Tag: architecture

A Gallic touch (with a little help from the Greeks)

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This magnificent gilded bronze relief graces the entrance of La Maison Française, part of the Rockefeller Center. A token of friendship between France and the United States, it depicts the two Cities – Paris and New York – reaching towards each other, showered with the gifts brought by the Three Graces, underneath.

According to Greek Mythology, the Three Graces were daughters of Zeus and the Oceanid (daughter of the Ocean) Eurynome. They were:

Aglaia – representing elegance, splendour
Thalia – representing youth, beauty
Euphrosyne – representing mirth

For the purposes of said friendship they became Poésie, Beauté & Elégance, an unwittingly apt transformation judging by their strategic location, watching over Saks Fifth Avenue right across the street.

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Sculpture by Alfred Janniot, ca. 1934 (more reading here & here)

La Maison Française
610 Fifth Avenue
New York

September 28th, 2016

The Barbizon [Hotel for Women]

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A hotel dedicated entirely to the well-being and protection of women? I knew there was something special about the building just by looking up to its tree-lined roof matching the colours of the street below. Perfection!… I thought.

Even more so, after reading about its role as a sanctuary for women moving to New York for work in the ’20s. Smart girls who knew how to stay out of trouble – or so their parents hoped – came to live in its rooms, minuscule to accommodate as many as possible. The hotel also offered a swimming pool (still in use today), a library, recital rooms, a sundeck, a solarium, squash and badminton courts, and a formal dining room.

Then came the ’60s and smart girls sought different kinds of adventures; the kind that didn’t include chaperoning and living in a sanctuary where no men were allowed beyond the first floor. The Barbizon changed hands many times until 2002, when it was renovated and became The Melrose Hotel; only to be purchased by developers three years later and converted into a luxury condominium building.

Interestingly, a few women, long-term tenants from the old Barbizon era still live in the building, protected by the rental laws of New York. wp20160924_134903 wp20160924_135008 wp20160924_135030

You can read more about it here & here.

Barbizon 63
140 E 63rd St.

September 24th, 2016

Window shop art

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In the glorious Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo House, a French Renaissance revival mansion located at 867 Madison Avenue.

It is home to the Ralph Lauren Men’s Flagship store and had me wondering whether it looks as glorious on the inside. Could I just step in to have a look? Although, who am I kidding, I’d probably spend hours browsing through the apparel; I usually find their Men’s collections much more interesting than the Women’s, anyway.

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September 17th, 2016

UN HQ

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View from the terrace outside the Delegates’ Lounge. East River is on my back and Le Corbusier’s oblique design of the General Assembly building in the foreground. The Chrysler Building at the back looks so small because it sits half a mile away.

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September 15th, 2016