Above: Mondrian sandwich. (Image from www.thekitchn.com)

Above: Klimt sandwich. Image from www.thekitchn.com

Above: Rothko sandwich. Image from www.thekitchn.com.

Above: Christo and Jeanne-Claude sandwich. Image from www.thekitchn.com

See the whole article here: Recreating the Masters: Sandwiches as Art | The Kitchn.

Yes, $800, 000 might buy you what people in the rest of the world call a garage. For Manhattan that would be an elevator that brings your car up to your door in one of 14 units at 200 Eleventh Avenue in Manhattan’s West Side. The apartment attached would be approximately another $3 million though…for now I think I’ll keep telling myself  street alternate side parking in NYC  is no problem at all.

Sky Garage. Image from www.architizer.com

200 Eleventh Avenue, New York's West Side proposal for the luxury Condos with the trademarked "Sky Garage"

From  the Architizer Blog featured in the New York Times.  Images from Librado Romero/The New York Times. Read more about this here: Architizer Blog » An En Suite Sky Garage, New York City’s Most Expensive Parking Spot.

Beneath one of the least green areas of the city, the Lower East Side, lies a massive, unused space nearly the size of Gramercy Park. Controlled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, this 1.5 acre SPURA (Seward Park Urban Renewal Area) plot has been vacant since 1948. The site runs about three blocks under Delancey Street between Essex Street and the entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge. The Delancey Underground Project , a.k.a. the “Low Line” is development and recently proposed to the community board to transform an abandoned trolley terminal into New York City’s first underground community “green space”.

The design of this proposal comes from James Ramsey and Daniel Barasch of Ramsey Architecture And Design studios in New York City.   Since presenting to the NYC planning board and getting positive feedback and now need to do further studies to assess cost, impact and strategy. They hope to acquire enough funding for construction and maintenance costs through donations, grant money, and public money. They depend on political and community support in order to make the project a reality for New York City. A fundraiser event is planned for March and a large-scale technology demonstration will take place in May. The initial fundraising target according to an interview done by styleofdesign.com is $450,000, just to get the project unveiled and marketed to the community.

This project proposes using  advanced solar technology to channel sunlight from outside underground for plants and trees to grow. There are still many concerns as to the sustainability of such a place but as shown in the diagram they have proposed a “sky collector” above ground that will channel the necessary sunlight down below through a fiber cable to a “sky distributor” in order for the plants to survive. This all sounds a little sci-fi and overly ambitious but there is a similar system that has been proven to work in a park in Berlin. Hope this becomes a reality as successful as its counterpart, the Highline, is now. Let’s just see about the rats though…

I am starting a category that I should have done a while back called “Trip of the Week.” A “trip”…  a plane ride away, a train ride away, a bus ride, car ride, just a ride, a walk, a stroll or maybe just down the block… you get the point.  These used to go under  the “adventure”  category but I like the sound of “trip of the week” better. More details of the trip itself, photos, and interesting tid-bits of information, and less of the  info you can just do a google search on. Hopefully this  inspires others to go, or to at least know what it’s like firsthand. So here it is: my first “trip of the week” is to Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous house in Mill Run , PA.

Fallingwater was designed by a North American Architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 for the Kaufmann family as a vacation retreat in rural Pennsylvania.  It is listed among Smithsonian’s Life List of 28 places “to visit before you die.”It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. In 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects  (AIA) named the house the “best all-time work of American architecture” and in 2007, it was ranked twenty-ninth on the list of America’s Favorite Architecture (according to the AIA).

