Tracey Towers utilizes the air rights over a storage yard for subway trains, simultaneously eliminating a Twentieth Century eyesore and creating a man-made plateau within the New York City area which gives a sense of community and identity. One tower is over the tracks, the other one on virgin territory, placing the entrances to the two towers at different elevations. The platform is used for parking, townhouses, recreational facilities and the contemporary phenomenon of a garden with air space under it. The form of the towers derives from the varied sizes of the apartment units and the curvilinear forms dictated by the site and automobile movement.

Tracey Towers aprovecha los derechos de uso aéreo sobre un patio de almacenamiento de trenes de metro, eliminando a la vez una monstruosidad del siglo XX y creando una meseta artificial dentro del área de la ciudad de Nueva York que transmite un sentido de comunidad e identidad. Una torre se encuentra sobre las vías, la otra en terreno virgen, con accesos a ambas a diferentes alturas. La plataforma se utiliza para aparcamiento, viviendas adosadas, instalaciones recreativas y el fenómeno contemporáneo de un jardín con espacio aéreo bajo ella. La forma de las torres se deriva de los diversos tamaños de los apartamentos y las formas curvilíneas dictadas por el terreno y el tráfico automovilístico.

Paul Rudolph in Moholy-Nagy, Sibyl. The Architecture of Paul Rudolph. New York: Praeger, 1970. p. 220. Quote via Paul Rudolph Institute.

Perspective view. Image via Paul Rudolph Institute.
Ground Floor with unbuilt low-rise residential housing. Image via Paul Rudolph Institute.
Ground Floor axonometric. LC-DIG-ds-13578 (digital file from Library of Congress). Image via Paul Rudolph Institute.
Perspective view with unbuilt low-rise residential housing. LC-DIG-ds-13580 (digital file from Library of Congress). Image via Paul Rudolph Institute.
Perspective view with unbuilt low-rise residential housing. LC-DIG-ds-13580 (digital file from Library of Congress). Image via Paul Rudolph Institute.
Perspective View of Access to towers. Image via Paul Rudolph Institute.
Perspective View of Access to towers. Image via Paul Rudolph Institute.
Typical Floor plan. Image via Paul Rudolph Institute.
Image by Hidden Architecture.
Image by Hidden Architecture.
Image by Hidden Architecture.
Image by Hidden Architecture.
Image by Hidden Architecture.
Image by Hidden Architecture.
Image by Hidden Architecture.
Tracey Towers, Bronx, New York. Photo taken in 1974. Photo by Lauren Soth. Image via Paul Rudolph Institute.
Paul Rudolph Sketch. Image via Paul Rudolph Institute.
Model. Image via Paul Rudolph Institute.
Model. Image via Paul Rudolph Institute.