Javi Aznarez Illustrates Nine Orchard and New York’s Lower East Side for a 500-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle
Spanish illustrator Javi Aznarez has created a detailed illustrated portrait of the New York neighbourhood surrounding Nine Orchard, the landmark Lower East Side hotel housed inside the restored Jarmulowsky Bank building. Commissioned by Darren Tuzzoli, the artwork has been transformed into a 500-piece Nine Orchard jigsaw puzzle, designed for guests to enjoy in their rooms and to purchase from the hotel.
The project brings together New York architecture, Lower East Side street life and Javi’s character-driven illustration in a single densely populated cityscape. Commissioned by our client and friend Darren Tuzzoli
What is the Nine Orchard jigsaw puzzle?
The Nine Orchard puzzle is based on Javi’s panoramic illustration of the streets and buildings surrounding Nine Orchard hotel at 9 Orchard Street, New York City.
Rather than isolating the hotel as a single architectural subject, Javi places it within the wider neighbourhood. Apartment buildings, storefronts, water towers, fire escapes, pedestrians, cyclists, cars and glimpses of everyday life accumulate across the composition, turning the puzzle into a portrait of downtown Manhattan as much as a representation of the hotel itself.
At the centre is the distinctive former Jarmulowsky Bank, whose tower and rooftop tempietto make the building one of the recognisable architectural landmarks of the area.
The finished artwork has been produced as a boxed 500-piece Jigsaw puzzle, with Javi’s illustration covering the front of the Nine Orchard packaging.
Nine Orchard and the historic Jarmulowsky Bank
Nine Orchard occupies the former Jarmulowsky Bank at the corner of Orchard and Canal Streets, where the Lower East Side meets Chinatown.
Originally constructed in 1912, the building was created for the Jarmulowsky banking business, which served many of the Jewish immigrants then living in the Lower East Side. New York City documents describe the building as an important neighbourhood landmark and note that its original cupola once helped make it one of the area's most prominent structures.
The building was subsequently restored as Nine Orchard, with architects, historians and craftspeople working from original 1912 blueprints and archival photographs. Details including the 60-foot rooftop tempietto, clocks, ornamental ceilings, millwork and marble interiors were reconstructed or restored. Read the history of Nine Orchard and the Jarmulowsky Bank
The restoration received a Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy in 2021.
Today the hotel contains 113 residential-inspired guest rooms alongside Corner Bar and the Swan Room, occupying the former bank teller hall.
Why illustrate the neighbourhood around Nine Orchard?
Nine Orchard is closely connected to the changing cultural identity of the streets around it, making the neighbourhood itself a natural subject for the commission.
The hotel has previously worked with businesses and makers based nearby, including local food, book and retail businesses, while its own historical project At the Corner of Canal and Orchard documented the building and the people connected with it.
Javi’s puzzle follows a similar idea visually. Nine Orchard becomes part of a larger New York ecosystem rather than an isolated destination.
Look closely and the illustration becomes a game of observation before a single puzzle piece has been placed: people appear at windows, on rooftops and pavements; tiny businesses occupy street level; bicycles move through the scene; fire escapes cross façades; water towers punctuate the skyline.
It is precisely the kind of environment that suits Javi’s work.
Who is Javi Aznarez?
Javi Aznarez is a Spanish painter and illustrator based in Barcelona and represented internationally by Dutch Uncle.
Javi is particularly known for large, intricate narrative illustrations populated by characters, architectural details and small visual stories. His graphic line has roots in European comics and ligne claire, with influences including Hergé, Tintin, Asterix and Argentine cartoonist Quino.
His international work spans editorial illustration, publishing, advertising and film. He is especially recognised for his collaboration with Wes Anderson on The French Dispatch and has created work for publications and brands including The New Yorker, Vogue, The Guardian and The Macallan.
For the Nine Orchard jigsaw, Javi applies that visual storytelling to one of New York's most characterful intersections. The result is both a collectible hotel object and an illustrated portrait of the Lower East Side — something guests can encounter inside Nine Orchard and then piece together, building by building and character by character.
