Next week I'll spend three days alone in New York City and I'm trying
to figure out what I'll do.  I'm an architecture grad student so I'd
like to see recent "high design" buildings (the Austrian Cultural
Forum comes to mind) as well as sustainable or "green" architecture
(like the Conde Nast and Reuters buildings).  Are there any lists of
"must-sees" for the architecturally inclined out there?

That's the $8 part of the question.  I'll tip up to another $8 for
good ideas of other things to do -- I'm looking for "uniquely New
York" entertainment, like cutting-edge music or literary readings or
unusual walking tours.  Remember I'm alone so I'd enjoy activities
that are somewhat sociable.

Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by ephraim-ga on 07 Aug 2003 21:41 PDT

Viseu,

I've found a number of sites which provide lists of New York City
buildings famous for their architecture. Unfortunately, none of them
include the 3 buildings you've mentioned below! I will freely admit
that while I am a New York expert, I am not an architecture expert. Do
you require lists of "high design" and "green" buildings in New York
City, or would you accept more general lists of New York City
buildings famous for their architecture?

In regards to your second question about things to do in New York, I
have quite a few things in mind which you would enjoy!

/ephraim

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Clarification of Question by viseu-ga on 08 Aug 2003 07:30 PDT

Thanks for your message.  I do have a guidebook to NYC which will take
me to the major 19th/20th century buildings.  What I'm interested in
is stuff from the last three or four years that wouldn't have made it
into the guidebooks yet.  Another architect of a recent NYC building
of interest is Christian de Portzamparc, and as for green/sustainable
architecture I know Kohn Pedersen Fox is a major firm involved.  Do
those clues help any more?

Look forward to hearing about fun ideas -- I'll be there Mon, Tues,
and Weds, by the way.

---

Request for Question Clarification by ephraim-ga on 08 Aug 2003 08:13 PDT

Viseu,

As I am not an architecture buff, unfortunately, I simply don't have
enough knowledge to point you at specific buildings that appeared in
the last 3-4 years.
Perhaps another researcher with a background in architecture might be
better suited to answer this part of your question.

Since I can't answer your main posted question here, I'd rather not
post half an answer (unless you confirm that this is what you want).
If you'd like me to consider the part about touring by itself,
consider posting that as a separate question.

/ephraim

---

Clarification of Question by viseu-ga on 08 Aug 2003 10:00 PDT

Ephraim, I'll post the activities question separately.  Thanks. 
Thanks to politicalguru too.

Just one suggestion jumps to mind - Rem Koolhaas' Prada store. Living
an ocean away, I only read about it - haven't been there myself.

"The last few years have witnessed the emergence of a new audience for
architecture in New York. The city has been stimulated by
well-attended museum exhibitions and by such recent buildings as
Christian de Portzamparc's LVMH Tower on 57th Street between Madison
and Fifth Avenues; Richard Meier's Horatio Street twin residential
blocks, which are on West Street; Polshek & Partner's Rose Center for
Earth and Space at the Museum of Natural History; and Raymund
Abraham's Austrian Cultural Forum on 52nd Street between Madison and
Fifth Avenues. The public has developed an appetite for architecture
that breaks the bland contextualist mold. This approach, which calls
for new buildings that imitate adjacent old ones, has shaped work by
firms like Beyer Blinder Belle in recent decades."

New York Times p B.1 May 23, 2002


"New additions like the Rose Center for Earth and Space, the Austrian
Cultural Institute and the LVMH Tower, and those under way like the
American Museum of Folk Art, the Museum of Modern Art's ventures in
midtown Manhattan and Queens, and the planned New York Times
headquarters have refrained from scenographic reproductions of the
past." New York Times p 2.36 Nov 18, 2001

Photo gallery
http://newyorkinphotos.com/static/skyscrapers.html
http://www.wirednewyork.com/architecture.htm (scroll down to recent
buildings)


JF