Category Archives: Spaces, Places & Architecture
Where Do You Keep a Trampoline in Downtown NYC?
On the street … you turn it on its side and lean it against a building, of course. The trampoline pictured below was on Ludlow Street in the Lower East Side of New York City. It was only there for a day and was used for a scene in a video shoot in which a dude does a series of flips on the trampoline while water is sprayed on him. Fun stuff. Ludlow Street has been the hub of lot more than the usual volume of creative activity in recent weeks.
Super Dope Mural by Erik Den Breejen at Rag & Bone
Brooklyn-based American artist Erik Den Breejen is the latest painter to be commissioned by clothing brand Rag & Bone to put up artwork on the side of its downtown New York City flagship store at the corner of Houston and Elizabeth streets. The photos below show Den Breejen’s meticulous work-in-progress. We’ll be back later in the week to see the finished work. Check out more of Den Breejun’s work on his Tumblr.
Hip Brooklyn Loft Decorated with Gun-Target Posters
Espresso Machine and Cups at Je & Jo NYC
Los Angeles Architecture … The Shiny Tower at L.A. Live
The glass-and-steel tower at the L.A. Live building complex in Los Angeles is an imposing presence on the skyline as you approach city’s downtown from almost every direction but the north. The building is the first major new skyscraper in L.A. since 1992. Since it’s completion a few years ago, it has become an unmistakeable if unadventurous and uninspired part of L.A.’s architectural identity. Whatever people think of it, it’s a huge structure by skyscraper-shy L.A. standards. The building is home to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and at night its edges light up with strings of lights that outline the tower’s shape and dynamically change over time.
The Beautiful Space at Mohawk Bend … Los Angeles
We recently stopped by the restaurant Mohawk Bend in the Echo Park neighborhood near Silver Lake in Los Angeles. The restaurant lies at a spot on Sunset Boulevard near Mohawk Street and where Sunset curves or “bends,” hence the name. The space is beautiful, especially the back room, a cavernous space that’s filled with natural light during the day and by night glows with a beautiful fireplace flanked by stacked firewood. The place is a combination of contemporary high design, industrial patination, California beachwoodiness and 1970s-retro vintage modern. The food is pretty damn good, too. Their burgers were super yummy.
Massive Wall Cut-Outs by Artist Urs Fischer at MOCA LA
There’s currently a massive survey exhibition of work by New York-based Swiss artist Urs Fischer at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles. It’s a great show and among the works are these massive cut-outs of the walls between three of the museum galleries.
Close-up Photos of JR’s Epic Building Takeover in New York Times Square
Alright, we’re here in Times Square, New York City, and here they are … lots more fresh photos, including close-ups, of the massive, epic street art building-takeover and billboard by French artist JR. The the giant-eye billboard artwork is the crowning touch on a project that’s been in the works the past few weeks. The images of people faces on the building itself has been a work in progress in since early May, when the artist set up a photo-booth and studio truck in Times Square and then pasted images of volunteer models on the sidewalk and building nearby. The giant eye on the billboard can be seen from quite far away, as photos below and in our previous post show.
Breaking This Hour … JR Has Just Unveiled Massive Eye Artwork on Times Square Billboard in NYC
French street artist JR he has put the finishing touches on and unveiled another massive eye image, part of the Inside Out Project, on a billboard atop a building in Times Square. Pictures below. JR has been taking photos of people and pasting these to the sidewalk and around a building there for the past few weeks. We’re heading over to Times Square on our bike now to take close-up pictures. We’ll be live-blogging from Times Square and posting more photos in a few minutes.
Massive Street Art Mural by ALEC in the Lobby of the W Hotel in Seminyak, Bali
We were pleasantly surprised to find this massive street-art mural by the American artist and street-art rockstar Alec (a.k.a., “Alec Monopoly”) in the lobby of the outrageously epic and luxurious W Hotel in Seminyak, Bali, in Indonesia. The artwork includes many of the iconic characters and celebrities Alec has included in many of his street artworks over the years, including actor Jack Nicholson, 1960s fashion model Twiggy, and Rich “Uncle” Pennybags (sometimes called “Monopoly Man”), the character from the Monopoly board game and the image Alec is most associated with.
The Beautifully Illuminated Sound Board at Bowery Ballroom
The big sound board set up at the Bowery Ballroom in New York always looks so nice lit up in the darkness of the club. If we could, we’d buy one of these and mount it on the wall of our office as a piece of ready-made art and at night we’d turn off the office lights just to see the sound board it in its light-emitting glory.
Cool Architecture … Oliver Peoples Store In Malibu
In Berlin … The Vintage Modern Entrance to the Staatsbibliothek Berlin
Pictured below is the entrance to the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin building, or Berlin State Library, in the German capital. The building is a sprawling piece of post-war architectural modernism by architects Hans Scharoun and Edgar Wisniewski. It’s an architectural landmark that’s a bit under-appreciated compared to Berlin’s other, more famous and iconic structures. The library is aging — some parts not as handsomely as others — and thus undergoing some renovation, as the photos attest. The massive library is captured beautifully on film as one of the principal settings of German director Wim Wenders’ classic 1980s movie “Wings of Desire.” See film clip below.
