New York 2

The green-tinted glass on the facade of the 40 Bond Condominiums by Herzog and de Meuron looks to be yet another unique and well-thought out solution from the Swiss masters. There appears to be a mirrored finish behind the air space of the glass, which affords a spectrum of depth in color as it is hit by differing lighting conditions throughout the day. The base is still boarded-up for construction, we look forward to seeing the injection-mold formed fence (Anyone know what it is made of?)

The facade of the Austrian Cultural Forum (Abraham) was slender and pronounced, though a bit tough on the interior (lots of stainless steel and somewhat cramped public gallery space)

The facade of the new MOMA was somewhat underwhelming... the response of aligning mullions with the adjacent (existing?) building seemed well-intentioned, but flat and strained. We didn't get a chance to see the interior (closed on Tuesdays). Tod Williams and Billie Tsien stole the block with the American Folk Art Museum. The exterior facade is clad with rich and textural angled copper panels.

The Renzo Piano projects (Morgan Library and New York Times Building) were a quiet surprise... we were impressed with the careful attention to detail and transition along with the overall feeling of "lightness."

There is an interesting theme with some of the recently built projects in NYC... utilizing white on the exterior. The Gehry ICA, Piano Morgan and Times bldg... Luis Vitton, etc. We were joking that it is an attempt to rise from the grimy and unshockable part of society.

We finished the NYC experience Tuesday night at club Cielo. A rare U.S. appearance of Luciano and he didn't disappoint. His set brought near-always danceable melodic structures spaced with smooth vocals and plenty of variation. They party hard in New York... Digitaline went on after midnight and Luciano began his set after 2am.