Digital Journal of Architecture and the City, Baruch College, Fall 2019

This was a really interesting day because we  got to see the book we’ve been reading come to life. We got to see the structures that Robert Moses fought tooth and nail to create. I actually have never walked down/through Riverside Park before, I don’t think I even knew most of what was there existed. I have driven above it many times, little did I know a whole world existed beneath me.

The walk to this restaurant/structure was kind of sketchy though. There weren’t really signs indicating which way to go, and there weren’t official sidewalks to let me know I was going in the correct direction. I felt nervous crossing the roads because I know drivers tend to move fast and carelessly when it comes on the on/off ramps. I would have felt more comfortable if I felt like I was going in the correct direction.

This restaurant was really interesting architecturally, especially the very tight masonry. I didn’t know there was still an active restaurant there, I would love to go sometime, although I can’t imagine how packed it is. I would also like to see it all clean and polished to see the full effect.I walk and drive past Lincoln Center a lot and I always admire it. I’ve also been to the hall where the NY Philharmonic is for shows, and it is very beautiful inside and out.

 

 

 

I didn’t really take many notes because it was so windy, cold, and raining, but I thoroughly enjoyed this trip and i’ll definitely be back.

In total, I walked about 4 miles this day.

I don’t think I put two and two together before walked up to the Morgan Library & Museum. I’ve walked by this building many times because when I’m not in a rush, I figure why not walk wherever I’m going, even if that means an 80 block walk. More recently I walked past this building with my dad, and he kept saying how we should go together sometime. Even when I read the syllabus, I didn’t really click until we walked up to it.

I was really impressed with the combining of the new space and the old space. The new space was so airy, bright, and fresh. There was a cafe and a restaurant. That wasn’t the part that impressed me. But the cafe was so airy, and had big floor to ceiling windows, with trees and greenery being invited in with the sun. At the end of class, I looked in on the restaurant, and it was more of the style/period as the rest of the library. I felt like that was a good pairing. The original portion is filled with extravagance, from floor to wall to ceiling. Every bit was curated with the finest marbles, woods, art, and other priceless originals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wish we were allowed to see more of the library/house, there has to be more besides those 3 rooms. I mean this place had hidden staircases, and he was the richest banker in NY, I think the other rooms must be pretty interesting. He must have spent hours and hours in that library. It was filled with rare literature, frescos, ceiling paintings, a fireplace, and so much more. I wonder how many of those books he has actually read, I usually ask people that when I see they have a big book collection (obviously not as big as his).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really loved just walking through the spaces. There were so many different materials and mediums used in curating these spaces. It would be interesting to have been able to see how these spaces were used on a daily basis.

There were incredibly unique details, even in not normally significant areas, such as this ceiling. The ceiling is detailed birds and other intricate details. This lets in light in different ways, I would have liked to see the room without the additional track lights on.

 

I really liked the contents off photography exhibit, but I really disliked the space. I feel like they ruined the integrity of the space, even if it’s for temporary exhibits.

The photography exhibit was so interesting, but I feel like the set up of the space took away from the work. I could see where some original details from before the space was altered. But I really loved the photographs.   

I have to say that I have never been the biggest fan of the MOMA, I don’t really have much of a reason, I just don’t think it’s my place. It just always seems to be packed to the brim with people no matter what day or time I go. But despite that, I was intrigued to see what it looked like post renovations. I think the MOMA is one of those places where you need an entire day to mosey through, and also I would definitely need to bring food with me for sustenance. I didn’t take normal notes like I normally do, I just think I was really overwhelmed by all the people and all the noise. I don’t think I really had the ability to focus in on what I was seeing, and really absorb what I was looking at.

There were some really cool rooms and features though. This room (below) in particular had a really intense feeling for me. I can’t explain it, but it felt different than any other room. Maybe I would have changed the art featured on the walls, but it was just something about this room that gave me an airy and open feeling. Part of me also felt like maybe I was in a swimming pool underwater, and the lit ceiling was the surface of the water.

