NYC Architecture
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A New Fancy Place To Procrastinate In The City: The Grand Saloman Room In The NY Public Library
[Alvin Harrison in the Edna Barnes Salomon Room. All photos by Spencer Platt.] Ever have one of those days where you’re stuck in the middle of Manhattan with nothing to do? You’ve finished work — or whatever it was you were up to — but have a couple of hours to kill before pounding drinks at happy hour? Since it’s always best to waste time in stately places, check out the Beaux-Arts Edna Barnes Salomon Room More »
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Rosen’s 350 West Broadway Opens With A Grand Celebration, But Will They Sell?
[Aby Rosen, Samantha Boardman Rosen. All photos by CLINT SPAULDING for PMc]
Where could we find big-time real estate man Aby Rosen last night? At the Lever House (which he owns) for a celebration in honor of the new 350 West Broadway, the new full-floor residences in SoHo. Aby, along with his wife Samantha Boardman Rosen checked out the illuminated models as well as mingled with the business savvy guests. The big elephant in the room was, of course…that the timing of the opening is well, less than festive.
More photos below… More »
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Versace To Design Interior Renovation Of The Famous Clock Tower Building In NYC
Versace and Africa Israel, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, entered into an agreement for the interior design of 55 residential apartments, common areas, a spa and an exclusive club in Africa Israel’s landmark building known as The Clock Tower at 5 Madison Avenue, New York, New York.
Constructed by MetLife as its headquarters in 1909, the building was the world’s tallest until 1913, when it was surpassed by the Woolworth Building in lower Manhattan. Architect Napoleon LeBrun fashioned The Clock Tower after the Campanila di San Marco in Venice. Located in the heart of New York City’s booming Madison Square Park district, the property is considered as the visual centerpiece of Midtown South.
More story and photo below:
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Jason Cimon, Take Me Away To The Showroom
[Image via The Showroom]
On Friday I revisited a hidden delight that I first encountered the previous week. My friend Jason Cimon performed the night of my first visit, along with my new music interest Afternoon, introducing me to what I feel has become my favortite city getaway. The Showroom, located in Greenpoint Brooklyn, was originally a large studio that 4 artists converted into four bedrooms of which they bulilt themselves. Some walls are made with wood cut into different sizes and made to look like brick, while others are covered in draping fabric along with paintings and little gadgets that occupy every inch. The most notable piece being the antlers installed on the wall of the main room.
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Webster Hall Declared A City Landmark
[Image Source: Getty Images]
Most of us probably weren’t around when F. Scott Fitzgerlad and Samuel Gompers were using Webster Hall as a meeting place for political and social issues. And you probably also missed the masquerade balls, the formation of The Progressive Labor Party, and the time when the likes of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley recorded in the space. But you may have seen the rock bands that played there in the 80s, hopefully you saw the club kids in the 90s, and sadly saw John Mayer’s emo crap in the 21st century (actually I kind of like Mayer, but I digress). More »
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Do Eugene Remm and Mark Birnbaum Really Like Working Underground?
[Source: Corcoran Group]
Or is that just a bunch of balony? When Eugene Remm and Mark Birnbaum bought their new office space at the Chelsea Modern building, they opted for a below ground duplex space. They did not “choose” the Penthouse. The Intelligencer took a Pollyanna approach, stressing that the duo’s choice was based on wanting to be close to the neighborhood and high resale value potential. It wasn’t because the Penthouse was out of their budget (cough). Birnbaum goes so far as to say “You don’t feel like you’re sitting in the dungeon.” But alas Mark, this doesn’t change the fact that you are in a dungeon…
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Brooklyn’s Big Ben Now Keeps Time
[Source: New York Times]
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The four clocks at 1 Hanson place in Brooklyn atop the old Williamsburg Savings Bank have been fixed and now keep accurate time. So, for the dozen or so that actually used this as a resource you will no longer a need to check your phones or Blackberrys anymore, you can check the time the old school way. We can only imagine the difficulty and work involved in getting these 80 year-old clocks back on track. Kudos to the development company who fixed them (as they convert the building over to condos). Non-working clocks are like un-tuned pianos, or straws with a slit in their sides…painfully useless.
