Paris, a Roman City

One of the first assignments of the Spring semester (more on my classes in a future post) is Paris, a Roman City, an interactive web page on the archeology of the city -- a historical period that is often overlooked in favor of eras like Haussman's plan -- by France's Ministry of Culture and Communication. It's informative, well-done, and visually rich; well worth browsing.

30 in 30

Here's a wrap-up of my 30 buildings/places in 30 days:

















Also see my 30in30 Flickr set.

30 in 30: #30

In thinking about how to complete this series on my urban exploration of New York City this last month, part of me wanted to present something new and rarely seen. At the same time, part of me wanted to present something that's been around a while, something that I know somewhat well. I opted for the latter, presenting here the Storefront for Art and Architecture by Steven Holl and Vito Acconci, which I featured on my weekly page way back in 1999, shortly after I started that page.



When I walked by the storefront recently I saw the trademark swinging panels in the closed position. It was Tuesday, so the gallery was supposed to be open, meaning the panels should also be open. Upon opening the entry door stepping inside I discovered why the panels were closed: for the Clip/Stamp/Fold exhibition, the inside surface of this wall was completely covered with a grid of rectangular images, the covers of the magazines on display.



Ever since (and probably before) working on a student-run journal in college many moons ago, I've had a fondness for architectural publications, so I was looking forward to this exhibition, subtitled "The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines 196X–197X." It catalogs a time, "when a remarkable outburst of publications disseminated and catalyzed a range of experimental practices." The exhibition makes this outburst known, overwhelming the visitor with what must be thousands of covers on the gridded wall; opposite are descriptions of the various magazines on curved plastic panels; in between are plastic bubbles containing the actual magazines; lastly, plastic domes hang from the ceiling with audio by various contributors and voices of the magazines.



The exhibition requires a prolonged (or repeated) visit to take in the numerous magazines and their descriptions. Even without the time on my visit I was impressed by the output, coming at a time when architects built little and found a means of expression in words and images on paper. Perhaps this sort of output has been supplanted by blogs and other online ephemera, though -- like books -- there's much to be said for something that can be held in your hands, carried with you, and shared with others. It makes me want to start up my own little magazine!



Apparently others have also been impressed by the exhibition, as its closing date has been moved from January 31 to February 24. For those of you who can't make it, the online companion is a great resource, with descriptions of each magazine in an interactive timeline.

Directions:
The gallery is located at 97 Kenmare Street (at Cleveland Place) in Manhattan's Little Italy area. It can be reached by the 6 to Spring; N,R to Prince; B,D,F,V to Broadway Lafayette.

Previously:
#1 - Church of the Crucifixion
#2 - 40 Mercer Residences
#3 - Dichroic Light Field
#4 - Juan Valdez Flagship
#5 - IAC/InterActiveCorp
#6 - South Court of NYPL
#7 - Louis Vuitton Store
#8 - Ironworkers Local 580
#9 - Korean Presbyterian Church
#10 - Roosevelt Island
#11 - Stabile Hall (Pratt)
#12 - Terian Design Center (Pratt)
#13 - Higgins Hall (Pratt)
#14 - Broken Angel
#15 - Alessi Store
#16 - Irish Hunger Memorial
#17 - Issey Miyake Tribeca
#18 - Stuyvesant Town
#19 - Shake Shack
#20 - Socrates Sculpture Park
#21 - Skyscraper Museum
#22 - Taschen Store
#23 - George Washington Bridge Bus Station
#24 - George Washington Bridge
#25 - skinklinic
#26 - Blue Condominiums
#27 - Sleepwalkers
#28 - Melrose Community Center
#29 - APEX

Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

Bronx Museum of the Arts in The Bronx, New York by Arquitectonica.

The updated book feature is Sensory Design by Joy Monice Malnar and Frank Vodvarka.

Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

architect studio
"Architect's word = architect's world." (added to sidebar under blogs::architecture)

dezeen
A new online design magazine that provides "breaking news about what's happening in the design world and shows designers' latest work." (added to sidebar under blogs::design)

DesignNotes
"Another side of design." (added to sidebar under blogs::design)

30 in 30: #29

The Lehman College Physical Education Facility (APEX) in the Bronx by Rafael Vinoly was completed in 1994. What started as a conventional facility became a building that defines the college's northern edge and also provides a ceremonial gateway to the campus from this edge.



The street elevation of the complex is highly unremarkable, a concrete and glass wall that is more the latter than the former. The only relief comes at the aforementioned gateway opening. Once one moves through this opening to the south side of the building, the building changes character. "The building’s roof, a segmented convex curve, descends almost to the ground." Right of the image above are below-grade tennis courts. At left is the view below.



This campus-side elevation could have been extremely overpowering, though the architect skillfully breaks up the expansive roof into sections so that it doesn't appear unrelenting. While it may not "disappear from view" per the architect's intentions, as the campus's north edge it straddles that dividing line between ground and sky, like it's reaching for both at the same time.



On the day I visited, a basketball game was going on, allowing me access inside to see how the submerged gymnasium allows such a low roof. Additionally, this roof shape allows for seating to rise along with it, a sensible solution to the program which also stacks classrooms along the street edge. Nearing fifteen years old, the building's form works well as an icon for the campus, though its exterior and interior appear in need of some maintenance, something normal in the high-maintenance realm of secondary education.



Directions:
The building is located on the Lehman College campus in the Bronx on the south side of West Bedford Park Boulevard between Goulden and Paul Avenues. It can be reached by the 4 to Bedford Pk Blvd Lehman College.

Previously:
#1 - Church of the Crucifixion
#2 - 40 Mercer Residences
#3 - Dichroic Light Field
#4 - Juan Valdez Flagship
#5 - IAC/InterActiveCorp
#6 - South Court of NYPL
#7 - Louis Vuitton Store
#8 - Ironworkers Local 580
#9 - Korean Presbyterian Church
#10 - Roosevelt Island
#11 - Stabile Hall (Pratt)
#12 - Terian Design Center (Pratt)
#13 - Higgins Hall (Pratt)
#14 - Broken Angel
#15 - Alessi Store
#16 - Irish Hunger Memorial
#17 - Issey Miyake Tribeca
#18 - Stuyvesant Town
#19 - Shake Shack
#20 - Socrates Sculpture Park
#21 - Skyscraper Museum
#22 - Taschen Store
#23 - George Washington Bridge Bus Station
#24 - George Washington Bridge
#25 - skinklinic
#26 - Blue Condominiums
#27 - Sleepwalkers
#28 - Melrose Community Center

30 in 30: #28

The Melrose Community Center by Agrest + Gandelsonas in the South Bronx is "primarily geared towards teenagers, providing them with facilities for activities such as athletics, arts and crafts, videos, and computing," according to the architects.



The project is composed of two distinct volumes: an ovoid piece containing a gymnasium and a bar piece containing classrooms. Both are linked by the entrance. The above view shows what would be the back of the building, though here it is at its most transparent with the single-loaded corridor of the bar facing the lawn and street beyond. The front door and its hard horizontal and vertical planes shown below is a much different character. This side facing the housing blocks that the community center serves.



While the character of the bar building is "two-sided," the ovoid piece is consistent around its perimeter. Staggered aluminum panels sit above a concrete block base. A small window near the entry gives a peek into the gymnasium's interior. If this solid form were rectangular rather than oval, with sharp edges rather than a continuous soft surface, the "symbolic aspect of the project ... in its social function for the local residents who live amongst one of New York City’s highest crime rates" might be much different.