This room (below) was interesting to me because it gave a window (literally) into what another room had to offer. I think that should be carried into other rooms. I think that would have made me feel less overwhelmed by the museum, and would allow me to know what I wanted to eventually see.

This room gave me an interesting feeling as well, probably because it was different than any other room I had been in while we were there.

This window into the stairwell is a feature that they kept the same after the renovation. I took this same picture probably 6 years ago when I was in high school.

Overall, I’m glad we went. But I think next time I would have to go super early in the day (maybe even when they opened), and also bring food and water with me.

I spend a lot of time in Central Park, so I was thrilled that this was our field trip, especially on such a beautiful day. I have a new respect and understanding of Central Park since beginning this class. I read about it several times in Devil in a White City, and have heard you discuss it as well. I didn’t realize that the lakes were man made, I just thought they were natural. I nanny a boy on the Upper West Side and he goes to school on the Upper East Side so I have scootered many times all the way through the park early in the morning when it is still relatively quiet, and when the air is crisp and fresh. He also came up with nicknames for different parts of our scooter path. I grew up in Upstate New York in the middle of nowhere, so I always find myself craving nature. I spend as much time outside before that isn’t really an option anymore. I was really intrigued when you explained that the paths were made twisty so people would get “lost” so they would feel like there was more land than there actually was. It makes the park more of an experience than just a plot of land, so that people will hopefully forget the hustle and bustle that was just beyond the trees. Central Park is designed nature, curated to feel like nature.

 

We then made our way to the Obelisk, which was outside of the original MET. I learned that it is a single piece of granite with hieroglyphs carved into the stone. It was created in 300BC in Egypt. I can’t imagine people creating this, especially without modern day tools and transportation. It’s incredible. It’s crazy that it was floated down the Hudson River, and then New York City created a special railway just to get it from the Hudson to its current home.   

 

 

 

 

 

On our way to the MET, I learned that where the MET was put, was where there were villages of homeless people, primarily people of color as well as former slaves. The people trying to put the MET there used discriminatory language to start the crusade to get them moved. I also learned that the original MET was actually in Central Park, faced south, and contained a lot of Greek sculptures that were actually fake.

This is a picture of the original facade.

I think it is cool that they not only paid homage to the original structure, but also didn’t let all those materials and money go to waste. I learned that keeping the original entrance in the museum is referred to as palimpsest.

This picture is another example of palimpsest. It is the facade of the Branch Bank of the United States.

I took this while we were all waiting on the second floor overlooking the lobby. I liked how it showed the Greek/Roman influence. 

I thought this was so beautiful. It was called Mourning Victory, sculpted in marble. 

 

 

This is a sculpture in gild bronze of Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon. I just thought it was so beautiful. It was originally a functioning rotating weathervane for the tower of Madison Square Garden.

The rooftop is where we finished our trip for the day. I loved just discussing the things we were seeing, instead of it feeling like I was being told what I should be interested in.

 

In total I walked about 7.5 miles that day.

Our Queens Museum of Art was jam packed, as the Museum had a lot of diverse exhibits. This picture of the globe outside of the museum was a lasting exhibit from the Queens World Fair. It was massive, and made me feel so small (smaller than usual).

I took these pictures in the lobby, I think it was a beautiful way to enter the museum. Just like all of the different exhibits being so different and diverse, this mural has so many different facets to it.

This exhibit was so eye opening, I didn’t realize how large New York City is. It would be cool if there was a way to continuously update it, while not erasing the past. Maybe by adding layers? Or hologram/projection? It’s interesting the Robert Moses took part in creating this, as he created so much of New York. This model was also color-coded to show the various types of land use/building use. This model was also part of the World’s fair, it had airplanes flying in and out of airports, and lights got darker and brighter to simulate daytime/nighttime. They really thought of everything, and in 1964 it was the world’s largest scale model and averaged 1,400 visitors each day of the World’s Fair.

