There Goes the Skyline
Unlike Vegas, Tokyo, or–dare we offend our brehtren?–LA, much of the Manhattan skyline remains signage free. In fact, outside of Times Square, they’re all but illegal. One exception is 444 Madison Avenue, long-home to New York magazine. Well, the the publication moved headquarters in 2007, and part of the deal included the icon sign atop the building. Read More
Get Set, Go, Party
Hector Perez, James Gates (Public), Isabel Dutra, James Brown (Public) at the MIX opening. (All photos by Lauren Radack)
Yesterday, we posted the feature from our current California issue, “On Their Mark,” about a new show at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego highlighting seven local firms. While sending over the pictures of the exhibition, Mix: Nine San Diego Architects and Designers, that went into our slideshow, the fine folks at MCASD also sent along these nice photos from the opening party, which were taken by Lauren Radack. In case, like us, you couldn’t make it. (And if you know anyone in these photos we may not have mentioned, do tell). Read More
Up, Up, and Abu Dhabi!
RMJM's Capital Gate tower in Abu Dhabi will lean more than the Tower of Pisa. (Images courtesy RMJM)
When I was out in LA at Postopolis!, one of the most interesting and memorable talks I heard was Christopher Hawthorne’s, on the chilling, almost creepy, effect the recession has had on the United Arab Emirates, in particular Dubai. While he still hasn’t written up his version of his trip–and we wish he would, because the talk was so interesting–the basic gist was that construction had all but stopped in Dubai, and to some degree in Abu Dhabi (to say nothing of New York and LA), because the spigot of liquidity-né-money had dried up with the collapse of the financial system. He termed it Ponzi-scheme urbanism. Well, it seems some things are still moving out in the wild, sandy yonder, as RMJM’s Princeton office (formerly Hillier) just passed along the following impressive photo of its Capital Gate tower passing the half-way mark. Read More
Lights, Camera, High Line!
Sundance Channel recently launched a new online video series titled “High Line Stories,” profiling activists, artists, architects, landscape architects, City officials, and celebrities involved in turning the abandoned elevated railroad track into a park paradise.
You Windermere Some, You Lose Some
The Windermere has seen better days, but will hopefully see them once again soon. (Courtesy LPC)
The Observer is reporting that Windermere, an individual landmark dating from the late 19th Century located on West 57th Street, was recently purchased for $13 million, or an astounding $181-per-square-foot. The sumptuous red brick apartment building had fallen into disrepair some years ago after its Japanese owner apparently lost interest in it, leading to a lawsuit we covered last year. Read More
LEGO My Falling Water
Perhaps we were too busy checking out the jaw-dropping FLW retrospective at the aforementioned museum to notice, but two weeks ago, LEGO and the Wright Foundation announced they would launch two new, rather amazing sets to honor the architect’s centennial, part of a new Architecture line your LEGO-obsessed editors were heretofore also ignorant of. Read More
By UNanimous Decree, Urban is Green
(Ezra Stoller/ESTO)
A sublime piece of modern architecture, the United Nations Headquarters is a time capsule that preserves almost intact the spirit of the 1950s. From the head sets to the tapestries, which hide the most breathtaking views of Brooklyn and the East River, everything has the air of an early James Bond movie. On May 13th, however, the UN was looking forward to pressing environmental challenges and their urban solutions, as the host of the second part of the “Conference on Sustainable Urbanization in the Information Age,” entitled “The Role of Infrastructure in Metropolitan Development.” Read More
Best. Video. Ever.
Our friends at Architecture W in Portland recently completed this masterfully low-tech stop-action video— entitled House of Cards—depicting their plans for a new sustainable house made only out of structural wood panels. “We’ve become bored with glossy computer generated imagery,” explains firm partner Brian White. There’s not much more we can say besides check it out. And notice the strategic use of the Yoda action figure, of course.
ICFF: The Winners Are
Council's Drake chairs, 2009
Wrapping up a design-filled weekend of parties, openings, lectures, and events, this year’s ICFF did not disappoint. In fact, it left us up to our necks in piles of work that we have been neglecting from all that party hopping! Thankfully for us, a panel of U.S. and international editors sorted through all the furniture, lighting, and accessories at the Javits Center and selected their picks for the best-of-show at ICFF. Comprised of editors from Abitare, Architectural Record, Azure, Domus, Dwell, Interior Design, Interni, Intramuros, Metropolis, and Metropolitan Home, the prestigious ICFF Editors Award was bestowed on16 designers and manufactures, some of which you might remember from our very own ICFF Preview. The winners are: Read More
A Standard Affair (VIDEO)
André explains the world to Julie and the crowd. (All photos Matt Chaban)
Last Thursday, AN hosted the kick-off event for Meatpacking District Design ’09, a conversation between executive editor Julie V. Iovine and hotelier André Balazs at his latest creation, the Polshek Partnership-designed Standard, New York (which Julie wrote about back in February). If you couldn’t make it, though, no sweat. For your vicarious pleasure, we’ve posted a highlight video, plus the full talk, both in video and audio formats–here at AN we’re platform agnostic–plus a slew of photos of the party, the swanky new digs, and the now-in-bloom High Line. Read More
Heading West
We’re hitching the wagons this weekend to head to the 30th annual Venice Art Walk & Auctions, which include artist studio tours, gallery visits, a silent art auction, live music, and the yummy “food faire”. Of course our first stop will be the Art and Architecture tours of some of Venice’s coolest houses. We can’t wait to see Dennis Gibbens’ Multi-Use Townhouse (above). Here are a few more we’re excited about:
Pieces Of History
One of Benjamin Dominguez's La Laguna de San Gabriel historic structures
Yesterday the Los Angeles Conservancy held its annual Preservation Awards at a packed ballroom in the Biltmore Hotel in Downtown LA. Some interesting tidbits we picked up about the winners: The Biscuit Factory Lofts Downtown used to be a Nabisco bakery, making Oreos and other treats. Cole’s, the famous French Dip restaurant Downtown that opened over 100 years ago, is located in a former terminal for red car street cars. The day prohibition ended Cole’s served 2,000 gallons of beer. Griffith Park’s application for landmark status was 400 pages long. And the La Laguna De San Gabriel Park Historic Structures include Stella the Starfish, Peanut the Green Dolphin, and Ozzie the Octopus. The winners were all impressive. Here’s the list:
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