Down the street from this project is the Bronx County Hall of Justice by Rafael Vinoly. The massive, 775,000 s.f. complex consists of an unrelenting facade on 161st Street but a sensitively-handled courtyard to the rear. I bring this up because in this courtyard is a circular chamber that recalls this earlier Community Center both in uniqueness of form (set against orthogonal buildings) and material treatment (solid with sloping element). Perhaps Vinoly saw this earlier success and incorporated a similar feature into his more high-profile commission.



Directions:
The building is located at the southeast corner of Morris Avenue and 156th Street. It can be reached by the B,D,4 to 161 St Yankee Stadium.

Previously:
#1 - Church of the Crucifixion
#2 - 40 Mercer Residences
#3 - Dichroic Light Field
#4 - Juan Valdez Flagship
#5 - IAC/InterActiveCorp
#6 - South Court of NYPL
#7 - Louis Vuitton Store
#8 - Ironworkers Local 580
#9 - Korean Presbyterian Church
#10 - Roosevelt Island
#11 - Stabile Hall (Pratt)
#12 - Terian Design Center (Pratt)
#13 - Higgins Hall (Pratt)
#14 - Broken Angel
#15 - Alessi Store
#16 - Irish Hunger Memorial
#17 - Issey Miyake Tribeca
#18 - Stuyvesant Town
#19 - Shake Shack
#20 - Socrates Sculpture Park
#21 - Skyscraper Museum
#22 - Taschen Store
#23 - George Washington Bridge Bus Station
#24 - George Washington Bridge
#25 - skinklinic
#26 - Blue Condominiums
#27 - Sleepwalkers

30 in 30: #27

Sleepwalkers is a video installation by Doug Aiken that is currently on display (until Feb. 16) on the facades of the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown Manhattan. The images project "the nocturnal journeys of five city inhabitants," played by Tilda Swinton, Donald Sutherland, Chan Marshall (Cat Power), Seu Jorge, and Ryan Donowho.



The piece is described as a broken narrative, without beginning or end, where the characters "entwine across the building's surfaces in combinations that change cyclically throughout the course of the evening." On my visit this entwining was apparent as movement was consistent across the different images or stories. Unfortunately it was way too cold to stick around and take in the full cycle.



This is not only the first large-scale public artwork in the United States for the artist but also the first artwork to engage MoMA's latest expansion by Yoshio Taniguchi. To fully experience the piece one must walk from the 53rd side, along the western end of the museum, and end in the courtyard where the most images are displayed.



In the courtyard five of the eight images are displayed. These images are projected onto the museum's glass curtain walls. I'm guessing that by darkening the interior spaces that the effect of a readable image is created, rather than adding a film to the glass to achieve the same. Regardless of technical details, the impact on the courtyard space is undeniable.



Directions:
MOMA is located at 11 West 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It can be reached by the B,D,F,V to 47-50 Sts Rockefeller Center.

Previously:
#1 - Church of the Crucifixion
#2 - 40 Mercer Residences
#3 - Dichroic Light Field
#4 - Juan Valdez Flagship
#5 - IAC/InterActiveCorp
#6 - South Court of NYPL
#7 - Louis Vuitton Store
#8 - Ironworkers Local 580
#9 - Korean Presbyterian Church
#10 - Roosevelt Island
#11 - Stabile Hall (Pratt)
#12 - Terian Design Center (Pratt)
#13 - Higgins Hall (Pratt)
#14 - Broken Angel
#15 - Alessi Store
#16 - Irish Hunger Memorial
#17 - Issey Miyake Tribeca
#18 - Stuyvesant Town
#19 - Shake Shack
#20 - Socrates Sculpture Park
#21 - Skyscraper Museum
#22 - Taschen Store
#23 - George Washington Bridge Bus Station
#24 - George Washington Bridge
#25 - skinklinic
#26 - Blue Condominiums

30 in 30: #26

Back in the early days of these posts I featured two contemporary structures under construction though almost complete. While Nouvel's residential building veers from it context in terms of materials, its size and scale are commensurate with the area. Gehry's building, on the other hand, pops up above its context, almost to signal something new, to call attention to itself. The BLUE Condominium by Bernard Tschumi on Manhattan's Lower East Side is more aligned with Gehry's office building than Nouvel's residential one, as can be seen by the below image.



