They finally did it! We'd heard a rumor that H&H wanted to blow out the front page like a big glossy magazine, and they've done it today.
With a huge Margaret Bourke-White photo of the top of the Chrysler Building covering the ENTIRE page, H&H expends the entire issue on the 75th anniversary of....the Chrysler Building. Despite the fanfare and this spectacular icon, there is something innately depressing about the issue as it drums up The Jazz Age and..... The Depression. We are looking forward to next week already. MGR
Tell us what you think. Vote below.
All Stories
- Juke Joint in the Sky: Cover story and basic background
- Dancing to New Rules, a Rhapsody in Chrome: Life in America during the 1920's
- A Lunch Club for the Higher-Ups: The Cloud Club at the top of the building was the 21 Club of a previous era
- On Top of the World, Drafting, Dreaming and Drilling: A neat look at those who have offices currently in the top of the spire
- How It Sparkled in the Skyline: Interviews with Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Barney, Robert Stern and others on how the building affected them.
- In the Background, but No Bit Player: The CB was often in the movies...
- The Chrysler After-Party: The World Congress on Art Deco is holding their biannual meeting in the city this week.
- Leaping the Chrysler in a Single Bound: Cartoonist Bruce McCall offers the only comic relief.
- For Chrysler, a Tribute to His Own Rise: What Walter Chrysler was really like.
- For the Architect, a Height Never Again to Be Scaled: On William Van Alen, the architect, and the saddest story you've ever heard.
- Before the Crash: Bringing in the Blue Chips: Just after the building was finished, the Crash came and everything went bankrupt. How Chrysler struggled through.
- Personal Shopper: Products that evoke the era.
stinko! I want design tips and real estate porn, not the history channel! The only good thing was Personal Shopper, which was amazing--that woman is good...
Amazing. A way to soak up an era and to understand its influence/
I loved it, but then I love art deco and am also very fascinated by the ways the prevailing "mood" of the country influences design. Besides, you can associate bad things (WWI, WWII, Vietnam, the Iran hostage crisis, the 70s gas shortage) with almost every decade. And, hey, some great things did result from the need for escapism.
Mixed reviews. On the one hand, I liked the articles a lot. I love the Chrysler, many things Deco, and the photography.
On the other, the articles were misplaced -- this series should have gone in the Style section, or in a special Magazine. There is neither house nor home in today's H&H section.
Nice series, but as stated above, this is not for the H&G section!!!
I've noticed a real slide over the past months. Fewer and fewer articles on thinks like "Homes" and "Gardens". Enough of these "profiles" on "interesting" people and, oh by the way, the homes they live in. I want to see their places, I don't care about who their parents were and how they shunned their aristocratic past...oooh, how you must have struggled to build your 10,000 sq ft home.
i agree this was not for the h&h section, it should have been a special section. but, c'mon this is the chrysler building. that gleaming spire, that lobby and entrance, and dig those triangular windows at night. i suggest to everyone to pay a visit to 42nd street to see it in person not in a photograph, or as seen from 23rd street or any other part of town. h&h is weekly, let's let this one slide.
Where is Pat(too)? Really strange that he didn't post in the past few days!!!
Good call on the Pat(too) sighting. We hear he is travelling for business. Someone's got to work around here.
Interesting as well that the comments are mainly negative and the votes positive.
BTW, that dentist profiled, Dr. Weiss, is a total scheister. I used to be a patient. Actually, I was a patient of a great dentist, Dr. Apfel who had that space in the spire of the Chrysler and, yes, it was an amazing dental experience. However, Dr. Apfel decided he was going to take on a partner and suddenly Dr. Weiss appeared. For a year every time you called for Dr. Apfel he was "on a teaching sabbatical" and you had to go to Dr. Weiss. First, Dr. Weiss would never see you but only his hygenist who was doing some pretty serious work. Then, Dr. Weiss prices went up 50%. I finally got fed up with it and called them out on the situation. They never would admit anything. I only later found out (via some web searching) that Dr. Apfel re-appeared with a Fla practice. Good ol' lying Weiss. BTW, when they jacked up costs ($185 for a cleaning and this was in '99) I refused to pay so at least I got that out of the bastard.
Its really sad that during May, height of the gardening season, the NYT home and garden section features (almost) exclusively a seventy five year old skyscraper. No homes and especially no gardens. The generally slight garden/landscape/horticulture section is displaced by a stream of articles that rightfully belong in the real estate section or better yet an advertising insert paid for by the owner of the building. *yawn* I bet Barnes and Noble has three coffee table books already covering this material for those who are interested.
There is a lot of interesting sophisticated gardening/landscape design going on in and around this city that readers like me would love to hear about. Is anybody else tired of real estate?
Love that pic with the dancers - the building looks ethereal.
P(too) travelling? What, he can't check his blogs once in a while?
I was very frustrated. While i love the building, I felt the series was totally misplaced. But, lately I have been feeling that way about h&h. I want more deocrating tips. And, lately I am not getting that. I wake up early every thursday, but of lately I have been disapointed.
Say it with me kids - House and HOME, that's the section name, not "Corporate Architectural Walk Down Memory Lane" without any real humanity.
I HATE when they hijack my favoraite section just because they don't know where to put something. Can we say SPECIAL SECTION? Make it a SPECIAL SECTION