paris postcard: versailles views (day 2)

whoa. not parisienne style...

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the lovely l'orangerie

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all photos taken may 21, 2011

© anita aguilar

paris postcard: from the balcony, night 1...

the tour maine-montparnasse was, until 2011, the tallest skyscraper in france. at 689 feet (59 floors), this monolithic slab dominates the view in montparnasse (and it serves an effective landmark for us, but skyscrapers were banned in the city center two years after its completion).

may 19, 2011

tourist vista: "following the sun"

(with apologies to mfw, for stealing his post title)

one early evening last week, i left the office and followed the sun.

it took me downtown.

and then we drifted west, and i walked--for the very first time--though the washington square village apartment complex.

this massive, "tower in the park" superstructure is generally not esteemed (certainly not by anyone i know) so i was surprised at just how lovely the interior courtyard-slash-parking lot looked that day. the yellow fooled me for a moment--i forgot i was in new york city. until a guy started screaming at me--a security guard, admonishing me for trying to take a photo.

is the rest of the world as paranoid as we are?

here's all i got from "the inside":

ok. i snuck in one more, closer to i.m. pei's "university village" (far less charming than the colorful glazed brick of the washington square apartments) :

this 60-ton, 36-foot high sculpture, by carl nesjar --also new to these eyes--is based on picasso's "sylvette." it was rendered by sandblasting norwegian basalt and cement...

the spirit of 76?

"the silver beekman"

beekman towers, frank gehry's ready-to-rent residential design in lower manhattan, is 76 stories tall. i had mistakenly suggested to mfw that it is something like 106 stories. i am mostly indifferent to numbers, but i should have paid closer attention to such an important fact. the truth is though, when you stand at the base of the towers as i did last week, 76 and 106 stories look pretty much the same. too high.

and from that ground level vantage point, i wasn't convinced the beekman suits new york. it's impressive--for its scale and uncommon shape. and it can be mesmerizing-- the sky was bright and blue when i arrived at around 2pm, and the beekman captured the color perfectly, nearly blending into the sky. i imagined for a moment i was in south beach. when i left my appointment several hours later, grey sky had moved in, intensifying the steeliness. the bernini -inspired folds became reptilian and futuristic, like we were living in some michael bay 3D universe--the dark side of the moon. this was, for obvious reasons, the scary beekman. the sky changed yet another time and it shone silver--it could have been a landmark in any flashy town: vegas, atlantic city, dubai. it bothered me a little at first, that it could be so "anywhere." but it's rather a great trick. i'm no architectural scholar, but isn't it often the case the character of a building (if you think it has one at all) is evidenced by its shape and its architectural flourishes? but this one seems to have been given a personality that can change.

eb white wrote, "new york is peculiarly constructed to absorb almost anything that comes along." so perhaps the beekman, with its ability to absorb and exude light, is quintessentially "new york" after all?

the "sobe" beekman

the "michael bay" beekman

the reptilian view

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and this is what makes me think frank gehry must be an incredibly charming fellow. when i was at the site, i wasn't exactly sure if the beekman was set behind and separate from the orange brick structure in the foreground, or if it formed the base of the actual skyscraper (i'd forgotten that the nytimes mentioned it). paul goldberger reviewed 8 spruce in this week's new yorker and reminded that it was a single structure, with the contrasting base intended to tie the tower to the rest of the neighborhood. who else could win with this visually ridiculous solution? not too many.

same with having a 4th side of the building, the south side, flat (let's make one side of this "plain"...).

but i'm open to the idea that it might give a great effect.

i'll have to take it all in this summer, in the twilight, perhaps from somewhere across the river. i'll try to make a few good pictures then, too.

sukkah city 2010

sukkah city was an invitation to reimagine the sukkah – a temporary structure created for use for one week during the jewish festival of sukkot, as a symbol of the transience of life and dependence on god, and to foster a reconnection with nature. the international competition received 600 entries from 43 countries; a jury of 14 designers selected 12 works as finalists. those pieces lived temporarily, appropriately, in union square for 2 days, on september 19-20. a "people's choice" winner will remain in the square through october 2.

from an architectural standpoint, this presented an interesting design challenge, both conceptually and formally, with its strict parameters regarding size (it must enclose a minimum square area of at least 7 x 7 square handbreadths), dimension (at least 3 walls, but the third doesn’t have to be complete; if it has only 2 complete walls “the third wall of at least 4 handbreadths" must be within at least 3 handbreadths of one the complete walls), materials (no bundles of straw for the roof, though individual sticks may be okay. the roof may also not be made of utensils or food). questions of orthodoxy apparently factored into the voting--at least for the people's choice competition-- just as heavily as the innovative design elements.

as public art it seemed to serve its function: to inspire engagement, calm, thoughtfulness, curiosity, crowds, education...and photography.

here are a few shots from monday afternoon:

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time/timeless by peter sagar (uk)...