BLUE is not the first high-rise to puncture the low-rise skyline of "Loisada." It's predated by The Hotel on Rivington (THOR), a glassy building that angles away from the street as it rises, a common, contemporary response to the city's zoning ordinance. Likewise, Tschumi's design responds to the zoning, though before it tapers towards the top it actually leans out on the south and east sides (above). These moves do what I think Tschumi is trying to do overall: give the building a different presence from different views.



This view above is looking directly north above Delancey Street. Its presence is rather slim, elegant even, notching at the top to give the penthouse unit (PDF) a sizable roof terrace. But the top photo shows a much-less elegant side of the building. If anything it appears clunky, with the west-facing notches making abrupt changes that don't jibe with the angles of the rest of the design, as in the bottom photo.



Even though there's a strong consideration of the 360-degree views (important as it's such a large presence in the area, at least for now), the building still has a front. In its address on Norfolk (next to nARCHITECTS's Switch Building, above), we see the simplest side of the building, where a slight angle out gives way to a sharper angle back to the building's apex and the north side is a vertical, party-wall condition. The street side gives us a clearer reading of the design: each elevation responds in some way to the zoning requirements while Tschumi (perhaps subconsciously) incorporates the base-middle-top parti so predominant in high-rise architecture. The stepping of the top helps define this area as part of the tripartite, as the curtain wall makes no concession otherwise. The bottom is defined by the low corner building that the building integrates into itself. It's like Tschumi is trying to create an unconventional building within the conventional framework of the city and of architecture.



Directions:
The building is located on Norfolk Avenue, between Delancey and Rivington Avenues in Manhattan's Lower East Side. It can be reached by the F,J,M,Z to Delancey St or Essex St.

Previously:
#1 - Church of the Crucifixion
#2 - 40 Mercer Residences
#3 - Dichroic Light Field
#4 - Juan Valdez Flagship
#5 - IAC/InterActiveCorp
#6 - South Court of NYPL
#7 - Louis Vuitton Store
#8 - Ironworkers Local 580
#9 - Korean Presbyterian Church
#10 - Roosevelt Island
#11 - Stabile Hall (Pratt)
#12 - Terian Design Center (Pratt)
#13 - Higgins Hall (Pratt)
#14 - Broken Angel
#15 - Alessi Store
#16 - Irish Hunger Memorial
#17 - Issey Miyake Tribeca
#18 - Stuyvesant Town
#19 - Shake Shack
#20 - Socrates Sculpture Park
#21 - Skyscraper Museum
#22 - Taschen Store
#23 - George Washington Bridge Bus Station
#24 - George Washington Bridge
#25 - skinklinic

30 in 30: #25

Many architectural guidebooks to New York City have the unfortunate trait of featuring numerous projects that are not accessible to the public. These include of course private residences but also commercial spaces. Seeing Richardson Sadeki's design for skinklinic (now Sleek MedSpa) in one of these books, I figured that it fell into the latter. Nevertheless I thought I'd give it a shot.



Located at 800 Fifth Avenue, overlooking the southern tip of Central Park, I walked around the residential tower to see if I could take in the project from the sidewalk. What I encountered directly east of the building was a private park but an open gate. I could tell from the view above that I was in the right place. The mirrored wall with plenty of light fixtures appeared to lead to something special.



Slowly walking towards the gap between the mirrored and stone walls, I could see the ghostly imprint of the skinklinic name, something that seemed sensible, given the change of ownership, but odd given the lack of a new sign for the new name.



