Architakes Blog
Atrocities
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New plans still say "teardown" for Chelsea's ol...
David HolowkaIn an April 19 public hearing, the Landmarks Preservation Commission asked 404 West 20th Street's new owner Ajoy Kapoor to return with a more appropriate proposal for altering it. Just...
New plans still say "teardown" for Chelsea's ol...
David HolowkaIn an April 19 public hearing, the Landmarks Preservation Commission asked 404 West 20th Street's new owner Ajoy Kapoor to return with a more appropriate proposal for altering it. Just...
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The Chelsea Market Deal, brought to you by ULURP
David HolowkaFrom right to left, Amanda Burden, Christine Quinn, Mayor Bloomberg and Boss Tweed reprise Thomas Nast's ring of passed blame around Chelsea Market in a flyer that's started appearing on...
The Chelsea Market Deal, brought to you by ULURP
David HolowkaFrom right to left, Amanda Burden, Christine Quinn, Mayor Bloomberg and Boss Tweed reprise Thomas Nast's ring of passed blame around Chelsea Market in a flyer that's started appearing on...
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Buying Michael Bolla's Chelsea Mansion for Dummies
David HolowkaA Daily News article on Michael Bolla’s restoration of 436 West 20th Street said "the house was raised 8 inches to become more level.” It appears to be tied to...
Buying Michael Bolla's Chelsea Mansion for Dummies
David HolowkaA Daily News article on Michael Bolla’s restoration of 436 West 20th Street said "the house was raised 8 inches to become more level.” It appears to be tied to...
Convergences
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Last Call for Jaume Plensa's "Echo"
David HolowkaEcho, a belief-defying work by Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa (JOW'-meh PLEHN'-sah) remains on view for only two more weeks, through September 11th. Like Plensa's own Crown Fountain and Anish Kapoor's...
Last Call for Jaume Plensa's "Echo"
David HolowkaEcho, a belief-defying work by Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa (JOW'-meh PLEHN'-sah) remains on view for only two more weeks, through September 11th. Like Plensa's own Crown Fountain and Anish Kapoor's...
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Midtown Undone
David HolowkaPhotographed last week, Midtown Plaza's piecemeal demolition brings the look of a ship breaking yard to the skyline of Rochester, New York. The image may be bracing to those who...
Midtown Undone
David HolowkaPhotographed last week, Midtown Plaza's piecemeal demolition brings the look of a ship breaking yard to the skyline of Rochester, New York. The image may be bracing to those who...
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Windowflage, part 4
David HolowkaLinked Hybrid, a Beijing complex designed by Steven Holl, was completed last year. As with his Simmons Hall dormitory at MIT, Holl sets windows deeply into a uniform and pervasive...
Windowflage, part 4
David HolowkaLinked Hybrid, a Beijing complex designed by Steven Holl, was completed last year. As with his Simmons Hall dormitory at MIT, Holl sets windows deeply into a uniform and pervasive...
House Rules
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House Rules - Afterword
David HolowkaShinichi Ogawa's 2002 Abstract House could illustrate any of the ten House Rules. It demonstrates not just their compatibility, but their potential to enhance each other. In exploiting the strategies...
House Rules - Afterword
David HolowkaShinichi Ogawa's 2002 Abstract House could illustrate any of the ten House Rules. It demonstrates not just their compatibility, but their potential to enhance each other. In exploiting the strategies...
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House Rule 10 - Embrace Inconvenience
David Holowka“I'd rather live in the nave of Chartres Cathedral and go out of doors to the john,” Philip Johnson told his architecture students. His sentiment will resonate with anyone who's...
House Rule 10 - Embrace Inconvenience
David Holowka“I'd rather live in the nave of Chartres Cathedral and go out of doors to the john,” Philip Johnson told his architecture students. His sentiment will resonate with anyone who's...
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House Rule 9 - Build for Flexibility
David HolowkaWhile not the first great modern house, Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House is without doubt the most influential today. It embodies two especially pertinent ideas that support flexibility. Its...
House Rule 9 - Build for Flexibility
David HolowkaWhile not the first great modern house, Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House is without doubt the most influential today. It embodies two especially pertinent ideas that support flexibility. Its...
Mythic New York
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The Future Still Needs the Gimbels Skybridge
David HolowkaFor nearly a century, the Gimbels skybridge has served as a kind of gatehouse announcing Pennsylvania Station on the next block west. Few would guess that its interior was once...
The Future Still Needs the Gimbels Skybridge
David HolowkaFor nearly a century, the Gimbels skybridge has served as a kind of gatehouse announcing Pennsylvania Station on the next block west. Few would guess that its interior was once...
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Mythical Lower Manhattan, Part 2
David HolowkaThe 2002 World Trade Center competition entry by the team of architects Richard Meier, Peter Eisenman, Charles Gwathmey and Steven Holl is shown in its finished form at left, and...
Mythical Lower Manhattan, Part 2
David HolowkaThe 2002 World Trade Center competition entry by the team of architects Richard Meier, Peter Eisenman, Charles Gwathmey and Steven Holl is shown in its finished form at left, and...
