Christian Frosi and Francesco Pantaleone made my last night in Palermo one of the best of my entire trip. See me for the details, but while your here check out Christian’s site, an article about him, and the notes for his exhibition at Francesco Panteleone Arte Contemporanea.No, seriously, click here.

I’ll take Manhattan in a garbage bag
with Latin written on it that says
“it’s hard to give a shit these days”
Manhattan’s sinking like a rock
into the filthy Hudson what a shock
they wrote a book about it
they said it was like ancient Rome

-Lou Reed

The Seagram Building.

This thing was 20 years ahead of its time… maybe more. Mies van der Rohe’s design included a few notable obsessive elements…

The building was designed to have NO ornamental embellishment, but after looking at the most reduced form of his skyscraper he chose to include the small vertical I beams… just because the facade didn’t look right without them.

Ever looked at a tall building and seen the randomness of the curtains, drapes and blinds… Mies stipulated that the blinds only be left in one of three positions… open, closed or halfway.

The building’s exterior is made of bronze, and the color and character of the patina is amazing… timeless… but this wasn’t just chance. Bronze will rust in some climates so Mies had the window crews periodically wash the entire facade of the building in lemon juice… the acidity of which is perfect for the bronze…

Also the most expensive skyscraper in the world when it was built

A. James Speyer says it so well… “The inescapable drama of the Seagram Building in a city already dramatic with crowded skyscrapers lies in its unbroken height of bronze and dark glass juxtaposed to a granite-paved plaza below. The siting of the building on Park Avenue, an indulgence in open space unprecedented in midtown Manhattan real estate, has given that building an aura of special domain. The commercial office building in this instance has been endowed with a monumentality without equal in the civic and religious architecture of our time….The use of extruded bronze mullions and bronze spandrels together with a dark amber-tinted glass has unified the surface with color….The positioning of the Seagram Building on the site and its additive forms at the rear, which visually tie the building to adjacent structures, make for a frontal-oriented composition. The tower is no longer an isolated form. It addresses itself to the context of the city.”

More photos here

New lamp concept created at Parsons. Press release follows:

Is it melting? New York City based artist designer Frank Osborn began with a simple idea and allowed materials to guide his creative process. His newest creation, Cnidarian lamp/light, is a hand made resin pendant lit by LEDs. The design affords its user an uncanny glimpse into Osborn’s personal visual memories. “I have a very strong memory of an old paint advertisement from my childhood, and while working on this project I realized that I was trying to somehow recreate or revive that image.”

Informed by a background in the sciences, Osborn auditioned several plastics, eventually settling on a urethane resin that offers a visual and tactile experience unlike other lamps, translucent, turgid, flexible to the touch, and not unlike the hydrostatic skeleton of a jellyfish. Each pendant is hand shaped, layer by layer, ensuring that no two are the same.

Illuminated by six small LED bulbs, the lamp uses 95% less energy than a conventional bulb of the same power.

Materials:

Urethane resin, hand poured and shaped

Dimensions:

10.6” height x 7.5″dia

Notes:

6 colored LED bulbs, rose, included

Designer:

Frank Osborn

Design Year:

2009

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More pics here.

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My friend S and I came across this really dope leather armchair at Spring and Lafayette one night. Andrew was kind enough to sit in for a photo.This is my favorite from the series.

See more of the series here.