Curbed: All Posts by Amy SchellenbaumLove where you live2015-01-21T11:30:00-05:00https://archive.curbed.com/authors/amyschellenbaum/rss2015-01-21T11:30:00-05:002015-01-21T11:30:00-05:00City Hideaway of Dickens' Illustrator is Now a Gorgeous Studio
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<p>In the 1870s, a string of brick homes in London's Primrose Hill were the homes of English artists, one of whom was Victorian painter <strong>Frederick Barnard,</strong> the illustrator for nine Charles Dickens novels published that decade. Now, some 140 years later, the space has <a href="http://www.dezeen.com/2015/01/16/sevil-peach-victorian-house-extension-conversion-london-dickens-illustrator-artists-studio/">returned</a> to its life as an artist's residence, though with a preternatural perfection and expensive modernism to reflect the city's 2015 real estate market.</p>
<p> For its renovation, local firm <strong>Sevil Peach</strong> gutted the interiors (including doing away with many of the room divisions that arose when the place became two maisonettes in the '60s), keeping just the oak ceiling beams and a stretch of exposed brick. It's now nigh-entirely object-less, washed in white and peach. The firm also added a courtyard-adjacent bathtub (abutting a glass wall, naturally), a sterile kitchen, and oversized skylights. The midcentury subdividing was "clearly not in the genes of the building," the architects <a href="http://www.dezeen.com/2015/01/16/sevil-peach-victorian-house-extension-conversion-london-dickens-illustrator-artists-studio/">write,</a> adding it "resulted in room layouts with lots of small, awkward and stuffy spaces that concealed the original structure and spatial concept."</p>
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<p> · <a href="http://www.dezeen.com/2015/01/16/sevil-peach-victorian-house-extension-conversion-london-dickens-illustrator-artists-studio/">Home of Charles Dickens Illustrator Converted by Sevil Peach into an Artist's Studio</a> [Dezeen]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/renovations">All Renovations posts</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/1/21/10000418/studio-design-ideas-london-artist-studio-savil-peach-architectureAmy Schellenbaum2015-01-21T09:30:00-05:002015-01-21T09:30:00-05:00Comment of the Day
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<p><a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2015/01/16/julian-abele-black-architect-of-duke-university.php#comment-1733968">"As a Duke grad from '73 and now an architect, I feel shock and disappointment at learning this news only now.</a> Better late than never, but in this case it doesn't feel too much better. Well done Mr. Abele, it was a terrific campus to inhabit."—Guest [Meet the Black Architect Who Designed Duke University 37 Years Before He Could Have Attended It]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/1/21/10000486/comment-of-the-day-duke-university-julian-abeleAmy Schellenbaum2015-01-20T17:00:00-05:002015-01-20T17:00:00-05:00All About Googie, the Friendly Architecture of Jet-Age L.A.
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<p id="DqWimX">With the news (and subsequent outrage) that L.A.'s iconic Norms restaurant <a href="http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/01/demo_permit_issued_for_flagship_norms_diner_on_la_cienega.php">may be demolished,</a> Curbed LA takes a look at the city's signature <strong>Googie Architecture,</strong> the effusive <em>Jetsons</em>-like building style that popped up after World War II. Up until the mid-'60s, the hard-lined, cartoonish Googie style was popular for motels, coffee shops, car washes and diners.</p>
<p id="UDUbFS"> <a href="http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/01/an_introduction_to_googie_socals_signature_architectural_style.php">The archicritic who termed the style "Googie" in 1952 thought it was tackiness incarnate. >></a></p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/1/20/10000696/what-is-googie-architectureAmy Schellenbaum2015-01-20T13:50:00-05:002015-01-20T13:50:00-05:00Roman Abramovich is About to Sire a Monster Mansion in NYC
