Art: Hands on New York Day 2011

Today was Hands on New York Day, a Saturday where thousands of volunteers spend their day cleaning the city at various parks, schools, and other public spaces. I signed up to be a mural artist at a public school in Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan. I had to meet with a teacher from the school and view the wall, then have my sketches approved. My assignment was to create 7 sports figures to cover the wall and portray "sports in action." Today, a group of volunteers and I primed the wall, I sketched out the figures in chalk, then volunteers painted the figures. I finished up doing the outlining and detail work. It was a long, but very rewarding day, and I am pretty happy with the final result.

The finished product. By the end of the day it was raining!

Daily Journal: 4-15-11

This is my first "daily journal" post, the purpose of which is to capture little snippets of beauty as I go about my travels. Today I have pictures of what I am sure will be a recurring theme: brick townhouses in my neighborhood, the West Village. Brick townhouses and brownstones are a huge reason why I fell in love with New York City during family day trips during childhood. Take note of the film shoot happening on West 4th Street near Bank Street.

Architecture: How Long Island City Gets It Right

I walked around Long Island City today with my camera around 6pm on a whim. I wasn't sure what I was going to take pictures of, but if nothing else, LIC has those great waterfront views, and on the first 65 degree day of the spring, I decided to take advantage of the circumstances. My first instinct, as I climbed the grimy stairs from the bowels of the 7-train platform, was to really highlight (er.. lowlight?) the cookie-cutter curtainwall condo's/greenhouses that have been the staple of 00's NYC residential development. I already knew that Long Island City had been a major victim of that wave. However, while walking along Jackson Avenue and the nearby streets, I was very pleasantly surprised at the success of some of the latest architecture. I saw interesting forms and creative balcony design. But one of my favorite features is bringing brick back into the equation of the condo tower. New York City residential architecture has always had an abundance of brick, so it's such a great nod to our history. Brick is also a much easier transition when it's situated next to an older building, which is a daily challenge for building in the city. Instead of a glass box plopped onto a lot, it's nice to see some consideration to the "neighbors." (Side note: I would highly suggest clicking on the picture and zooming in to see all the detail.)

Cranes, construction, condo's.

Tetris!

Vinyl siding NY

Floor to ceiling windows with gray brick interspersed

Front elevation

Nice

Again, curtainwall style windows with brick

The brick transitions nicely to the adjacent building

Pressed metal "brick" siding

Close-up

Industrial beauty

Nice form of the balconies

And Classic PS-1