Rounding the corner I found the above view. I figured the reflecting pool would be drained for the winter but my first impression was that the spa is closed. The sign, though, indicated to use the Fifth Avenue entrance. Okay, but does that mean that this rear portion is no longer used? As can be seen from the architect's photo below (what drew me to find the spa), this would be a shame. Not only is the design like an oasis in the city, it's also an appropriate transition from the noise and bustle of the streets to the calm and quiet of the spa. It's these sorts of spaces that make a difference, not just simply a door off the sidewalk.



Directions:
The spa is located at the rear of 800 Fifth Avenue. It can be reached by the A to 175 St.

Previously:
#1 - Church of the Crucifixion
#2 - 40 Mercer Residences
#3 - Dichroic Light Field
#4 - Juan Valdez Flagship
#5 - IAC/InterActiveCorp
#6 - South Court of NYPL
#7 - Louis Vuitton Store
#8 - Ironworkers Local 580
#9 - Korean Presbyterian Church
#10 - Roosevelt Island
#11 - Stabile Hall (Pratt)
#12 - Terian Design Center (Pratt)
#13 - Higgins Hall (Pratt)
#14 - Broken Angel
#15 - Alessi Store
#16 - Irish Hunger Memorial
#17 - Issey Miyake Tribeca
#18 - Stuyvesant Town
#19 - Shake Shack
#20 - Socrates Sculpture Park
#21 - Skyscraper Museum
#22 - Taschen Store
#23 - George Washington Bridge Bus Station
#24 - George Washington Bridge

30 in 30: #24

"The George Washington Bridge over the Hudson is the most beautiful bridge in the world. Made of cables and steel beams, it gleams in the sky like a reversed arch. It is blessed. It is the only seat of grace in the disordered city. It is painted an aluminum color and, between water and sky, you see nothing but the bent cord supported by two steel towers. When your car moves up the ramp the two towers rise so high that it brings you happiness; their structure is so pure, so resolute, so regular that here, finally, steel architecture seems to laugh."



Today many would argue the above assertion by Le Corbusier, made in 1947 for the structure completed in 1931. The Brooklyn Bridge is much more beloved than this bridge that links New Jersey and Upper Manhattan. But Le Corbusier was speaking polemically, arguing for an architecture of economy, an expression of technology (in this case steel), an unadorned beauty.



To experience the bridge on foot - something that can be done on most of Manhattan's bridges - is to experience it in a much different way than Le Corbusier did over fifty years ago. First, one doesn't pass under the tall archway but rather actually engages the leg as it meets the roadway and sidewalk. A glimpse up reveals a dense network of steel, like one cut-out pattern is repeated four times and connected horizontally. Second, the scale and size of the suspension members is perceived to be much larger in person than when zipping (or crawling) by in a car. Basically, the bridge is more staid than Le Corbusier would have one believe.



Like the other Manhattan bridges, where the GW doesn't disappoint is the views it affords of Manhattan and its surroundings. The experience of the bridge is one of noise and a sidewalk not conducive to foot traffic like the Brooklyn Bridge, but it's worth it for its unique glimpse of the Hudson, New York, and New Jersey.



Directions:
The bridge can be accessed on foot at 178th or 179th Streets, at Cabrini Boulevard. It can be reached by the A to 175 St.

Previously:
#1 - Church of the Crucifixion
#2 - 40 Mercer Residences
#3 - Dichroic Light Field
#4 - Juan Valdez Flagship
#5 - IAC/InterActiveCorp
#6 - South Court of NYPL
#7 - Louis Vuitton Store
#8 - Ironworkers Local 580
#9 - Korean Presbyterian Church
#10 - Roosevelt Island
#11 - Stabile Hall (Pratt)
#12 - Terian Design Center (Pratt)
#13 - Higgins Hall (Pratt)
#14 - Broken Angel
#15 - Alessi Store
#16 - Irish Hunger Memorial
#17 - Issey Miyake Tribeca
#18 - Stuyvesant Town
#19 - Shake Shack
#20 - Socrates Sculpture Park
#21 - Skyscraper Museum
#22 - Taschen Store
#23 - George Washington Bridge Bus Station

30 in 30: #23

The George Washington Bridge Bus Station takes its name from its unique location, straddling a roadway in line with the bridge. This situation allows buses to enter and exit the bridge directly, without dealing with any other traffic. Additionally, cars and trucks crossing from New Jersey to Manhattan (and vice-versa) actually travel underneath the station which links with the MTA's A-train further underground.



