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New York, New York
And we breathe it in and try to dream again
Is it just me, or have things really stepped up in terms of art and design in New York City now that Mike Bloomberg has been mayor for a while? If you don’t believe me, then believe your own eyes. For two weeks this February, Christo’s spectacular The Gates took over large sections of the southern part of Central Park, and the crowds definitely came out to walk around the park in February.
As an architect, I sometimes need to specify colors and finishes, and most colors and finishes have terrible names like Ocean Mist or Morning Dew. If I had to name the orange that Christo used in The Gates, I would probably call it Happy Orange, and then probably get fired from the color and finish naming company for picking such a horrible name, The reason though that I would call it Happy Orange though is because, especially in the middle of winter, it’s just so damn nice to see so much Happy Orange everywhere.
Sure there may be a once in a lifetime art event literally all around you, but I’m sure whatever your Blackberry is saying is far more important.
The big time New York City temporary art exhibits continue with The Nomadic Museum, a temporary structure designed by Shigeru Ban constructed out of shipping containers and sonotube cardboard columns, setting up shop for a while on Pier 54.
Inside the building (or maybe I should say the construction) is interesting, although it is probably more interesting as an intellectual idea than actual architecture, but that’s ok. Inside the Nomadic Museum hosted an exhibition called Ashes and Snow. Not my favorite exhibition ever but that’s also ok, I was really there to see the building (or maybe I should say the construction).
On the West Side Highway (it’s not really the West Side Highway, but I’ll likely call it that until the day I die) is a brand new building under construction. The building- a small office building- is designed by Frank Gehry. Supposedly neighborhood residents called the city to report shoddy construction practices here, only to be told that the columns were designed to be crooked.
We’ve moved on from New York and are only a short Amtrak ride away in Philadelphia, where this great view can be had by anyone staying at the Loews Philadelphia at the landmark William Lescaze designed PSFS Building, really the only place to stay if you care about architecture and are staying overnight in Philadelphia.
William Penn still sits atop three different colors of stone and metal, although what remains nice about such a provincial skyline is about to be further compromised by Robert Stern's new Comcast Tower, one that will be the city's highest in a city that probably doesn't even need it.
I took a lot of pictures inside the Liberty Bell Pavilion, but for some reason I like this one the best, even though someone’s head is overlapping the Liberty Bell. Maybe that’s because it’s a meta commentary about how an imperfect photo is the only appropriate approach to an imperfect (cracked) icon. Or maybe I wanted to express how it’s so ridiculously busy there that it’s hard to actually see what you came there to see. Or maybe I just liked this one better. Who is to say.
This is a picture of Eastern State Penitentiary, an amazing, ruined building about a fifteen or twenty minute walk from Logan Circle. Historically it was the world's first penitentiary, previously jails were used only as holding areas for people awaiting a public flogging or execution. This building attempted to prove a new, radical theory that the waiting is the hardest part (penance = penitentiary). Original inmates at Eastern State rarely saw or heard other inmates, they spent their all of time in complete isolation. If you visit (and you should) you will enjoy everyone's favorite character actor Steve Buschemi's audio tour of a building and complex that is still wonderfully falling apart, with just a few dangerously renovated areas to show you what fate befell all of those Market Street horse thieves back in 1830.
The real reason I went to Philadelphia was to take my father to a Phillies game at the still relatively new Citizens Bank Park, down by all of the other stadiums and across the street from the Core States - First Union - Wachovia Center. I am not a baseball fan and do not pretend to be, still I did actually enjoy the especially sloppy 8-7, 23 hit game. The stadium itself is pretty damn nice, one of the better ones I have been to (and I have been to a lot considering that I am not a baseball fan), and certainly the one with the best quality in stadium food. Why wait a half hour outside Geno's for a cheesesteak when you can wait a half hour outside a Geno's inside the stadium? It's the best of both worlds.