I really liked the World’s Fair exhibit because since reading Devil In The White City, they really intrigue me. This exhibit had pictures, videos, and real memorabilia from the Fair, which was really cool. This picture I took was a map of all the exhibits featured at the Fair. We didn’t spend a lot of time there, but my favorite part was all the photos, because otherwise I can’t imagine what they were like. I feel like in my life time I haven’t heard anyone discuss World Fairs, and I feel like maybe I didn’t know they existed really.

I liked this exhibit because my favorite part of history classes was seeing the political cartoons. They say so much through just the drawings and minimal words. But like they say, a picture (or drawing) is worth a thousand words.

I’ve always found glass making very interesting, it is so fragile and one mistake can cost the artist the whole piece. This picture is a lamp from the Tiffany Glass exhibit. Louis C. Tiffany was the son of the founder of Tiffany & Co, and spent his whole life being exposed to design and craftsmanship. Louis was a trailblazer in the world of glass.

This piece was the marrying of Lichtenstein’s work and other famous artworks.

 

This embroidered piece was very “Great Gatsby the eyes of god” for me, and very dreamlike. I loved looking at all of these because they are so intricate. When I was younger I use to embroider t-shirts and I can’t imagine how much time and effort this took. Especially the shading, the shading using string is incredible.

This field trip I walked almost 4 miles.

When I ride the subway I often think about what came before the car I am in. Surprisingly, I had never heard of The Brooklyn Transit Museum which exists to answer all those questions. I learned about the subway fare dating back to 1904, where the cost of a ride was only a nickel. This fare stayed the same for FOUR DECADES, 40 years! After 40 years, it was increased to 1o cents, which definitely didn’t take into account inflation. That’s crazy to me because the subway fare seems to be increasing about 25 cents every 2 years or so. At the museum, I also saw the evolution of the turnstile. First it was wooden, and rotated horizontally and had to be manually operated. It was cool to see the change in design, style, color, and materials. The way of paying also changed over the years. There were paper tickets, coins, and tokens. Metro cards weren’t introduced until 1993. There were also ways in which people used counterfeit tokens called slugs. People evaded fares using foreign coins, washers, amusement tokens, and even tokens from other transit systems. The weirdest trend of fare evasion was called “token sucking”. Token sucking was when people would jam the token slots with paper or something and waited for an unsuspecting traveler to drop a token into the slot. When the turnstile didn’t allow them through, they would walk away from the turnstile to ask for assistance. In that moment the evader would sneak over to the turnstile, put their mouth over the slot and suck the token out. Creative booth agents started coating the turnstile slot with hot sauce to deter evaders, also pretty funny if you ask me.

Anyway, that was a big tangent.

I really enjoyed looking in all the subway cars, and seeing all the materials used, and all the original ads on the walls. It was cool seeing the longevity of some brands, like Vicks, Mars Milky Way, and Campbell’s Tomato Soup. My favorite story we heard from the museum director had to do with the 2nd World’s Fair in Queens. She explained the dilemma of not knowing how travelers speaking so many different languages would find their ways to and from Queens. That’s when they decided to paint the subway cars that were going to the fair blue, so that all people would have to do, would be to look for the blue car.

We then left the museum and walked to the Brooklyn Bridge. That was a great walk because it was such a beautiful day. We walked by the river and learned about the previous docks that existed where we were walking. We also discussed the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and how high the water rose.

We then walked over the Brooklyn Bridge. It was actually my first time, as I generally try to avoid the touristy things that people go to just so they can take a picture for Instagram. The bridge was really beautiful, I’m glad I did it. I found it weird how many people were selling things on the bridge, and at the entrances of the bridge. I mean it makes sense, I would just think their would be some more rules about selling things in the middle of the bridge. I’m glad I got to walk the bridge, especially because it was such a beautiful day. I did some more research on the bridge online because I was more preoccupied with surviving the walk over the bridge (because of all the bicycles and tourists) to really take it all in and actually learn about the bridge. I learned that it was the world’s first steel-wire suspension bridge, and one of the oldest roadway bridges in the US. It’s cool to think that all of the seemingly little wires actually have a bigger purpose.

