The New York Observer » Frank Gehry http://www.observer.com Just another WordPress site Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:49:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Very Gehry: Behind the Curtain at the New Pershing Square Signature Theater The Pershing Square Signature Theater opened today, with the mayor, Ed Norten, Steve Ross and Frank Gehry in tow. The theater was literally finished yesterday, as they installed the box office glass during lunch, among other finishing touches, so there was no official photography yet.

Fortunately, The Observer knows one of the best photographers in the city, William Alatriste, the staff shooter at the City Council. He has a killer eye for drama and scenery, so naturally this was the perfect environment for him. Until you get your hands on some of those $25 tickets, enjoy this photo debut of the Signature Theater. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/very-gehry-behind-the-curtain-at-the-new-pershing-square-signature-theater/ Term Limits: Mayor Bloomberg Wants 10 New Gehry Buildings in Two Years Mayor Bloomberg has set an ambitious agenda for his final two years in office. No, not finally fixing the schools, reforming the pensions or redeveloping Willets Point. Those are the easy ones.

“You should know that Frank and I had a conversation backstage,” the mayor said at the opening of the Signature Theater today, “and we both committed to each other that we would get 10 more Frank Gehry projects going here—in the next 700 days. If my math is any good, Frank, that is one every 70 days, so we should meet some time later today to get going.”

New York has actually faired quite well in the Frank Gehry department. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2012/01/term-limits-mayor-bloomberg-wants-10-new-frank-gehry-buildings-in-two-years/ Starchitecture Is Actually Worth the Money Once, living in a building with celebrity residents or prewar pedigree was the goal of every nouveau riche New Yorker. Trump International, anyone? Yes, please, 740 Park.

Now upwardly mobile denizens of our great city have slightly different aspirations: starchitect developments; that is, buildings designed by jet-setting, Pritzker-prize winning  architectural wizards, typically of the old guard variety. While some have suggested that the starchitect craze is the result of pure unadulterated vanity, it turns out that buildings have made a pretty penny since they began to sprout up a decade ago, Crain's reports. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/11/201442/ Frank Gehry Does Not Make Fans of Occupy Wall Street The downtown neighbors have come to a bit of a detente with their friends at Occupy Wall Street—quit banging on those damn drums, and we can live with you. But not everyone is happy with that agreement, according to The Journal. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/10/frank-gehry-does-not-make-fans-of-occupy-wall-street/ ?uestlove Loves Frank Gehry, Apparently Doesn’t Read the News Yesterday evening, we were chatting with The Root's drummer ?uestlove about his secret fire eating talents at a party for Jay-Z's foundation. After learning that he had almost singed off his signature afro, The Observer wondered what he thought about his pal's team, the Brooklyn Nets. The drummer gave a surprising answer. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/09/uestlove-loves-frank-gehry-apparently-doesnt-read-the-news/ Tribeca 7-Year Wears Tuxe to School in Apprectiation of Frank Gehry Even with his foul mouth and hatred of the Simpsons, Frank Gehry is beloved the world over—even by kids who have never heard of parametric modeling. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/09/7-year-loves-frank-gehry-wears-tuxe-to-school-in/ Frank Gehry Really, Really Regrets His Guest Appearance on The Simpsons Because of his successful style, Frank Gehry sometimes comes under criticism for being a hack whose buildings all look the same—even if in their 50th iteration, those waving bands of metal still look amazing, fresh and different. This sensibility was, like so many other things, immortalized on The Simpsons, in which Mr. Gehry was perhaps the first and only architect to ever make a guest appearance—an appearance that still haunts him to this day. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/09/frank-gehry-regrets-his-guest-appearance-the-simpsons/ Frank Gehry, Leprechaun He may be a Canadian of Jewish extraction, but The Observer always figured Frank Gehry was part Irish. How else to explain his golden touch? Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/07/frank-gehry-leprechaun/ Ground Zero Cultural Center Stuck at Square One With Condé Nast's move to 1 World Trade Center all but official, ground zero has gotten a much-needed flash of panache. With Ralph Lauren soon pulling up in his limo and Rick Hertzberg rolling up on his bike, wouldn't it be nice for them to have somewhere to take in a show? The Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/real-estate/ground-zero-cultural-center-stuck-square-one Even Frank Gehry’s Cakes Are Crooked Frank Gehry celebrated his 82nd birthday on the 76th floor of his own perfect "New York" on Saturday evening.

The world's most famous architect--how many others have guest-starred on The Simpsons?--was joined at his signature apartment building by pals Ben Gazzara, Bruce Ratner, Bono and Carl Bernstein (below) in a penthouse celebration. As for Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/real-estate/even-frank-gehrys-cakes-are-crooked Fashion Week Crowd Skips Proenza Schouler in Pursuit of Diamonds On the final night of Fashion Week, New York's sartorial royalty skipped the final few Fall 2011 shows in order to get a peek at Set in Style, the new Van Cleef & Arpels exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt.

Bergdorf Goodman's Linda Fargo, in frothy Vera Wang, lamented having to miss the two shows for the event. Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/style/fashion-crowd-skips-proenza-schouler-pursuit-diamonds You Can Finally Rent a Piece of New York… by Gehry, That Is Much has been made of the fact that Frank Gehry's spetacular apartment tower at 8 Spruce Street boasts hundreds of different facade panels to create its unusual rippling exterior. Less known is that all those curves in the building now known as New York by Gehry also create more than 200 different apartment layouts Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/real-estate/you-can-finally-rent-piece-new-york-gehry We Can Do Better Than Gehry’s 8 Spruce Street The Observer has been obsessing over Frank Gehry's 8 Spruce Street, née Beekman Tower, for months now, even declaring it our favorite building of 2010. Yet try as we might, Times architecture critic Niccholai Ouroussoff remains the ultimate authority on buildings in the city and the world (for better or worse).

He weighs Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2011/real-estate/gehrys-tower-paradigm-shift Will Gehry’s 8 Spruce Become Priciest Pad in Town? Frank Gehry has designed the best building of the year, but could it get even better?

Our pal Bob Knakal talked to The Real Deal recently about 8 Spruce Street's potential to break rental records, which would mean beating out buildings like the the Trump World Tower, the Time Warner Center and even fellow Read More

]]> http://www.observer.com/2010/real-estate/will-gehrys-8-spruce-become-priciest-pad-town Will Gehry’s $3,000 Studios Strip Downtown of a Bikini Bar, or Save It? Who doesn't love bartenders in bikinis? Besides the prudish Gray Lady, that is.

The Times has a story about Nassau Bar, located on the street bearing its name, a downtown institution to rival Fraunces Tavern where cheap shots and cold beers have been slung by bikini-clad bartenders since at least 1983. Tips are encouraged, photographs strictly Read More

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