Not every new development in the city has to have a contemporary design. An architect is designing a brownstone in Bed Stuy on an empty lot that closely echoes the 1899 building that once occupied the site before being demolished in the 1960s.

Thanks to the city's 1940s tax photo project, which photographed every lot of every block in the Five Boroughs, architect Gerald Caliendo was able to access the original photo of the three-story brownstone at 324 Macon Street, using it to redesign a matching replacement for the vacant lot, more than sixty years since the building was demolished.

As brownstone Brooklyn has recently been overtaken by glass towers, these renderings for the Bed Stuy townhouse are encouraging. While we love many of the exciting new buildings being constructed around the city, it's refreshing to see a project with a contextual design that respects the historic character of the neighborhood.

The site falls in the Bedford Stuyvesant/Stuyvesant Heights Historic District, which requires approval from the Landmarks Preservation. The Commission unanimously approved the design last week.