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single thread...matter practice, brooklyn

an amazing 2000 lb spool of wire, woven around temporary bamboo "scaffolding" ...

a "single line" that meanders...

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log...kyle may and scott abrahams

an 18-foot cedar log, as the sukkah "roof"

laminated glass offer a view of "the heavens"

(and each other)

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repetition meets difference...matthias karch (berlin, germany)

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blo puff...bittertang, brooklyn

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sukkah of the signs...ronald rael and virginia san fratello (oakland, ca)

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gathering...dale suttle, so sugita, and ginna nguyen (ny, ny)

all photos © anita aguilar

AMO the ARG: the "i enjoy being a girl" edition...

though i didn't come close to z in terms of pace and volume, i too got my "girl" on--squeezed in little bit of real shopping--during the week. i bought scarves and bags, candies and a great art book--some items for me, others to give. carla danelli, the very last store i visited, is one of my favorites in part because of the store itself. the entrance on carlos calvo 372, off calle defensa, is easy to miss, especially if you're not familiar with the brand name. (i found my way there by following a plain brown sign that said "leather goods.") it exemplifies a restored "chorizo" house, so named because of the structure's elongated space; rooms are located one behind the other with galleries and patios connecting indoor and outdoor spaces.

behind the store's front door and up a few steps, is the open-air patio with hanging plants, a green wall of ivy, even a "santo." the brick and wrought iron are painted a pale pink and white; marble and colorful tilework add old argentine flair. the sun glowed softly through the doors and windows, i could hear quiet city sounds. it was a combination retreat/retail experience.

and there's the stuff: carla danelli, an exclusive brand created by merecer, s.a., one of the most renowned leather goods manufacturers in argentina, has some beautiful pieces in its collection (some of which you can see here. i came home with 3 chic and reasonably priced bags from the summer line).

but my favorite part was chatting with joanna. like most everyone i met during the trip, she was open, forgiving of my limited language skills (which incidentally petered off toward the end of the week. i think i was getting tired?), curious about my impressions of buenos aires, and generous with suggestions for where to go next time. and we talked a little about new york--she's never been but wants to visit someday. to her it is "like...a wonderland..."

very nice words to carry home.

the lovely senorita joanna.

AMO the ARG: the streets of san telmo

as z and i finished lunch, we exchanged thoughts on what we'd seen of san telmo to try to decide whether we wanted to return later in the week. we both thought, cute, but not sure about coming back... but to that point, i'd spent most of the day waiting for her in the plaza dorrego and a short section of calle defensa. i hadn't explored the side streets, hadn't visited many stores. she had done some good damage in a few boutiques and was ready to head back. i decided to linger and see what else san telmo had to offer.

first stop was sima, specializing in leather bags and shoes, which she recommended. i had a nice chat with the proprietor, and contemplated some gift buying, but decided to hold off. i wanted to look around more.

the rest of the time, i enjoyed life on the streets, admiring the art and the architecture. i hope you will like what you see as much as i did. these photos are from the full day...the weather turned dramatically in the late afternoon. it would rain--pour--long into the night.

avenida san juan

i peeked through the fencing for this one. no view of the courts, just the sign.
avenida san juan.

according to my trusty guide book, san telmo was in the nineteenth century the province of the very wealthy...they fled the town for better air after a yellow fever epidemic in 1871. the new inhabitants, mostly immigrant, left the original buildings largely intact, but adapted them for their use, converting mansions into tenement housing.

while the area remains largely working class, it's also enjoying a resurgence, buoyed by the arrival of smaller business--shops, galleries, bars, and restaurants--who no doubt see the beauty of "the bones" of the place and understand its potential to attract enthusiastic tourists. like me.

the intersection of calle defense and chile

i was trying to capture the long, pretty view of the narrow streets (here, calle defensa)

and the view from the wider ones, like calle independencia.

independencia/defensa

an evita-esque balcony.

more defensa, but further north...

i should probably stop with the "me in the mirror" shots...but i probably never will...ha.

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pasaje san lorenzo is renowned as one of the smallest, most colorful and charming streets in town...

on the right, is "casa minima" at no. 380 san lorenzo. it is the narrowest building in buenos aires.
trusty guide book tells me its 2.17 meters (what's the conversion?). anyway, tiny...

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peru

independencia

peru, i think.

defensa

all photos © anita aguilar