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<p>Russian billionaire <strong>Roman Abramovich,</strong> the <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2013/02/01/curbeds-whale-of-the-day-roman-abramovich.php">real estate whale</a> that once had a dream to buy the <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2013/10/04/roman-abramovich-to-buy-lavish-almost-manse-for-75m.php">most expensive co-op ever sold</a> before the seller spurned his ambitions by <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/01/22/busted_blockbusters.php">pulling out</a> last minute, is poised to do something else entirely with his NYC portfolio. The <em>New York Post</em> <a href="http://nypost.com/2015/01/17/billionaire-abramovich-buying-up-city-block-for-mega-mansion/">reports</a> that the billionaire has "secretly" bought two adjoining townhouses on Manhattan's Upper East Side, with third adjoining townhouse in contract. His plan is easy to predict: combine the some $55.4M worth of house into one truly baller mega house. </p>
<p> Curbed NY has more details:</p>
<p> "The largest of the three properties is No. 11, measuring 21 feet wide and 9,495 square feet. Both numbers 13 and 15, Queen Anne-style houses that date to 1880, measure 17-feet wide. No. 15 is 7,286 square feet, while No. 13 comes in at 8,116. So Abramovich's mansion—where he plans to live with his girlfriend—could be nearly 25,000 square feet, making it one of the largest (if not the largest) homes in New York City. Make that a lesson, kids: when the seller of your promised $75M mansion pushes you off the horse, there's nothing left to do buy the crap out of the Upper East Side.</p>
<p> (Artist's rendering, below:)</p>
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<p> · <a href="http://nypost.com/2015/01/17/billionaire-abramovich-buying-up-city-block-for-mega-mansion/">Billionaire Abramovich buying up city block for mega-mansion</a> [NYP]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/01/20/russian_billionaire_secretly_buys_3_houses_for_megamansion.php">Russian Billionaire 'Secretly' Buys 3 Houses for Megamansion</a> [Curbed NY]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/roman-abramovich">All Roman Abramovich posts</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/1/20/10000832/roman-abramovich-three-townhouses-nyc-real-estateAmy Schellenbaum2015-01-20T12:25:00-05:002015-01-20T12:25:00-05:00Sophie Donelson is the New Editor-in-Chief of House Beautiful
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<p>Hearst has <a href="https://cms.hearst.com/newsroom/sophie-donelson-named-editor-in-chief-of-house-beautiful">just announced</a> that shelter editor-turned-freelancer <strong>Sophie Donelson</strong> will be <em>House Beautiful's</em> next EIC. Don't know Donelson? Well, she's held senior staff positions at <em>Elle Decor</em> (which is also published by the Hearst Corporation), <em>Blueprint,</em> and <em>CITYmagazines,</em> as well as contributed to <em>Hamptons Cottages & Gardens</em> and online design industry publication Editor at Large. She also had a hand in the founding of this very blog, Curbed National. Best of luck, let the good times roll, etc. [<a href="https://cms.hearst.com/newsroom/sophie-donelson-named-editor-in-chief-of-house-beautiful">official site</a> via Curbed Inbox]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/1/20/10000932/sophie-donelson-is-the-new-editorinchief-of-house-beautifulAmy Schellenbaum2015-01-20T09:30:00-05:002015-01-20T09:30:00-05:00Someone Actually Paid $100M for a New York Apartment
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<p>Over the weekend, news broke that the penthouse of NYC's <strong>One57</strong> tower, the glassy Central Park needle starchitect <strong>Christian de Portzamparc</strong> designed for what will undoubtedly be the most discerning of Russian oligarchs, oil-backed princes, and billionaire hedge funders <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/10/28/billionaire_hedge_funder_considers_90m_one57_ph_flip_fun.php">looking for a little "fun,"</a> <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/01/17/100_million_one57_ph_officially_closes_breaks_nyc_record.php">sold for</a> <strong>$100.5M.</strong> Property records show the 10,923-square-foot duplex penthouse on the 89th and 90th floors officially closed last month, thereby shattering the city's previous record, an $88M sale to the 22-year-old daughter of fertilizer magnate Dmitry Rybolovlev.</p>
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<p> Of course, it wasn't the highest penthouse on the market (that award goes to any one of the <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/places/432-park-avenue">several</a> <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2015/01/16/shop-architects-skinniest-tallest-skyscraper.php">record-busting supertalls</a> being built in the city), but it's nonetheless got a theater, a steam room, a library, and some just-dandy Central Park views. Renderings, below:</p>
