ARCHITECTURE
There’s something wonderful and inviting about book stores. Like a candy shop for avid readers, book stores entice with affordable treats and as well as some beautiful books well out of price range. It’s hard to walk into a book store and leave with just the item you’ve been looking for. Shelves and shelves of books, comfortable seats, and even swank coffee shops and bakeries make it hard for anyone to walk in and out. The only thing more enticing than a book store is an exceptionally beautiful book store. Throughout the world there are a handful of bookstores and libraries known for their beauty and unconventional outer shells. Old firehouses, night clubs and more have been converted into book stores.
Some of New York's best architecture firms descended upon the World Financial Center last week for a one night build-off, all in the name of charity. Now, the fruits and vegetables of their labor are on display to the public.
The sculptures are entries in the 19th annual "Canstruction" competition, a touring roadshow that challenges local architects, engineers, and students to create bold, stimulating, and huge structures made entirely of canned food. The competitors, which included heavyweight firms like Skanska USA and fresh upstarts from Eleanor Roosevelt High School on the Upper West Side, donated all of their cans to City Harvest, which says it will be able to feed over 60,000 New Yorkers with the construction materials.
Who doesn't like looking at gorgeous design and glamorous celebrity homes?
Scott Frances has beautifully captured both. For a limited time, 68 large-scale pieces of his work will be displayed at the Design Center of the Americas in South Florida. This Wednesday, November 15th marks the exhibit opening from 7:30 - 9:30 PM complete with a Grey Goose-sponsored cocktail reception. In addition to exhibits of elite photos of architecture and design, guests will get a peek inside the homes of celebrities like Estee Lauder and Jennifer Aniston.
Although sometimes subconscious, the way an area looks has an immediate effect on those passing through. For travelers and locals, the first impression a city street makes can be burned into memory. Whether an area looks safe is important. In fact, it’s so important that it’s a major factor when designing an area or building. In the 1960s, Kevin Lynch’s The Image of the City explored what areas in major cities looked like to its inhabitants and what impression it left on them. The book made these impressions a major factor in city architecture design from then forward.
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