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Mythical Lower Manhattan, Part 1 - In Memory of...
David HolowkaThe Dutch architectural photographer Iwan Baan took this helicopter photo of Downtown blacked-out by Hurricane Sandy. A memorable New York Magazine cover, it resonates with a century-old genre; views of...
Mythical Lower Manhattan, Part 1 - In Memory of...
David HolowkaThe Dutch architectural photographer Iwan Baan took this helicopter photo of Downtown blacked-out by Hurricane Sandy. A memorable New York Magazine cover, it resonates with a century-old genre; views of...
City Cycling
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Detroit: City of the Future
David HolowkaHenry Ford poses in the first car he made. In his 1922 autobiography, he wrote: “Industry will decentralize. There is no city that would be rebuilt as it is, were...
Detroit: City of the Future
David HolowkaHenry Ford poses in the first car he made. In his 1922 autobiography, he wrote: “Industry will decentralize. There is no city that would be rebuilt as it is, were...
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Looking Over the Bike Share Gift Horse
David HolowkaCentral Park users rub shoulders with cars on the main loop road until 7PM on weekdays, even though Olmsted and Vaux’s 1857 park design is predicated on sunken transverse roads...
Looking Over the Bike Share Gift Horse
David HolowkaCentral Park users rub shoulders with cars on the main loop road until 7PM on weekdays, even though Olmsted and Vaux’s 1857 park design is predicated on sunken transverse roads...
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5 Folding Bikes for the City
David HolowkaBrompton World Championship racers in obligatory jacket and tie depart from Blenheim Palace. The dress code suggests both the folding bike's roots in English quirkiness and its usefulness for urban...
5 Folding Bikes for the City
David HolowkaBrompton World Championship racers in obligatory jacket and tie depart from Blenheim Palace. The dress code suggests both the folding bike's roots in English quirkiness and its usefulness for urban...
News
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Saving the Seamen's House YMCA
David HolowkaDesigned as a waterfront YMCA for sailors, Seamen's House has scores of multi-colored terra cotta highlights. Stylized ships' prows, waves, and Jazz Age riffs on the YMCA's triangle logo are...
Saving the Seamen's House YMCA
David HolowkaDesigned as a waterfront YMCA for sailors, Seamen's House has scores of multi-colored terra cotta highlights. Stylized ships' prows, waves, and Jazz Age riffs on the YMCA's triangle logo are...
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Mapping New York's Shoreline, 1609-2009
David HolowkaHenry Wellge's "Greatest New York", published by The New York Times Company in 1911 and featured in a new exhibition at the New York Public Library, places the city within...
Mapping New York's Shoreline, 1609-2009
David HolowkaHenry Wellge's "Greatest New York", published by The New York Times Company in 1911 and featured in a new exhibition at the New York Public Library, places the city within...
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Nouvel's Tower Verre Not the Only Vision i...
David HolowkaJean Nouvel presented his design for the new MoMA tower in a public hearing at the City Planning Commission yesterday. Calling it "zee meezing peez of zee pizzle", Nouvel made...
Nouvel's Tower Verre Not the Only Vision i...
David HolowkaJean Nouvel presented his design for the new MoMA tower in a public hearing at the City Planning Commission yesterday. Calling it "zee meezing peez of zee pizzle", Nouvel made...
New York Places
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The Seminary Block of West 20th Street
David HolowkaThe General Theological Seminary's Chapel of the Good Shepherd overlooks the center of one of New York's best blocks. The Seminary's brick collegiate gothic buildings were designed by Charles Coolidge...
The Seminary Block of West 20th Street
David HolowkaThe General Theological Seminary's Chapel of the Good Shepherd overlooks the center of one of New York's best blocks. The Seminary's brick collegiate gothic buildings were designed by Charles Coolidge...
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Guernsey Street
David HolowkaIt's one of New York's redeeming qualities that it never runs out of sights to offer even a regular wanderer of its neighborhoods. In addition to planned street-scapes and open...
Guernsey Street
David HolowkaIt's one of New York's redeeming qualities that it never runs out of sights to offer even a regular wanderer of its neighborhoods. In addition to planned street-scapes and open...
Architectural History
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Detroit's Grand Central: Michigan Central Station
David HolowkaIn its much-photographed desolation, Detroit's Michigan Central Station could be called America's Ruin, while New York's restored Grand Central Terminal more than ever lives up to its title as America's...
Detroit's Grand Central: Michigan Central Station
David HolowkaIn its much-photographed desolation, Detroit's Michigan Central Station could be called America's Ruin, while New York's restored Grand Central Terminal more than ever lives up to its title as America's...
Lists
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10 of the Best Houses from the Last 25 Years
David HolowkaArchitakes launches its Lists category with 10 great houses. If there's a common thread, it's the way good design makes more from less. In chronological order: Magney House, Bingie Point,...
10 of the Best Houses from the Last 25 Years
David HolowkaArchitakes launches its Lists category with 10 great houses. If there's a common thread, it's the way good design makes more from less. In chronological order: Magney House, Bingie Point,...