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<p><br> · <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2015/01/20/100-million-new-york-penthouse-one57.php">Someone Actually Paid $100M for a New York Apartment</a> [Curbed National]<br>· <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/01/17/100_million_one57_ph_officially_closes_breaks_nyc_record.php">$100 Million One57 PH Officially Closes, Breaks NYC Record</a> [Curbed NY]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/1/20/10001012/100-million-new-york-penthouse-one57Amy Schellenbaum2015-01-16T15:32:39-05:002015-01-16T15:32:39-05:00Dome Sweet Dome
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<p><a href="http://blog.archpaper.com/2015/01/goetz-brings-bucky-back/#more-98275">At last year's Miami Art Basel, a materials manufacturer recreated <strong>Buckminster Fuller's</strong> Fly's Eye Dome</a>—more than three decades after theinventor's death. Calling upon modern building techniques—3D scans, parametric modeling—makes sense for this particular reproduction; given Fuller's background, there's perhaps no better way to recreate his buildings than with advanced math. The project also proves the perseverance of the <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/06/05/dome-home-history-buckminster-fuller.php">geodesic dome.</a> [Architect's Newspaper via <a href="http://miami.curbed.com/archives/2015/01/16/the-painstaking-replication-of-bucky-fullers-flys-eye-dome.php">Curbed Miami</a>]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/1/16/10001282/flys-eye-dome-buckminster-fuller-reproduction-art-basel-miamiAmy Schellenbaum2015-01-16T10:45:00-05:002015-01-16T10:45:00-05:00What China's People Think of China's 'Weird Buildings'
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<p>China's president Xi Jinping has made it abundantly clear that he's <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/10/20/no-more-weird-architecture-xi-jinping.php">just about had it up to here</a> with his country's "weird architecture"—<a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2013/07/19/a-look-at-chinas-crazy-horseshoe-hotel-open-next-month.php">horseshoes!</a> <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/08/25/insights-into-chinas-love-of-copycat-suburbia.php">replica towns!</a> <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/08/05/window-of-guangzhou-atkins.php">picture frames!</a> <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2012/05/16/globe-trotting-65.php">pants!</a> <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2012/09/11/oops.php">more pants!</a>—that has captivated the world in recent years. Good architecture "should be like sunshine from the blue sky and the breeze in spring that will inspire minds, warm hearts, cultivate taste and clean up undesirable work styles," he told newspaper <em>People's Daily,</em> whose office building <a href="http://www.dezeen.com/2013/05/09/peoples-daily-chinese-newspaper-headquarters-compared-to-huge-penis/">looks like a giant penis.</a> But what does the country's <em>populace</em> think of China's reputation for <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2012/12/26/pie-in-the-sky-architecture-to-come-from-china-this-year.php">expensive, pie-in-the-sky</a> buildings?</p>
<p> Architizer <a href="http://architizer.com/blog/sounding-off-weird-buildings-in-china/">spoke</a> to 15 people living in China to find out.</p>
<p> Highlights include: </p>
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<p>"the more important thing is to have the architect understand more about what art is." "There is a lot of weird architecture in China: the big penis, the big coin, the big underpants, the big vagina, etc. They're all <strong>inarguably weird and ugly.</strong>" </p>
<p> "Some of them are strangely nice."</p>
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<p> <a href="http://architizer.com/blog/sounding-off-weird-buildings-in-china/">Read on.</a></p>
<p> · <a href="http://architizer.com/blog/sounding-off-weird-buildings-in-china/">15 Opinions on Weird Buildings in China</a> [Architizer]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/china">All China posts</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/1/16/10001474/what-chinas-people-think-of-chinas-weird-buildingsAmy Schellenbaum2015-01-16T09:30:00-05:002015-01-16T09:30:00-05:001948 Time Capsule Was Designed by the Great A. Quincy Jones
