Many tourists use their summer and winter vacations to travel around the world to view some of the most spectacular, newest and most interesting buildings built by man. Here we are highlighting a few of our own suggestions of architectural destinations for you to consider in the coming months due to their newness, restoration completion and limited engagements.
| Fairmont Plaza Architectural Tour (Limited Engagement): For a limited time and on a month by month basis this summer, The Plaza in Central Park is offering architectural tours of the hotel. The tours are being shown twice a week and include tours of The Oak Room, The Palm Court, the Grand Ballroom and some views of the amazing rooms and suites. The tours are led by architectural historian, author and teacher Francis Morrone. The tour is about 45 minutes and are being held every Tuesday and Saturday in June at 3pm by reservation only. The tours have a limit of 20 people and are as of now only scheduled to take place in June (but we assume they will most likely go through the summer).
To reserve a spot, call The Plaza Boutique at 212-588-8012. |
 The Plaza Hotel NYC |
 Marcel Breuer Exhibit |
Marcel Breuer: Design and Architecture – Marcel Breuer (1902-1981) was one of the leading architects and designers of the 20th century due to his experiments with tubular steel for furniture designs such as his famous “Wassily” club chair. In the 1930’s he also created furniture with at the time unconventional materials such as aluminum and laminated wood. It was also during this time that he designed sleek interiors of buildings that were created by some of the most influential architects of the time. This exhibit shows the various creative periods during his career, materials used, and architectural work categorized in themes of “Spaces,” “Volumes,” and “Houses”. His architectural examples show innovations in spatial organization, construction techniques, and architectural forms which defines his architectural works.This exhibit was last shown in 2007, so if you can catch it we highly recommend it. If interested you can visit the Museam of Art at the Rhode Island School of Design until July 19th, 2009 to view this exhibit:
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Exhibit Description: “The first exhibition to treat all facets of Breuer’s work with equal weight, from the highly innovative furniture he produced as both a student and teacher at the famed Bauhaus, to the modest houses he created after moving to the United States, to the large-scale buildings he designed for major cities. Models, drawings, floorplans, photographs, video projections, and interactive computer terminals shed light on his long and varied architectural career in this exhibition, developed by the Vitra Design Museum in Germany.” |
| The Standard in New York City: Another hotel in New York worth visiting is the new Standard which has just been finished this past spring. The Standard has been designed by the Polshek Partnership Architects and consists of a concrete and glass slab on stilts, located on the West Side of Manhattan in the meat packing district. The hotel has just opened a hip and upscale restaurant and beer garden at ground level with bars and a lounge on the top two floors of the hotel which will prove to be some of the new hot spots of the city. Although this architectural specimen is much unlike the plaza described above, it is a modern take on the ‘hip’ architecture of today. If you are a fan of modern / minimalist design you will enjoy your stay at the hotel, but make sure to get the Hudson River side for the view, and bring your nicest shoes as there is a great night life within walking distance in the meatpacking district.
848 Washington Street, New York (212) 645-4646 |
 NYC - The Standard |
 Frank Lloyd Write |
The Robie House – by Frank Lloyd Wright – Although this house was completed over 90 years ago, it remains a masterpiece of modern architecture. The reason this is one of the top destinations of 2009 is that it been going through a ten year restoration process that is being finished in the next year. In order to beat the crowds at the centennial anniversary in Spring of 2010, now is the best time to see this work of art. You can tour this FLW house which was built for the final cost of $58,500 for his client Frederick C. Robie. and completed in 1910. The house is one of the most important buildings in American architecture, and is considered the greatest example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie style home. This home is the first example of an architectural style that is unique to American Architecture which in turn inspired an architectural revolution. The house has sweeping horizontal lines, dramatic overhangs, stretches of art glass windows and an open floor plan which are all still used today in many contemporary designs.
Robie House – Tours: Friday – Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm 5757 S. Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago Illinois Call 1-800-514-3849 for tickets |
| Burj Dubai- The World’s Tallest Skyscraper – This is the tallest building in the world with 160 floors and standing approximately 2,600 feet tall, and truly is an architectural miracle. The building has required over 5,000 workers to use 330,000 cubic meters of concrete, 39,000 metric tons of steel rebar and 142,000 sq meters of glass. This tower houses residential occupants, commercial spaces, restaurants, retail spaces and hospitality spaces such as the world’s first Armani Hotel and Armani Residences. This building is slated to be completed in 2009, and is already the world’s tallest building as well as the world’s tallest man made structure with the mast now taller than that of the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota. It is a remarkable scene and can be seen towering above the clouds when flying into Dubai. |
 Tallest Building - Burj Dubai |
