What
fun I had this past weekend! Open House New York is a weekend where
different buildings, and types of buildings, are open to the public.
There are two types of events—freebies and $5.00-a-pop, reservation-only
events. I opted for the freebies.
On
Saturday, I visited eight spots and then another four on Sunday. I
started in Brooklyn, with the BRIC Arts | Media House, followed by the
Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew. Both were very interesting, and the
church had printed material that allowed a self-guided tour. A big plus, as
far as I’m concerned.
On to Manhattan and two
architecture firms in Chelsea—EOA / Elmslie Osler Architect, and
parallel design (their choice of all lower case letters). EOA has
designed several Anthologie stores, as well as some high-end residences
(e.g., the Hamptons). Ali Tayar was the architect-in-residence at
parallel, and I had a one-on-one, as he demonstrated some of his
designs.
My next stop was one I was bound and
determined to do this year, as I missed out on it last year. The
Jefferson Market Library on West 10th Street has a 149-step circular
staircase up into the tower. Some of you may have seen this iconic
building—it looks like a little castle in the heart of Greenwich
Village. The staircase is so narrow that it’s one-way only. As a result,
it’s somewhat time consuming if you have to wait for other folks to
come down (or go up). But it was worth it. The views are fun; it’s
something that I’d recommend to anyone at future OHNYs.
Next
on my list was the Rubin Museum of Art, which was free for the day if
you mentioned OHNY. I did, of course. The exhibition currently on
display is Himalayan art—not necessarily my favorite—however, the design
of the building was a real treat to experience. I followed this with a
walk of the full length of the High Line, which was not really an OHNY
event, but I wanted to see the new extension up to 34th Street. It’s a
lot of fun; the trail eases gently down to street level, with no stairs
to navigate.
My final Saturday stop was the
Bronx Library Center, a building I have been to before for a concert. It
was a bit of a bust on Saturday, as I had missed the tours earlier on
in the day. Whew!
Starting over on Sunday, I
went down to the Lower East Side and caught a really cool experience at
the Bullet Space (ask about the name some time). The building is one of the only ten left where the
squatters who moved in during the ’70s and ’80s are still (legally)
running the building. The ground floor is an art gallery and there are
artifacts on display down in the basement. The gal giving us the tour
was a blast, and she added a lot of in-the-know information.
Unfortunately, when I got to General Theological Seminary I was greeted
by a sign that said they were not able to participate this year. It goes
on the list for 2015, I guess.
The (rather
crowded) tour of the Frick Art Reference Library more than made up for
missing out on the seminary. The tour guide was very knowledgeable, and
provided a great deal of information on the architects involved and the
history of the building, including info on its symbiotic relationship
with the Frick Museum. A beautiful place to visit (and it’s free and
open to the public year ’round), and we got a special treat by visiting
the penthouse and the outdoor terrace, areas not usually open to the
public, with beautiful views of Central Park and the West Side.
Upper
Manhattan beckoned for the last two sites that I went to. Highbridge
Park and Recreation Center had the design work of high school students
on display—they designed new changing areas for an outdoor pool (built
originally as part of the WPA in the ’30s). The indoor space that was
reclaimed was turned into a computer lab and a mixed-use room for the
students. This was followed by a Solar Roofpod visit as part of the
Architecture department of City University of New York. As part of a
design competition, the college students designed and built an
800-square-foot, solar-powered area that includes a resting space (a
Murphy Bed®), a compact mechanical room, an open kitchen, and a living
room. The unit was designed and built in NYC, then dismantled and
shipped to Washington, DC, mantled there (opposite of dismantled doncha
know!), then reversed back to NYC. Very interesting, indeed.
As was Open House New York, which will be on my watch list for 2015 and beyond.
ArchitectureMeister
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