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<p>It's time to call it: when it comes to midcentury real estate time capsules, those shag-carpeted, wood-paneled, brown refrigerator'd vessels of <em>Mad Men</em>-reinvigorated nostalgia, Southern California reigns supreme. It's got <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/11/17/midcentury-house-los-angeles-for-sale.php">untouched "Brady Bunch edens,"</a> it's got <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/09/23/preserved-postandbeam-pad-is-a-perfect-60s-time-capsule.php">1960s post-and-beams,</a> it's got <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/08/27/toluca-lake-atomic-ranch-for-sale.php">"shockingly intact" ranches</a> and <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/05/19/nab-sculptor-morris-levines-1964-home-for-325m.php">so</a> <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/07/24/frederick-dyer-bennet-home-for-sale.php">much</a> <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/05/06/gregory-ains-tufeld-residence-wants-1695m.php">more.</a> Add to the ever-growing index Los Angeles' 1948 <strong>Nordlinger House #1,</strong> a 2,950-square-foot spread by famed local architect <strong>A. Quincy Jones</strong>—a.k.a. architectural favorite of <em>both</em> <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2012/01/24/inside-jennifer-anistons-sleek-new-piece-of-starchitecture.php">Jennifer Aniston</a> and <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2013/09/17/at-long-last-courteney-cox-lists-a-quincy-jones-mansion.php">Courtney Cox.</a></p>
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<p> According to Curbed LA, <em>An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles</em> once described the house as "very much under the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright" (aren't we all?), what with its red timber façade and omnipresence of horizontal lines and subtle cantilevers. Inside are all the typical midcentury wonders: mustard carpeting, a dark wood-paneled bar, a heavy brick fireplace, and a set of stairs that is so 1940s-glam you could just die. The ask? <strong>$1.75M.</strong> Hardly a trifle, but it should be said anyway: new buyer, if you're reading, please, please don't tear this down. Please.</p>
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<p> More photos, <a href="http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/01/stunning_a_quincy_jones_time_capsule_in_bel_air_asks_175mm.php">over at Curbed LA.</a></p>
<p> · <a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2015/01/16/1948-time-capsule-house-real-estate-a-quincy-jones-for-sale.php">1948 Time Capsule Was Designed by the Great A. Quincy Jones</a> [via <a href="http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/01/stunning_a_quincy_jones_time_capsule_in_bel_air_asks_175mm.php">Curbed LA</a>]<br>· <a href="http://curbed.com/tags/time-capsules">All Time Capsules</a> [Curbed National]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/1/16/10001670/1948-time-capsule-house-real-estate-a-quincy-jones-for-saleAmy Schellenbaum2015-01-14T16:30:00-05:002015-01-14T16:30:00-05:00Adaptive Reuse
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<p>In New Mexico, a real estate agent who "sells mostly ranch houses in tidy neighborhoods or stretches of undeveloped land," <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/us/roswell-new-mexico-missile-silo-for-sale.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">has got his hands on the listing for a <strong>decommissioned missile silo,</strong> enterable via a lonely green door on 25 otherwise unbuilt acres.</a> According to the <em>Times,</em> the parcel has his "phone ringing with inquiries from across the country." The whole story, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/us/roswell-new-mexico-missile-silo-for-sale.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">this way.</a> [NYT; photo by Vladislav S via <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516509&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shutterstock.com%2Fcat.mhtml%3Flang%3Den%26language%3Den%26ref_site%3Dphoto%26search_source%3Dsearch_form%26version%3Dllv1%26anyorall%3Dall%26safesearch%3D1%26use_local_boost%3D1%26search_tracking_id%3DKqi4jYOZL16QJZ4yO9r6pw%26searchterm%3Dabandoned%2520missile%2520silo%26show_color_wheel%3D1%26orient%3D%26commercial_ok%3D%26media_type%3Dimages%26search_cat%3D%26searchtermx%3D%26photographer_name%3D%26people_gender%3D%26people_age%3D%26people_ethnicity%3D%26people_number%3D%26color%3D%26page%3D1%26inline%3D134896199&referrer=archive.curbed.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.curbed.com%2F2015%2F1%2F14%2F10002262%2Fmissile-silo-for-sale-new-mexico" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Shutterstock</a>]</p>
https://archive.curbed.com/2015/1/14/10002262/missile-silo-for-sale-new-mexicoAmy Schellenbaum