the slim shady

As if spawn from a high school pencil case, The Unknown Hipster's colorful sketches are thoughtful case studies in urban life.

Lately...

My brood and I hit the West Village....only to tumble into this roving vehicle of tricked-out art.  John, the artist driving the "Convoluted Construct" can be located at ConVoCon.com.  His business card is printed on canvas = a guy who will make you think out of the box.

crosby redux

Just when the ink from my latest post on the Crosby Street Hotel became stale, they beckon me with a third digit....a rooftop culinary garden.  Should stars align, reel yourself into the Sunday program. Enjoy the screening room while you dine on locavore deliciousness and then tuck yourself into the folds of the Meadow Suite for a full throttle circumference of the Crosby campus. 

roots of a city

Mitch Epstein is currently featuring his photographic essay of New York City's "Great Trees" at the Sikkema Jenkins Gallery in Chelsea. The juxtaposition of man versus nature rendered these 2 images as my favs.

wisteria

I was toodling through the Meatpacking District when I stumbled upon this beaut. In a couple of weeks the climber is going to be a profusion of purple but for now, it's sinuous architecture is a delight.

Anthropometrics

The Robin Rice Gallery is currently featuring the work of Haik Kocharain. With my affinity for human scale, this image was the artist's best.

325 West 11th Street
New York, New York

the lowline

As my lower lip shifts to the left and my eyes swing high right...I'm doing my best in reserving judgement as per the latest bid to replicate the High Line on the Lower East Side. Dubbed "The Lowline", it has the air of a wannabe.
Developers have proposed to retrofit an abandoned underground trolley terminal below Delancey Street into an interior public park (that just seems like an oxymoron). The whole project looks like a Mall of America crush with the Velvet Underground.

Faux, faux pas

Peripherally, I've been following a recent plague of fake ivy creeping up the facade of Greenwich Village. Incredulously, the story broke in the NY Times. Vexed preservationists are mulched over this overt breach of landmark violation.

Personally,just about any plantings in the built environment should be considered attributes to the space. Even if the the ivy is fake, it softens the urban landscape and reduces scale along pedestrian friendly open spaces. In this case, I think that a little "leafage lip-synching" is just as wonderfully iconoclastic as the foundation of the neighborhood.

B and T

"Bridge and Tunnel" is an derogatory term given to commuters from points beyond NYC. Plinkoed from a high rise on the Upper East Side and blissfully settled in Connecticut, I am now a member of this chagrined set.
Perhaps this blemished reputation wouldn't be so unfortunate if Santiago Calatrava had his way with the Triborough Bridge. His designs are sensational. They conjure prehistoric skeletons but float as if spun from cobwebs. Tracking back to the hood by the grace of an architectural phenom could potentially start a cultural revolution. Look at what the High Line did to the Meat Packing District. Humorously, a little Calatrava could be capable of lifting the stigma associated with an E-Z Pass and out-of-state plates.

Stairway to Heaven

The dominant genes of my family tree have rooted a numeric spin to my DNA double helix...I calculate my steps as I trace stairs or open spaces. It's a cradled trait bequeathed to me from my paternal grandfather and I have passed it umbilically to my son. An inherent tape measure, I rely on it professionally in calibrating the scale of an open space in relation to the anthropometrics (think Vitruvian Man) of the design.
When I saw Thomas Heatherwick's staircase topography for Longchamp's flagship in NYC I was stopped in my tracks. The hot rolled steel installation was akin to scaling the treads of a Steinway. The design expression was so intriguing that it tripped the rise out of my familial run.