Maelstrom at the MET Roof Garden

The sun has finally come out, which gave us the opportunity to go see the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the seasonal sculpture in the roof garden. This year the chosen piece is Maelstrom, by American artist Roxy Paine.

I liked last year's Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons better, mostly because the Balloon Dog transfixed me in a bizarre way where I could not tear my eyes away.
This piece, though more spatially ambitious, was not as successful for my taste. Maybe it was that we'd been walking for a couple of hours, or that to roof garden was crowded with too many people excited by the sudden burst of summer weather; whatever it was, the tree was not as photogenic or engaging as it would seem on paper. It did occupy the whole space though, and I have to appreciate it when artists allow visitors to touch and interact with their art. Too bad you couldn't climb the metal branches.

Remembering Michael Jackson - Union Square

There are times when I am in awe of New York City. Like the impromptu memorial/crazy dance-sing-along that formed in Union Square this evening on the wake of Michael Jackson's untimely and surprising death. I guess people were just yearning to have something to do, a way of remembering the King of Pop.

We caught it by accident, being there only because I'd had a volleyball game in the East Village. earlier in the evening. But it seemed right, all night we'd been aware that bars were playing MJ music and that people seemed to lack other conversation topics, so it's fitting that a crowd would gather to sing along to some of his hits. We sang with them to Billie Jean, as a very energetic dancer got in the middle of the circle and danced Michael style, crotch grabbing and all. We cheered, we laughed. Though I am sure this is among many similar street gatherings around the country tonight, I'm glad we got to at least witness this one.

Coney Island Confusion

I knew mexican food was hard to find in the NYC area, but seriously?

Times Square is car-free

Times Square is now Pedestrian-only along Broadway Avenue. I'd heard about it, I'd read about it (this is a great article on the urban planning and transportation rerouting involved in the process: New York Magazine), but I hadn't seen it with my very own eyes yet.

It's incredible, Times Square is once again new and filled with possibility. It's reborn as a pedestrian haven, where one can lounge on the public chairs, and admire the crazy lights without fear of being trampled by taxis.

What I like about it is that it's not just a nod to tourism, by making it easier for visitors to see one of NY's most famous landmarks. As an urban intervention, it's a wonderful step in the "right" direction of a more landscape-unrbanist city. I'm excited about the end game being a linear park on Broadway dissecting the city, it's better for quality of life, adds an element of green to the urbanscape, and I also believe it will help congestion by forcing people to spread their choices rather than bottle necking on Broadway.

I'm excited about it, and can't wait to see this project continue. Janetter Sadik-Khan, transportation commissioner, are you hiring? I'm an urban designer wanting to do more transit alternatives and city-wide pedestrian initiatives. Seriously, a Jane Jacobs sensibility meeting Robert Moses scale? This rocks!

7th Avenue Gay Pride Parade

It's one of the strange things about living in Brooklyn, when you go grocery shopping one Saturday evening, and find that your street is closed off to cars because the Brooklyn Gay Pride Parade will be going right through it. So we bought our groceries, went back home, and sat at the window sill in the currently unoccupied next door apartment, which has views out to 7th Avenue. Then we watched the Parade go literally by our building's front door, full of dance music and people cheering.

This must be one of those, only in NYC moments.

DUMBO

Someday, when I have teenage children and I worry about being "uncool," I will remember last Friday night. We went to an event called the Brooklyn Invitational, in an unmarked space/warehouse in Dumbo, pretty close to under the bridge. The type that if you didn't know it was there, you might miss the door. Inside was a temporary gallery space, including an artist finger painting a piece. And on one of the ends, they set up a makeshift stage space, where we saw the excellent Kittens Ablaze (pictured above) and Motel Motel (which got a dance party going), among other less memorable bands. They also served 2$ PBRs and we hung out with a nice motley crowd. I think my brother had a good time, specially chatting with the Kittens Ablaze, who had been at South by Southwest this year. It felt very different, and like we were watching a couple of good bands before they made it big. Good times.

The above picture of us was taken by Seth Betchtold of http://marbleimaging.com

Max Brenner's Chocolate Cake

I'm not even that much into chocolate, and I still can't resist this double chocolate molten cake. Moist. Filled with hot fudge. Milk chocolate. With Ice cream.

As Trey McDougal would say, "Isn't this a little piece of heaven?"

MOMA

It's been a busy last few days. I got a contract job position at a local architecture firm where I am actually architecting and doing project management. I hope the project expands longer, but we'll see. I am, as always, cautiously optimistic.

But the new job location (in the heart of the Upper East Side, shout out Gossip Girl) gave me the perfect excuse to stop by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) on its free Friday nights. We usually don't make it because it's kinda out of the way and by the time it's Friday evening we are just in the mood to relax and go out... and yeah, I have no real excuse. Shame on me.

But we went last Friday, and though it was teeming with tourists, it was a good time. The picture above is the main lobby, where a couple of young artists were engaging in some type of performance art. It didn't seem museum sponsored; I think it was just an art student seizing the moment and interacting with people's sense of comfort and personal space. Lizy would be proud, this type of stuff is totally up her creative alley.

We spent most of our time in the 4th Floor, with exhibits of modern furniture and commercial industrial design. And we also caught a Landscape Architecture exhibition, which was vaguely disappointing, as it didn't include enough contemporary designers, like OMA, West 8 or Field Operations. But the highlight for me, was seeing the model of this park project in Barcelona.

I can't remember for the life of me who did it. I though it was Mirelles, but I seem to be unable to find the actual firm responsible. The awesome part is that Ignacio and I saw this park in Barcelona about three years ago, and I recognized the model.

I should also state that our finding the real park was no accident. Iggy and I went deliberately a new district concentrated with cutting edge new construction. It's not like I innocently stumble into architecture worthy of museums. I plan for serendipity.

Rachel's Taqueria

I think we have found a new happy hour spot. We went out to celebrate because I FINALLY have some architecture contract work. After sending out my resume to a kazillion places, I got an interview and they called me back and want me to work for them. It's not a full time position, but really, with the economy the way it is, I am incredibly excited about it.

I'd wanted to come here for HH for a while, since it's two blocks from our place, and they had recently remodeled the bar area. Finally made it, and I'm glad to say that the margaritas were strong yet sweet, and mostly, they were only $4 each at the bar. Can't beat that.

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No way dude. The luck that I need is not see his creepy smug face first thing in the morning when I get on the subway.

I don't even play the lottery, but if I did, this dude is making sure I buy the other ticket, whatever that may be.