The Kaufmann Family: Edgar Kaufmann, his wife, Liliane, and son, Edgar jr., were the owners of the prominent Kaufmann’s Department Store in Pittsburg, PA, now a Macy’s. They hired Wright who was already a well established and very well known architect, 67 years old at the time. The Kaufmanns wanted a house  to replace the cottage they used as a vacation retreat in the Bear Run Reserve in Mill Run , PA.  They wanted to enjoy the landscape and the peaceful setting,  but most importantly they wanted proximity to the water fall, to see it and to be close enough to hear it…so Wright agreed and proposed a design, nine months later… of a house  literally on top of the waterfall.  That wasn’t at all what the Kaufmann’s had wanted, but that’s what Wright designed, and if you are familiar with Wright’s history and tendencies, you’ll know that there was no meeting in the middle for him. It was on top of the water fall or nothing. So after much discussion, attempts by Mr. Kaufmann to change the location, suggestions and refusals of engineers, and all the difficulties of “impossible cantilevers” hovering on the side of a hill, Fallingwater stands as it was originally designed: on top of a 30′ waterfall. Construction began in 1936 and the house was finished in 1939. The original budget for the “weekend house” was of $40,000. It ended up costing a total of $155,000. It was constructed of all locally sourced materials including sandstone quarried on site, reinforced pale ochre concrete, and steel painted Cherokee red, Wright’s signature color.

 ”I want you to live with the waterfall, not just to look at it, but for it to become an integral part of your lives.”

         Frank LLoyd Wright   (to Edgar J. Kaufmann).

The house’s unique design, it’s open spatial distribution, the originality in style, and the most obvious jaw-dropping feature, the waterfall, are all truly breathtaking on their own, but add to that the fact that it was designed and built in the late 1930′s and that’s when it really hits you how truly ahead of its time it was in terms of the building materials, the spatial distribution, the integration to it’s surroundings . It is difficult to imagine such a style, construction, and costs of something like this at the time. It seems and feels so timeless that when you’re in the spaces you feel that could have very well been designed today.  Everything in the house; from the chairs, tables, and shelves, to the hardware on all doors and windows, etc. was designed and custom made for this house by Frank Lloyd Wright, everything has a place, no clutter no added furnishings. A “total work of art ” or  Gesamtkunstwerk at its finest. Every aspect was created by one designer as part of a whole to provide unified aesthetic experiences.

This was my second visit to Fallingwater.  The first time I went in the spring and it exceeded my expectations, everything about the house and the green leafy landscape was beautiful. Since the house is so nature driven , like all of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work,  I wanted to return and see it in the context of the fall.  The second trip was definitely worth it,  seeing it without the shock factor of the first time and being able to grasp more details. It definitely looks and feels different in the fall with the change in colors and  the leafless trees around it.  Both times I did the trip by car from NYC.  It’s a beautiful drive, especially the last two hours. It is approximately 330 miles/ 6 hours. See on google maps here.

I could go on and on about the house, the style, the million reasons why it is awe-inspiring but it would take really really long. So here are some of the most interesting features: Unfortunately they do not allow photographs to be taken inside of the house during the tour, they only allow exterior shots, so most of the images I include here I found online.

Although over the years it has had all the structural problems and maintenance issues one could possibly imagine and then some more, it still stands and it is beautiful. It is open to the public for Regular Season: daily, except Wednesday, March  through November  and Winter Season : December only Friday, Saturday and Sundays. January and February they are closed for maintenance.  There are different kinds of tours for different prices: regular tour, in-depth tour, hiking tour, sunset tour and brunch tour. You go on their website (here) and pick an available date and time, you can purchase tickets online. I have done the Regular one both times:  it is an extensive tour of the entire house room by room that takes about 1 hour total and costs $20 per adult.  Then you are free to roam outside of the house, and take photos as long as you want.

The only disappointment of the tour is that they do not show the kitchen area of the house or the servant’s quarters. I would have really liked to see both of these areas not only for design curiosity, but because it would have been interesting to see the difference in times always so well reflected through kitchens,  how the family actually lived and how Wright would have designed servant quarters.  The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, who owns and runs the property since being donated to them by Kaufmann Jr. in the 60′s, decided that they would use those areas for their own offices.  Why they couldn’t build something separate in the vast amounts of land surrounding the historic house is beyond me.  When asked why, they claim the kitchen wasn’t designed by Wright but instead purchased from a “catalog”. I did get a peek inside from an open window and it looks amazing: picture a cream colored steel kitchen from the 1940′s.  Also disappointing is that the conservancy transformed what used to be the original 3 car-port/garage into a theater-like area where you watch a video at the end of the tour.  Again….I think there could have been a better solution for this…(to be accurate, this was approved by Kaufmann Jr. when he donated the house and they tried to furnish it as closely as possible to the rest of Wright’s original style. )…I still think it would have been much more interesting to see the original car-port than a 15 minute video propaganda of the Conservancy. On the bright side, they have done a great job in maintaining the property and providing a great tour of the intact premises including all original furnishings and textiles.  The house also has original artwork including Picasso and Diego Rivera paintings as well as  Kaufmann’s collection of books on art and architecture.