Designed by Italian architect-engineer Pier Luigi Nervi and opened in 1963, the station is typical of his designs: formally inventive, plastic, and long-span. Although I can't say for sure what changes have been made to his design in the last 40+ years, it appears that various pieces have been added to accommodate a public accustomed to American comforts.



The most apparent disconnect between Nervi's concrete structure and its fittings is the plastic vaults that sit under the large roof upstairs and shelter those waiting from the wind. On the cold day I visited they seemed to be warranted, though they didn't have the intended effect as the wind found its way into the openings from which one would enter and leave.



Functional considerations aside, what these plastic tunnels unfortunately do is distract those waiting from seeing and experiencing the complex roof structure above. A triangular waffle slab is used for the horizontal surfaces. Clear and louvered glazing is fitted between more triangular framing on the vertical surfaces that project above the lower roof line. On an overcast day the effect isn't too impressive, but these light monitors do allow light to the waiting area below while still providing shade in the hot months. Natural ventilation is coupled with natural illumination to create a pleasing alternative to what could have been something reliant upon mechanical and electrical means.



Directions:
The bus station is located between between 178th and 179th Streets, and Fort Washington and Wadsworth Avenues in the Washington Heights district of Manhattan. It can be reached by the A to 175 St.

Previously:
#1 - Church of the Crucifixion
#2 - 40 Mercer Residences
#3 - Dichroic Light Field
#4 - Juan Valdez Flagship
#5 - IAC/InterActiveCorp
#6 - South Court of NYPL
#7 - Louis Vuitton Store
#8 - Ironworkers Local 580
#9 - Korean Presbyterian Church
#10 - Roosevelt Island
#11 - Stabile Hall (Pratt)
#12 - Terian Design Center (Pratt)
#13 - Higgins Hall (Pratt)
#14 - Broken Angel
#15 - Alessi Store
#16 - Irish Hunger Memorial
#17 - Issey Miyake Tribeca
#18 - Stuyvesant Town
#19 - Shake Shack
#20 - Socrates Sculpture Park
#21 - Skyscraper Museum
#22 - Taschen Store

30 in 30: #22

Earlier this month Taschen - the German publisher of image-soaked, multi-lingual coffee table books on art, architecture, design, film, photography, and sex - opened its second store in the United States (after Los Angeles) and only its fifth store worldwide. The store is located in SoHo, down the street from the Alessi Store. I visited the bookstore for its warehouse sale over the weekend.



Taschen's store opened in late 2005 but closed on New Year's Day. It reopened about a year later so the interior by Philippe Starck could be outfitted with custom bookcases and plasma screens, among other modifications. It's opening now coincides with the closing of numerous independent bookstores, including Coliseum Books and Murder Ink, the world's oldest store devoted to mystery books. According to this article, New York state ranks dead last nationally in "bookselling stores per resident," an ironic fact for the literary heart of the country.



Even without the crowd the interior design is relatively simple. Leaning bookcases line the two side walls that are painted in bright colors with wavy patterns. These walls are illuminated by fluorescent fixtures mounted to the back of the bookcases. The image below is two images (one from each side) spliced together. It might appear confusing, but if you cover the right half with your hand you'll see the space behind the cases for the length of one side of the store. Between the bookcases are tables with extra storage underneath. As you can see from the image above, these middle tables contained the sale books.