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“Like A Geriatric Version Of A Frathouse”
[Photo from the Villager]
Such is the description that Dick Cavett gave when asked by NY Magazine what he thought of Julian Schnabel’s new building Palazzo Chupi (at the gallery opening of the Schnabel’s “Navigation Drawings” last week). It has definitely been a big year for the artist/film maker. Not only are people hailing his newest film “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” as “Nothing less than the rebirth of cinema”, but soon he will be living in the coolest apartment in the city. Both Bono and Richard Gere are reported to be looking to move into The Palazzo Chupi, the seventeen-story building that he will divide up for four lucky buyers, all to share a pool together.
The Palazzo Chupi will most likely continue to be the subject of many a critic’s ridicule. It’s a “hot pink” building located in the West Village, not Palm Beach. Somehow, we think it uncharacteristically fits in. Whether you love the building or hate it, there’s no doubting that it will be the site of many the fabulous soirée. This isn’t the first time Schnabel has had to fight off questioning pundits. His personal style has been know to leave many scratching their heads:
[Photo from NY Mag]
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Reading as a Religious Experience.
[photo from the Cool Hunter]
So many parties tonight, and yet, the only thing I can think about doing is curling up in bed with a good book. ‘Tis the season.
Today’s Bloomberg quote: “I’ve never known any trouble that an hour’s reading didn’t assuage.” –Charles De Secondat (social commentator).
Well, Mr. De Secondat, I would like to “second that” comment (pun intended). Books on the mind today, I couldn’t help but share this adorable library I came across. It’s the Selexyz Dominicanen in Maastricht Netherlands. A former 800 year old Dominican church that is now a bookstore, housing the largest number of books in the area…”Whoever said reading was a religious experience was right…”-The Cool Hunter. Designed by Amsterdam based architects Merkx & Girod.
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The New “NEW” Museum
[Photo from Racked]
Last night was quite eventful. First there was the party to celebrate the opening of the new Fortunoff store (pictured below). Dior celebrated the 60th anniversary of the House of Dior at their store, Hermes on Wall street hosted a cocktail party, and the charitable folks over at Operation Smile had Socialista rented out for the evening. But the big event of the night was the debut of the “New Museum” on Bowery. The New Museum of Contemporary Art is a seven-story structure designed by Tokyo-based architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. Located between Stanton and Rivington Streets it is the first art museum ever constructed from the ground up in downtown Manhattan. Not officially open to the public until December 1st, several lucky New Yorkers got a sneak peak at last night’s “Calvin Klein Collection’s ‘First Look’ of the new museum” event.
Racked solved the case of the mysterious billboard on Houston and Lafayette (pictured above). It was of course, just a clever marketing scheme by the New Museum…now we know just how clever: They chose a Calvin Klien Ad to paint on….very fitting considering the designer hosted the first event there.
[the new Fortunoff store, from the NY Times]
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Good Will Hunting wouldn’t have screwed this one up
[MIT University Stata Center]
Famed architect Frank Gehry who designed MIT’s Stata Center (at a cost of $300 million) is being sued for what MIT perceives as design flaws. It seems that most of the flaws are either minor, according to Gehry, or can be expected from such a complex and ambitious type of building.
Nonetheless, MIT is probably not happy about the extra money they have had to put into the center that they didn’t expect. But then again, with the building’s price tag, aren’t these repairs (which are in the 1-2 million range) just a drop in the bucket? Legal fees alone are going to be in the hundreds of thousands.
It is of course ironic to have engineering difficulties at MIT, and we are confident that if Will Hunting had had a hand in it, the buildings would be problem free so long as he didn’t design it hammered while watching a Red Sox game.
Hopefully Princeton University won’t have the same issues with their new Science Library that Gehry designed. Gehry is our Dr. Suess.
[Princeton University Science Library]
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