Beautiful Architecture

* Please note that I am not an architectural critic, nor do I know much about what creates "good" design - it is merely a musing on what I find enjoyable to look at.

One of the great parts about living in New York City is that there is a ton of really fantastic architecture around. I tend to find myself among those that love the more classic architecture of the earlier part of the 20th century. Most modern day skyscrapers made of mostly glass I feel are less beautiful and do nothing to really enhance the skyline (this includes the new Bank of America Building, Trump Tower, or even the new New York Times building I'm not such a fan of).

I like buildings with stone or marble - I think you can do a lot more design-wise with these elements. You can create things that flat glass and metal cannot. There are so many great buildings in this city. Some are the really obvious ones:


The Flat Iron Building (completed in 1902)


The New York Public Library Main Branch (Completed in 1911) *This photo is obviously not taken by me, but is available on Wikimedia Commons.


The Empire State Building (completed in 1931)

These buildings all have substance to them, and it feels like they have a timeless, classic design, and are sturdy to withstand time. Maybe it's also they sense of history that they carry. It seems like all of the glass towers just reflect what is around them, while the older ones can stand beautifully on their own - rather than reflecting the world around them, they contribute style and substance to the world.

Some of the buildings have such great details:


527 West 110th Street (this photo by me, but there are some other nice photos at the link).

and also:

Beautiful detail of a building on Central Park West

These are the kind of details that you cannot see in a building like the glass towers described above, and that are so popular now. I wonder how, 50 years from now people will appreciate the glass versus the intricate details above.

The thing that inspired the post today was a brief mention on the New York times website about how the economic times effect architecture. The article: Urban Un-Planning - Form Follows Finance described how the financial climate of the times influences the landscape.

What caught my interest is the part about the Hearst Building. Here is a building that has at it's base - beautiful stone scuplture, and above a really well done, modern glass tower.



Norman Foster who did the design on the modern portion of the tower, and I think he did a wonderful job of creating an appealing design, it looks more like a sculpture and compliments the intricacies of the base architecture. It is one of the few newer buildings that I enjoy...

Delusions of Spring

(Photo taken in Central Park, Spring 2008)

I was thinking about spring...and how much I wish it would come! It's not the end of February yet, but it sure seems like it's been winter for a long long time...and that spring is long overdue!

Yesterday I checked the forecast for today and saw that it was supposed to be a high of 48 degrees and sunny...not so bad for the end of February I thought! This morning I got ready for work, put my skirt on, decided to forgo the tights and walked outside wearing my lighter raincoat (instead of the knee length wool winter coat) and was promptly greeted by a bitter cold blast of wind.

The wind gusts on West End avenue can be quite "moving", especially when the wind is blowing quickly. It's not uncommon to see entire metal newspaper stands blown over (not a newspaper rack...no, a whole stand, the kind in which you put the change in and open the door). I don't believe those are so light as a feather, so I imagine it takes quite a wind to blow them down.

I was sorely disappointed that I hadn't re-checked the forecast this morning before I left (never again will I rely on information from the evening before!). When I looked what the temperature was on my iPhone, weather.com said that it felt like 8 degrees! needless to say my damp hair was no longer damp - it held more the consistency of straw, and my legs were getting numb with cold.

Well - what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and so far no signs of pneumonia! Daily lesson: Always check the forecast before you leave the house, and don't let your desire for spring weather trick you into thinking it's here...

The Valentine

To the one that makes me happy, the love of my life and a wonderful technical nerd (in the most endearing sense)...Happy Valentine's day to Felipe! You make my life so much more enjoyable, and I love every minute that we spend together!

Happy Valentine's day to the rest of you as well!

Things to Make Me Feel Better

I've had several difficult days this last couple of weeks. Thursday I came home after work and had the pleasant surprise of two people wanting to cheer me up! It had been just an awful day, and I was angry, upset, sad, and frustrated. When I got home I had the surprise of a gift from Grace, my younger sister, who had sent me a card along with two of my dad's books that I had to leave behind in Milwaukee. The card inside said "I hope this brightens your day" and indeed it did. In addition to that nice surprise, when Felipe arrived home he had brought me some beautiful yellow spider mums to help cheer me up. Together, I was feeling much better than earlier that day.

Here are a couple more photos:


This book is great. It's got a wealth of phrases for correspondence, which is really great as I am trying this year to improve my writing (letters and notes to others, writing on this blog, and also writing in my journal).

The book has such useful phrase as:
"I thank my good star that ---" (for good fortune)
"I cannot refrain from expressing my admiring appreciation of ---" (Courtesy/congratulatory)

and so on!

And then there is the Enchanting Stories:


This is a story book that was "owned" by my dad when he was a very young kid:

Snowy Night

Today it snowed ALL day! It was a beautiful snow (well...didn't look great from my desk window), but when I walked outside I saw beautiful snow all over the trees (see the first picture below).

It was one of those quiet snows, the noise seemed to disappear with the floating snow flakes.