Even though the store is open, apparently it's incomplete. The rear of the store is a double-height volume defined by bare concrete walls, a dramatic change from the painted patterns at the front of the store. The other day one could see the space below from the simple glass guardrail, but the stair was closed with signs of ongoing construction apparent. Is it additional store space? Perhaps gallery space? Who knows, though hopefully it's not another year before we find out.



Directions:
The store is located at 107 Greene Street in Manhattan's SoHo district. It can be reached by the C,E to Spring Street; the N,R,W to Prince Street; the 6 to Spring Street.

Previously:
#1 - Church of the Crucifixion
#2 - 40 Mercer Residences
#3 - Dichroic Light Field
#4 - Juan Valdez Flagship
#5 - IAC/InterActiveCorp
#6 - South Court of NYPL
#7 - Louis Vuitton Store
#8 - Ironworkers Local 580
#9 - Korean Presbyterian Church
#10 - Roosevelt Island
#11 - Stabile Hall (Pratt)
#12 - Terian Design Center (Pratt)
#13 - Higgins Hall (Pratt)
#14 - Broken Angel
#15 - Alessi Store
#16 - Irish Hunger Memorial
#17 - Issey Miyake Tribeca
#18 - Stuyvesant Town
#19 - Shake Shack
#20 - Socrates Sculpture Park
#21 - Skyscraper Museum

Monday, Monday

My weekly page update:

SkiBox Portillo in Portillo, Chile by Del Río-Núñez Architects.

Some unrelated links for your enjoyment:

GigantiCo
"The future, culture, design, architecture, art, music, science and whatever else I might happen to think of today." (added to sidebar under blogs::design)

ARO's City of the Future
A Flickr set of their contribution to the City of the Future competition. (via Curbed)

A New Twist
A multimedia look at Calatrava's latest design for the Spire in Chicago. (article)

30 in 30: #21

The current home of The Skyscraper Museum was completed in 2004. Designed by verti-meisters SOM, the small museum is located in a ground floor space of a hotel/residential tower in Battery Park City. It's right across the street from Machado + Silvetti's Wagner Park pavilion.



The exhibition space is raise above sidewalk level by a few feet. A stair provides access behind the cashier, though the intended route is via a ramp (above) that creates a more controlled and processional experience for the visit. From the ramp, it is clear that the interior architecture and exhibition design rely upon images, light, and reflections. That might not sound different from other exhibition spaces, but here the effect is saturated more than others.



The above image of the main corridor -- adjacent to a ramp that rises further to the museum's office space -- illustrates the primary means of reflection: the floor and the ceiling. Both are created from mirror-polished stainless steel, though the floor has a small square pattern for traction and sense of stability.



The architects admit that the floor and ceiling surfaces, "create the impression of an infinitely vertical space, with the reflections of the exhibit display vitrines appearing as soaring volumes representative of a skyscraper skyline." The above image most clearly illustrates this effect. Though something fishy is going on in those sidewalls, like a funhouse was inserted into the serious, business-driven world of building tall. Whatever the architects were thinking, the result is a refreshing addition to the straightforward reflections and refractions of the rest of the space.



Directions:
The museum is located at 39 Battery Park Place in Lower Manhattan. It can be reached by the 4,5 to Bowling Green; the 1 to Rector St or South Ferry.

Previously:
#1 - Church of the Crucifixion
#2 - 40 Mercer Residences
#3 - Dichroic Light Field
#4 - Juan Valdez Flagship
#5 - IAC/InterActiveCorp
#6 - South Court of NYPL
#7 - Louis Vuitton Store
#8 - Ironworkers Local 580
#9 - Korean Presbyterian Church
#10 - Roosevelt Island
#11 - Stabile Hall (Pratt)
#12 - Terian Design Center (Pratt)
#13 - Higgins Hall (Pratt)
#14 - Broken Angel
#15 - Alessi Store
#16 - Irish Hunger Memorial
#17 - Issey Miyake Tribeca
#18 - Stuyvesant Town
#19 - Shake Shack
#20 - Socrates Sculpture Park