Designer Asks Facebook Followers To Pick Facade For NY Building

In another new and creative way to embrace social media, New York designer Karim Rashid has asked his Facebook fans to select their preferred facade for a building in the city's SoHo district.

Rashid posted four different designs on his popular Facebook fan page and asked his 419,000 followers to vote on their favourite facade with the most popular design being implemented.

Karim Rashid's four facade options. 
Rashid's outreach to his fans was reportedly fuelled by difficulties in the past with pushing projects through and gaining support from the public.

"I have had too many failures and have learned that design is a collaboration. One must listen and work within that culture or nothing will go to market or get built," he said.

"It is a great opportunity to get feedback for my work and I believe we live in the age of 'the empowerment of the individual' where we all have a voice in the digital age."Ultimately Option A was chosen as the winner by Rashid, his Facebook fans, and the developers, with other factors such as budget and technical parameters also taken into account.

Option A - The winning design.

Option A features a vertical row of large parallelogram-shaped windows, made striking when squeezed between two historic buildings on a narrow site.

If approved, the building will be seven levels with one apartment per floor and is earmarked for completion in 2017.

Images sourced from Dezeen Magazine.