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Tag Archives: New York City
Up Fifth Avenue in early ’30s
Stumbled upon this delightfully informative, well-paced, almost soporific film of Fifth Avenue, taken from the rear window of a motorcar (if they still used that word in the 1930s), at a steady pace except for stops at traffic lights. You’ll … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Video
Tagged Central Park, Central Park South, Fifth Avenue, New York City, Video
3 Comments
Penn Station post Cuomo
Andrew Cuomo’s resignation, effective in one week, could provide an opening to rebuild Penn Station as designed by architects McKim Mead & White in 1910. Is the next governor, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, of a mind to support the plan? … Continue reading
They don’t get Carnegie Hall
Here is another edition of Timesman Michael Kimmelman’s virtual tours through Manhattan’s neighborhoods accompanied by celebrity architects, in this case Midtown’s Carnegie Hall area with Billie Tsien and Tod Williams, who once lived in a Carnegie Hall studio (they are, … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture
Tagged Billie Tsien, Carnegie Hall, Manhattan, Michael Kimmelman, Midtown, New York City, New York Times, Tod Williams
4 Comments
Johnson’s risky functionalism
Philip Johnson, the modernist architect who tricked America into embracing modern architecture, was a nasty piece of work according to Mark Lamster’s book, The Man in the Glass House. But there are some humorous passages whose inclusion reflects Lamster’s ability … Continue reading
Hudson Yards as Dildoville
The other day a correspondent sent me, under the title “Beyond parody,” an item from Architect’s Newspaper headlined “Design firm turns Hudson Yards towers into sex toys.” This family blog must of course issue a firm “No comment.” The late … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Humor
Tagged Ada Louise Huxtable, Architect's Newspaper, Hudson Yards, New York City, Skyscrapers, Wolfgang & Hite
7 Comments
The streets of New York
I was in New York on Monday to celebrate James Stevens Curl’s laureateship, bestowed by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art’s 2019 Arthur Ross Awards, at the University Club of New York, for his book Making Dystopia, now high … Continue reading
Ban glass and steel in NYC
That’s really what New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, said. He called for a “ban” on glass-and-steel skyscrapers. But that is not what he actually meant. That idea would never fly in Manhattan. The mayor’s handlers are already walking … Continue reading
Fane tower & Hudson Yards
A relic of dated 2000s thinking, nearly devoid of urban design, it declines to blend into the city grid. The Fane tower, right? That building proposed for the Jewelry District near downtown Providence? No. In fact, it’s the Hudson Yards … Continue reading
Getting used to Fane tower
In “Once It Was a New Building,” my former editor and longtime friend Robert Whitcomb defended the proposed 600-foot Fane tower in this morning’s GoLocalProv. He writes: GoLocal’s mock editorial last week headlined “Dateline 1924: Don’t Let Them Build That … Continue reading
NYC, drawn from memory
Stephen Wiltshire’s remarkable ability to draw a city from memory came to my attention several years ago in a segment on 60 Minutes or some such show. A British citizen, he was diagnosed with autism at age 3, but his … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Art and design
Tagged Architectural Drawing, Autism, Canaletto, Cities, Drawing, Manhattan, New York City, Pepys, Stephen Wiltshire
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