Overall it was a really beautiful day and a really cool field trip. Also I walked over 7 miles by the end of my day.

This was a day filled with walking, which I really enjoyed because we learned about so many things along the way. It wasn’t just about getting from Point A to Point B, but about discussing other things in between.

On the way to the World Trade Center Site, we stopped in front of St. Paul’s Church. Although it was very close to the Twin Towers when they fell, it wasn’t touched. It has been open since about 1766, and was actually held the George Washington’s inauguration mass. We learned it was one of the oldest buildings in manhattan. You can tell by the style of the building and the materials used.

We then walked over to the World Trade Center Site, first passing under the seemingly eagle like structure of the Oculus.

When we arrived at the World Trade Center Site, the immensity was palpable. In the space where the towers use to be, now exists a deep gaping hole, invoking feelings of absence. I interpreted the waterfall as tears or blood being spilled. It is kind of like being swallowed by the ground. When I stood at the edge of the hole, the fountains drowned out the sounds of the city so that I was only thinking about what was in front of me. I had a lot of questions. How much water is used (especially if it runs 24 hours a day)? What are the environmental implications?

There’s a various obvious contrast of light and dark when moving from the World Trade Center Site into the Oculus.

The Oculus is stark white, and massive. It makes you feel small and large at the same time. From the outside (and above), it looks like an eagle taking flight, an embodiment of the American Spirit. On the inside, it is very skeleton like, maybe even ribs. In the center of the ceiling, there is this spine of glass. I also kind of looked like a leaf to me, like how leaves have all the veins coming out of the center spine. Either way, it conveyed life to me. I had a lot of questions. What was the material used? Was it built to last the test of time and the elements? I noticed signs of water damage, bubbling, and marks on the white walls. How is the space cared for, and what are those costs like? Also, why use the same name as the earlier created Fulton subway station?

Next we walked under and through to the Winter Garden Atrium in Brookfield Place. This garden of palm trees is inside a maybe 9 story high glass pavilion. This space seems to be very classically designed, with several floor to ceiling columns, and the floors are covered in various colored marble slabs all beautifully laid in repeating patterns. The massive windows flood the space with tons of natural light, and has such an airy and open feeling. The space had to be reconstructed after the 9/11 attacks, as all of its windows were completely blown out, in addition to other damages.

We then walked down the river path, and through some beautiful large and green trees to the Skyscraper Museum.

I didn’t get to spend a ton of time at the Skyscraper Museum, because class time was over. But I did a quick walkthrough, and learned the space mainly discussed the history of how New York started building towards the sky. This was initiated mainly to combat New York’s overcrowding problem. The museum explored the process of attempts at density reduction and slum clearance.

This was a really great day. In total (not just the class time), but my phone said I walked over 8 miles. It’s cool being able to see how much ground I covered. Also I learned and saw so much, not just at the official field-trip sites, but also along the way. I think that’s the best way to learn. I can’t wait for the others that are to come.

I have been raving to everyone about this hidden gem of a museum, especially to my dad. My dad and I both really love learning, and this is the type of place that him and I would go to together (he has actually been asking me if he can come along with me in class haha). I was in awe of the “Timescapes” exhibit. I think it can be hard to grasp the transformation of New York City, and this movie tells the 400 year story in 28 minutes. From start to finish I was captivated. I’m not sure if Erik Larson has made me think differently about the construction of New York City, but his description of the construction of Chicago’s trials and tribulations has definitely given me a new respect for the phrase “thinking outside the box”. I loved “Timescapes” because I am fascinated by the evolution of cities, and this had archival photos that could pinpoint locations still in existence today. This exhibit definitely altered my perception of architecture and New York City as a whole.

