Architecture

The building known as VIA 57 West is nearing completion – a remarkable structure the likes of which New York City has never seen. Designed for the Durst Organization, it is the first project by the Danish architectural firm BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group in North America.
Last week I had the opportunity to visit the New York office of BIG, and one thing is certain:
BIG is definitely BIG, and getting BIGGER!
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Architecture, Design

Chances are if someone mentions ’42nd Street’ you will think Times Square.
Unlike many New Yorkers, I really do like Times Square – not the tourists, not the shops, or the restaurants; I am not even a huge fan of big Broadway shows – I just LOVE the spectacle of the space, the lights, and the energy of it all.
But this post is NOT about Times Square…
As a follow up to my recent post about historical preservation in the city, I want to share a ‘self-invented self-guided walking tour’ I took when I was still an architecture student in he early 1980’s of some magnificent spaces on the much less frenetic EAST 42nd Street…
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Design

American homes are often filled to capacity with STUFF.
We fill our closets, cupboards, attics, basements and garages with stuff – and sometimes rent a storage room (or two) such as a self storage facility in Perth for the ‘extra stuff’ that won’t fit in those other places.
In the nearly three decades that I have been designing residential interiors I have seen a lot of homes – and nearly everyone has accumulated more stuff than they need, want, use, and in many cases don’t even like….
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Design

Recently a friend from California made the comment “Brooklyn is the hippest place on earth.”
And I thought, I live in Brooklyn. Well, actually Brooklyn Heights.
But the truth is Brooklyn is enormous, and has countless distinct neighborhoods including a multitude of ethnic groups – and the entire range of the socioeconomic spectrum – as well as pockets of unique and creative enterprises.
And while my neighborhood is very beautiful, it most certainly is not hip.
Now I admit I am older than 22; I have not grown the ubiquitous Brooklyn beard; and while I have seen and done some very cool things in Brooklyn, I cannot say I am on the pulse of all things Brooklyn.
I was looking forward to Day 2 of the Design Leadership Summit 2014 at Industry City in Brooklyn – wherever that turned out to be….
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