If you’re ever near Western Pennsylvania, or in NYC and feel like doing a 6 hour road trip… go, it’s worth the visit.

Thanks for reading!

Architect Robert A.M. Stern famously referred to it as “The Grand Central of the Jet Age”. The iconic TWA Flight Center in JFK airport is now an incredible time capsule of the 1960′s, way back when traveling was glamorous and no one was ever forced to take their shoes off in public. I recently had the chance to go inside and see it open for one day as part of this year’s Open House New York weekend. It has been closed to the public while undergoing renovations by the NY/NJ Port Authority and JetBlue to restore it to Saarinen’s original 1962 design.  Everything from the walls to the furnishings, the chairs and tables, complete with a fountain, and built in seating areas original to the way it was. The lobby and lounge  area have already been restored as well as some of the seating areas and cafes  on the second level.  It looks and feels like being in a movie set.

TWA Flight Center 2011.Photo by Sabrina Nagel

The project was commissioned in 1956 to  Finnish American Architect and Industrial Designer-Eero Saarinen (1910-1961),  famous for his Space-age meets modern International Style (think Tulip Chair).  The request was to capture the spirit of flight, as a result Saarinen proposed and completed a modern structure  resembling wings spread in flight.  The terminal was completed  in May 28, 1962 — unfortunately a year after the architect’s death.

The terminal ended operations in October 2001, due to  TWA’s continued financial deterioration during the 1990s and eventual purchase by American Airlines . The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey first proposed converting it into a restaurant or conference center, while encircling the existing building with one or possibly two new terminals. The concept received opposition from the Municipal Art Society (MAS) of New York, as well the architects Philip Johnson, Robert A.M. Stern.The opposition suggested the building, which brought passengers into immediate view of the sky and aircraft beyond, would be “strangled” if wrapped by another terminal, and that wrapping the Saarinen head house with another terminal would not preserve the spirit of the building but would mummify it “like flies in amber” said Philip Johnson.

In 2004, the dormant terminal briefly hosted an art exhibition called Terminal 5, featuring the work of 19 artists from 10 countries. The theme of the show featured work, lectures and temporary installations drawing inspiration from the terminal’s architecture — and was to run from October 1, 2004 to January 31, 2005. It was short lived though, the exhibit was over after it barely even started when  the building itself was vandalized during its opening gala. Later in 2004, during its period of disuse, the Municipal Art Society of New York succeeded in nominating the building to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of the 11 Most Endangered Places in America.

In 2005 the building became part of  Jetblue t5. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) began construction of a new terminal facility for JetBlue Airways, which occupied the adjacent Terminal 6 and was the airport’s fastest-growing carrier — behind Saarinen’s original building (the head house). Peripheral portions of the original facility were demolished to make space for a mostly new 625,000-square-foot (58,100 m²) facility designed by Gensler, including 26 gates to accommodate 250 flights per day and 20 million passengers annually. As the first airline terminal at JFK designed after the September 11, 2001 attacks,T5 now contains 20 security lanes, one of the largest checkpoints in a US airline terminal.

The entry hall of the Gensler terminal wraps around the Saarinen head house  and retains the original, iconic departure-arrival passenger tubes from the head house. T5 re-opened on October 22, 2008, but the original head house Landmark building remains closed to the public as of today, JetBlue and PANYNJ have yet to complete the renovation. Proposals include a conference center, an aviation museum, or restaurant. When completed, passengers may be able to check-in for flights at the landmark building, then transfer to the new structure via the original passenger departing-arrival tubes from the Trans World Flight Center. 

”We wanted passengers passing through the building to experience a fully-designed environment in which each part arises from another and everything belongs to the same formal world.”

Eero Saarinen

Inside the Head House of the TWA Flight Center, view from the second level. Photo by Sabrina Nagel, 2011

Left Photo: What used to be the original baggage claim area of the original TWA Flight Center turned into Jetblue's ticketing area. Hopefully this will be restored as well.

