (all above the Hamburg drain) lined by “towpaths” harkening back to the days of the Erie Canal, where mules would pull barges. The towpaths will be pedestrian paths lined with restaurants and shops, with connections to the many different levels of the public and retail environments.

Vornado Realty Trust

Penn Plaza encompasses the corridor along 34th Street and surrounding areas adjacent to the former Penn Station. Vornado is responsible for developing the retail around this area, including the new Moynihan Train Hall and existing Penn Station. As a development associate, my role was focused on creating layout plans for the retail tenants within the buildings.

The following are selected projects that I worked on in this neighborhood as well as Times Square and along Madison Avenue. Each neighborhood has its distinct character, with Penn Plaza being a major transportation hub and commercial/office magnet, Madison Avenue a luxury retail destination, Times Square being one of the most recognized tourist attractions in the world, with no excesses spared in terms of signage allowances and retail design exuberance.

On the next page are the layout plans that I worked on to create a vibrant mix of tenant spaces at the restored US Postal Building and new Moynihan Train Hall. Prior to Vornado Realty Trust, I was on the team with EE&K and HOK that created one of the proposals for the train hall, well before it was considered for redevelopment.

Rendering by Elkus Manfredi

Penn Plaza – Moynihan Train Hall

Vornado Realty Trust

Renderings by Elkus Manfredi

Vornado Realty Trust

Located in the bowtie portion of Times Square this retail development includes an array of international retailers as well as the largest LED sign in North America. Various iterations of the sign were studied, including curved, undulated, and subdivided versions of the display.

Once an open passageway entrance into the Marriot Marquis Hotel above, the Ground Level retail was infilled into the existing fabric of the building. This effectively brought the street retail experience onto the street, creating a pedestrian corridor with an outdoor plaza to activate the area.

This change resulted in an increased pedestrian count and transformed what was once a “fortress” with its back turned to the public into a lively and inviting public space filled with pedestrian activity and ample outdoor seating.

Madison Ave – The Westbury

Vornado Realty Trust

828 Madison is a historic landmark building known as The Westbury along Madison Avenue. The building is lined with some of the finest retail brands in the world. During the redevelopment of the site, various alterations were studied with a mix of larger tenants and smaller, more boutique tenants in the mix.

The plan shown here favored smaller boutique tenants with the larger brands as bookends at the corners of the building. Because of its historic designation, the façade and storefront renovations were restricted and subject to approval by the landmarks commission.

University of California at Berkeley

College Project - Winery

University of California at Berkeley

College Project - Winery

University of California at Berkeley

College Project - Winery

University of California at Berkeley

University of California at Berkeley

College Project – Office + Hotel Complex

University of California at Berkeley

Created for a competition in London, England, the building complex combines a hotel and office building interconnected through two pedestrian bridges. The façade of the hotel building is meant to be a thin solid layer which is then penetrated by openings and solid shapes break through the plane of the outer skin. Similarly, the office building has solid shapes that also break through the façade, but rather than being a solid mass, the skin is composed of a transparent glass structure. The original elevation was created using ink on vellum with pantone highlights and the sketches were created using pen and color pencils.