Dasha Zhukova took up real estate for artists

Her new company, Ray, is building high-rise buildings in Philadelphia and New York that will house showrooms, studios and artist apartments. Ray Harlem Project Source: artnet.com Collector, designer and entrepreneur Daria Zhukova opened Ray, a company focused on building special residential complexes for artists and their sympathizers. On Ray's website, these homes are referred to as "vertical villages," housing apartments, artists' studios, exhibition halls, theaters, libraries, and even communal kitchens under the same roof (isn't it a commune house?).

Two such houses are already under construction - in Philadelphia and in Harlem. They promise that the prices for premises in these complexes will be affordable, because Ray's mission is to "provide everyone with equal access to the living spaces of the future."

The design of the Ray Harlem complex was entrusted to the Mexican architect Frida Escobedo, the youngest of the authors of the Serpentine pavilion.

The 21-story building in Harlem will house the National Black Theater on the ground floors, and workshops, co-working spaces and 222 apartments above. Construction is due to start this month and finish around 2024.

And in Philadelphia, the Ray Fishtown complex, designed by the architectural bureau Leong Leong, is already under construction. The set of benefits in it will be approximately the same as in Ray Harlem, and a huge installation by Rashid Johnson will be located in the lobby. The opening is scheduled for 2022.

All future residents of the Ray complexes can expect regular workshops and other cultural events organized with the support of local art organizations.