Left Photo: Water Fountain. Right: Seating and wall hung lamps, second level. (Sabrina Nagel, 2011)

Cafe second level . (Photo by Sabrina Nagel, 2011)

Modern/Space Age Style walkway to terminal. (Photo by Sabrina Nagel, 2011)

Terminal waiting area restored furnishings. (Photo: Sabrina Nagel, 2011)

Yes… it has taken me a while to post about my trip to Nantucket this summer….it was such a great summer I often found it hard to stay indoors and post. The good news is that I now have a bunch of overdue posts that I am excited to share.

I had never been to Nantucket before and I was so impressed with the beautiful, pictoric, and charming place that it is. The historic inns, the bike paths, the lighthouses, the incredible food, and the beautiful people make it a place I most definitely want to return to soon. It was either unbelievably good timing or a total coincidence that all the rose bushes were in bloom and every house looked like an English Garden. The beauty of it all isn’t the perfection of the place but more like the effortless harmony that just seems to come so natural with such character and charm.   Everywhere I looked was picture worthy  so  took many and couldn’t pass up sharing them here…better late than never.

About a month ago I  took a trip to Margarita,  a beautiful Venezuelan Island and stayed  at this incredible house.  It is a private vacation home that the owners sometimes rent out on a seasonal basis. Everything about this house is unique; from the design and distribution of the spaces and the way they blend into the landscape ,the artistic details on the floors and walls, to the lighting. There is barely anything that is standard or store-bought. The materials are almost all local, and all the details are handcrafted and designed by the owners themselves.  This beautiful mix of detailed craftsmanship with a passion for art and a love for the landscape is what makes this place so captivating and so hard to leave!

The kitchen, dining, and living areas are all integrated, but closely attached to the sleeping quarters. There is one large master suite, with an outdoor shower and king size bed that lays on a stone slab. There is one double room, another room with two twin beds, and a sleeping loft. Altogether the house sleeps up to 10 or 12 comfortably.

The spaces are all open with only minor interior elements that separate them, and barely any exterior walls. The dining room as surrounded by louvered panels on one side while the other is just an open space that frames the view of the town below, the landscape and the ocean.

A beautiful woven hammock hangs in between the pool area and the dining room, adjacent to the colorful sitting area, it the only element that seamlessly “divides” while simultaneously integrates the three spaces.
Lastly, there’s the beauty of the vegetation and variety of plants and flowers that give the house its beauty and fills it with color and altogether a fantastic vibe.

This gorgeous place is located on the cliff high above the Aegean, on the island of Santorini in Greece. I Love the white and the accent colors, the sense of relaxation it evokes  is so serene and yet so stylish.

Image from www.perivolassuites.gr

Perivolas was originally designed as a family home. Intimate in scale and atmosphere, every house is different. It was built by local craftsmen with local materials that give it the unique organic forms and smooth surfaces. No AC’s are needed as it was designed to have a natural flow of breeze and plenty of light flowing in from the skylights in the vaulted ceilings.

Image from http://www.perivolassuites.gr

Images from http://www.perivolassuites.gr

If I had a fish, this is the bowl (not-bowl) I’d have it in.  It’s actually called Fish Hotel, designed by Teddy Luong for Umbra, and sells at Unica Home. They are stackable to you can add as many floors as you have fish.

Image from Unica Home

There’s something I really like about little loft-style apartments, I live in one and I love it. I like the idea of not having to fill up an entire standard height ceiling room with a bed… that’s if space is limited and you only have one room… I  also like having the option of storage that no one has to see. It’s hard to hide things when you live in such a small space and storage is limited.

I came across this loft in Architizer the other day, and I love how the wood makes the space and the effect that it creates with the light shining through from behind.