I also really enjoyed the “Voice of the Village” exhibit.

It got up close and personal with New York City, the LQBTQ community, musicians, poets, artists, politics, social justice, and resistance. I have been interested in photography and shooting/developing film since I was maybe 13, so I know the intricacy and the difficulty involved in film. This exhibit was mostly film pictures. I am in awe of all that was captured despite the “limitations” that comes with film (shutter speed, aperture, low light, limited shots, etc). These photos looked inside artists in their studios, poetry readings, famous musicians (maybe not famous at the time the photographs were taken), mayoral candidates, and so much more. A lot of these photos were just candid and genuine, something I really appreciate artistically, and especially in this selfie and posed picture driven society we are in now. Now we focus on pictures being “perfect”, but I don’t see that as a factor driving any of these photos. These photos tell a story, evokes feelings and thoughts. This is a quality of photography I wish we would return to.

I thought the “Stettheimer Dollhouse” exhibit was pretty wild. I don’t have much to say besides that I was blown away with the attention for detail and craftsman (and/or woman)-ship of this dollhouse. I just thought it was insane that something could be so small, intricate, and perfect. I was just so shocked, because most children have some type of dollhouse, but none of mine ever looked like this obviously. Someone put in an extreme amount of work to make it look this perfect, in terms of material, scale, accuracy to a time period, and just overall appearance.

This was a really cool excursion. Not only was it beautiful, I learned a lot, but I also walked probably more than 2 miles that day. Starting the day at the Whitney was cool because I got to see the city from a different angle, and to see a bigger picture. I never really knew much about the Meatpacking District. I had no idea there was a whole separate train, let alone that it actually stopped INSIDE buildings to drop off the meat. I also assumed that getting the High Line up and running as a tourist attraction was easy. I had no idea the type of revamp that had to happen. The High Line has a lot of detail if you pay attention to detail. The architects incorporated steel, original brick, wood, and concrete, all in a way paying homage to the railway that was once there.

I also learned about the Cult of Originality that occurred in the early 1900s, and how this movement focussed on creating something that had never been seen before.

The Vessel is free, technically? I know it is a public instillation that is privately funded, but what kind of tax break are they getting? Does it outweigh the money the people of New York City would have gotten in tax money? I can’t imagine what the construction of the High Line and the Vessel did to the immediate community. The Vessel doesn’t really have a purpose, besides being a tourist trap and a selfie spot. But it does allow for beautiful views and fresh(er) air.

There are different meanings of the word Vessel. One is like a ship or a large boat, and the second is like a host. I feel like this instillation incorporates both of those meanings.

Here are some things I was thinking about when we were at the Vessel: Is it open in the winter? Is that dangerous? Who shovels all of these steps? If they do shovel it, do they shovel it off the sides? What if someone falls off of this? Has anyone fallen off of this? What is the maintenance like? What is the future of the Vessel? Will people be charged an entrance fee?

Overall I really enjoyed this field trip.   

            Until reading “Edifice Complex: How the Rich and Powerful Shape the World”, I did not think deeply about the connection between power and architecture. How it can be used to impress or intimidate. How it can be used to distract and overcompensate. How it can be used as a type of propaganda. Architecture can be used to manipulate and skew our view on the world, community, or government. In many ways, Architecture shapes the way we live our lives, as well as death. It doesn’t have to necessarily have to have a specific purpose, it can be used as metaphors and as a symbol.  

          Since reading this, I have been wondering if the meanings of these buildings can evolve. Are they stuck with the name and the politics of the government that commissioned it? Architecture is often times based on exchanging money for notoriety. I did not previously view architecture as having its own language. I have always liked to explore all sides of every decision. When I am observing buildings, I often think about why the architect, or the benefactor, choose what they did. That includes style, and material for me. When it comes to architecture, we can assume time period by observing the material and style. Deyan Sudjic in a way validates my curiosity.