[image: Grzywinski+Pons]

Grzywinski+Pons also designed the Hotel on Rivington that inhabits the neighborhood in a rather intrusive way, if you will pardon my judgment here. I guess I could say that I am a fan of their aesthetic, but not of their buildings' relationships with the surrounding spaces and with the idioms of the neighborhoods.

Once inside their spaces, the experience is quite different. Inside one of the rooms at this Lower East Side hotel, the city is your oyster (pearl included). The grey, white, and yellow color palette, pictured above, is minimalist and luxurious at the same time. And definitely on-trend this season. Have you visited a Kenneth Cole store this Spring, for example?

[images: Grzywinski+Pons by way of New York magazine]
click to here view additional photos

Speaking of New York magazine's "Hyper Design" issue, did you happen to see this eye-popping Modernist home, pictured above, in Flushing, Queens? Admittedly, I am looking longingly at the subterranean pool, and at the room off the pool, and at the furniture from Ligne Roset and Poliform. The owner, John Hsu, is a developer with high profile projects in Manhattan, including a new 60-room hotel in NoLita designed by the same architects that designed his home, Grzywinski+Pons. For the record, Hsu got a discount on all the furniture through his pre-existing relationships with Ligne Roset and Poliform from "work." How nice.

My question is this. If Hsu met with such opposition from the neighborhood over the design of his home, as the article describes, why would he want it published in such detail for all to see? I personally would want to lay low for awhile until the neighborhood rage subsided.

I was given a copy of Preservation at the beginning of the week, an architecture magazine connected to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and I have to say, I have been devouring every word. This issue highlights the restrained beauty of Modernist architecture, and the importance of preserving examples of Modernism around the world. Being a fan of this period and aesthetic, I feel like I want to get out and do some advocacy work. There are a number of articles available online. I recommend all of them: The Modernist Manifesto, Air Age Gothic and Palm Springs Eternal, to name a few.

Since the Lever House font is the font that started my Fontastic! series on the blog, it surely deserves an inclusion here. Remember when the Lever House used to have this site-specific painting? I loved walking under that painting. Why did it have to be painted out? Yes, temporary art is beautiful, but I wish it would just become permanent. Read more about what it was and why it's gone.

The Lever House in March 2007. This site-specific painting, Robert Towne,
by Sarah Morris was on view from September 12, 2006-March 12, 2007.
I happened to be walking by the day they were painting it.
That was pretty neat. I really loved this painting.

The Maritime Hotel


Plenty of greenery in this spacious, stunning outdoor patio

Sharing a meal with someone you love at an outdoor patio you love can be transporting. If the patio is right, that is. I am a big fan of La Bottega's spacious patio, high above the street, enclosed in its own little world, and decorated so thoroughly. I love the latticework of umbrellas, trees and hanging lanterns overhead which make you feel so cozy as you dine. There is a distinct tropical mood too, adding to the fantasy of being transported to somewhere warm and relaxing.

The backdrop of this Chelsea outdoor patio is the The Maritime Hotel, designed in 1966 for the National Maritime Union by Albert C. Ledner, a New Orleans architect. It is an architectural beauty in my book.

The mood at La Bottega is ideal for lunch, brunch or dinner, and the Italian menu offers many options. Don't you want to go tonight? I do too.


La Bottega
at The Maritime Hotel
363 W 16th Street at 9th Avenue
212.242.4300

The equally-spaced lanterns echo the great wall of portals

I would love to have these mosaic door handles on my front door. It is sometimes hard to tell in New York if certain details are original or expertly recreated. I am going to guess that these works of art are original. But then again, I am not sure.

The Website notes that the Double Tree Metropolitan Hotel has been "restored to reflect its retro, 1960's glory." I also read that it was recently designated an historic landmark. The hotel was designed in 1961 by architect Morris Lapidus, who also designed Miami's legendary Fontainebleau and Eden Roc hotels. I remember visiting both hotels on my childhood trips to Miami Beach. Even to 8 year old eyes, they were pretty spectacular. So what is the answer, original or recreated?

Photographed at the 51st Street entrance of the hotel (located at 569 Lexington Avenue). There are many mid-century treasures to be found in Midtown.

Pierre Jeanneret Armchair, 1952-1956 [photo: artnet.com]

Angela Adams Chair, 2006 [photo: angelaadams.com]

I just received a notice of the new Angela Adams website, with a pretty nice in situ photgraph of one of her rugs. (Keep clicking on her name in the upper left to scroll through the different index pages.) She is quite the design powerhouse these days, adding every product for the home in sight, including fabulous custom tiles with Ann Sacks, which I rather like, and wood furniture with Sherwood Hamill too.

The day before my birthday this past year, I saw a wonderful exhibition at the Sonnabend Gallery in Chelsea of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret. As soon as I saw Angela Adams' furniture offerings, I thought of this show. Her style is very Jeanneret, non? Oui?

invitation to the exhibition

Catedral Metropolitana de Nossa Senhora Aparecida, Brasilia

I want to show you some of Oscar Niemeyer's buildings. Did you know he was one of the major architects in the design and construction of Brasilia, Brazil's newly established capital replacing Rio de Janeiro as of 1956? Did you know he was one of the architects (along with le Corbusier) who designed the U.N.? He breaks from convention to create space-aged structures and shapes that really soar. His building are so incredible! I love his curves and his flying saucer shapes. Why did I never know about him before? Is there a documentary film about Niemeyer? Please comment if you know of one. Here is a link to more great pics beyond what I have posted.

I investigated plane fairs to go visit. Around $700 roundtrip per person from New York, and approximately 12 hours of flight time. I selected a random Tuesday to Tuesday trip for two in October. Don't you want to go on an architectural tour of this city? I do.

Cathedral, inside

Niteroi Museum of Contemporary Art, Brazil


Alvorada Palace, Brasilia


Congress Building, Brasilia


U.N. Secretariat (left), New York