Maison V, St. Quen, France built in 2010. Single family Residence. 70 m2

Image from Architizer

In honor of Fashion Week here in NYC, I thought I’d post the latest on the trend of “luxury meets basics”. Remember Isaac Mizrahi for Target? Lanvin for H&M? Vera Wang for David’s Bridal? yes this last one actually happened…This time it’s Valentino meets the basic of all basics, the Gap… but not just any Gap: the fall collection is set to make its debut at the first Gap flagship store in Milan opening in November. The collection will then be available in London and in Paris, and perhaps later on in Rome. As for the U.S…sorry, the “basic” prevails sans the “luxury” for now. Well…at least it’ll still be comfortable

The Famous Valentino Red. Image from nytimes.com

At the Venice Architecture Biennale 2010 Lisbon firm Aires Mateus Architects are exhibiting these houses with sandy floors called Casa Areia. The houses are designed to be part of the beach…including a sand kitchen and living area, natural fibers, and wooden frames. I love the concept of landscape design, and never having to wash off the sand before going inside.

image from style-files.com

Love these interior spaces shot by Danish photographer Ditte Isager.. Spiral staircases: they might be uncomfortable but they always look good and this one is stunning.

image from The Style Files.com

I don’t have “collections” or small useless decorations to display but I do have lots of shoes…so I like this.

image from home sweet home

image from apartmenttheraphy.com

It’s simple…  I know…many  have done it…but something about the way this setup seems effortless, airy, and comfortable makes me consider it more than I have before.

Two twin beds and a nice size L-shape sofa, plus it’s re-arrangeable and a lot less expensive than any sleeper sofa out there.

No expensive slip-covers….they never fit right anyway… just get fitted sheets, no stressing out about the white sofa when you have twill fitted sheets that come on and off easily.

What makes it work so well for me  in this photo?  The beautiful little coffee-table/cart and my favorite: the painted wood floors…ok…ok and the little plants too.

image from www.nyc.gov

image from www.nyc.gov

This past Saturday I finally decided to go out and explore NYC Summer Streets…the last one of three consecutive August Saturdays they do this.  Started out at 10 am…yes I wish I had gotten an earlier start, but at least I beat the crowds…or they beat me, and I still enjoyed it even after the streets re-opened to traffic at 1pm.  I got on my bike and rode for 4 and a half hours, below is the official summer streets map and the blue line is my route. Scroll down and see some of the interesting things I saw along the way.

ADORABLE

Never-used dumpsters turned into pools!

They were smaller than I had pictured them but they were very clean and people were having a great time.

Image from apartmenttherapy.com

Everyday I come across a mid-century modern piece I like. Today it was this  sofa.  I knew it was special when I saw it on apartment therapy.com and as I read the article I realized it was no coincidence, no… it wasn’t just someone who found it on craigslist.  The apartment belongs to an interior designer, Shauntelle LeBlanc. who also owns a mid-century modern store in Toronto: Ethel — 20th Century Living. My favorite part about their (Shauntelle and her husband’s) Q/A’s on Apartment therapy.com is how they defined their style:

Our style: “Controlled Kitsch. We like to think of it as a place where Charles Eames could meet John Waters for a Mai Tai.”

BTW… I’d rather judge their taste and style based on this beautiful sofa than on their choice of website graphics (Ethel — 20th Century Living)   .  To be fair though I know how hard it is to  find a nice website template, I’ve had my share of that.

I was out around NYC yesterday and my mission was supposed to be fabrics… I ended up finding the most adorable lamp…that’s the thing about New York City.

LA PETITE VOLIERE SMALL SHADE PENDANT

BTW…the image doesn’t do it justice. After trying to find better images of it online, I came to the conclusion it is just non-photogenic…something about the copper wire and the little birds doesn’t allow it to look as beautiful and delicate as it does at the Conran Shop on Broadway. ($595)

It is also available in 3 other sizes. The floor lamp is my favorite.

Here are some examples from the “Stuff I Like” folder on my Mac:

The Pod Atlantico Bench is one of my favorites.  Mid-century modern meets function.  I favor design that uses space wisely and prevents floor clutter…besides the aesthetics it also makes cleaning easier.

This is an image I found a while back when I was searching for the perfect example of user-defined design as my main concept for an interior design renovation: Instead of letting design tell us how we should behave, let it be how we behave and what we need shape our everyday objects.

And yes… you might say this one would contradict everything I’ve just said about making the most out of space, and letting how we behave shape design. But…what about introverts and people who don’t like to share the bench with others? This would be the most sought-after bench in their park for sure.