apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Spent some time thinking over the weekend about what it means to be modern.

All this was precipitated by my friend Hassan who called Dubai the "Las Vegas of the East" (I gather this is not a compliment). But within last month "Vanity Fair" had an article on Dubai in which they write, "The Dream of the West is Alive in the East".

What do we think?

Dubai is a sparkling clean, shopping mecca and an oasis of where oil money from the Gulf (Dubai doesn't have it, it's a financial center) floods around like a tidal wave. The grotesqueness of the wealth displays is akin to Vegas, but so is the notion of how technology and modern building methodology permits urban life in a place that would otherwise be hospitable to it.

THe reality is, my friends, that America is now very much like Britain after the second World War...still looming large in stature, still a powerful military but absolutely positioned for a steady decline due to the economic rise of rival powers. Get used to it.

Dubai is built on sand, literally and metaphorically. They overinvested in construction of resorts without providing service or/and security infrastructure, and they expect the rich and powerful to buy into their real estate schemes.

I've been reading few blogs based in Dubai, including one by a British expat, and I have a pretty full picture of this gimmick.


Prognosis of doom for United States, however pleasant they might sound to certain ears, are premature.

Tat, quite right i meant that Dubai and Vegas are similar in that they exist in a location that is INhospitable, but for technology.

My prognosis for American Doom is not pleasant to my ears...I mourn it. Nonetheless I cannot avoid the conclusion. But I hope you're right.

If you watch Modern Marvels (and you should - it's a great series), there was a program about construction of artificial coast line to house multiple resort complexes; my impression was only effort needed to maintain to shore in the same configuration costs 5 times more than the initial construction: there are oceam streams, seasonal winds and quality of the ocean floor that constanstly work against the developement. Engineering firms warned the investors that this will happen, but they were given the go-ahead anyway: investors were gambling of future income from supposed buyers. As far as I remember, the occupancy never hit the proposed mark, and those who boight into it, are trying to get rid of the property: no functioning roads, utilities aren't dependable, there is simply nothing to do there, in your new and shiny $1mln apartment with terrace -no nighlife, empty beaches, etc. The only entertainment is provided by airconditioned shopping malls, which are always full.. Close, but not Miami.

I don't really have any opinions on Dubai (though my first job out of college used to involve authenticating engineers' US degrees from there, but I digress).

went into DWR for the first time this weekend. The one in Adams Morgan, DC. I was verrrry underwhelmed. Does anyone know if this is a full-sized one? What really made me less than impressed was the staff. There was something like one other customer, 10 staff members, and me...and no one did so much as nodded in my direction. Based on the fact that I bought my sofa from storehouse because I liked the salesperson, that does not bode well for DWR!

What to do: I have a jr4 prewar that I'm trying to get ready to list. in addition to pruning stuff and furniture, we have on our list re-do floors and fix bathroom. Query whether we should update the electrical - much of the wiring is original (1920s). It doesn't show, we have long hated it, and we are going into the walls for the bathroom because we have to repair a leak (yes, it is the building's fault, but unless we fix it they won't approve other reno work). Should we redo the electric? Is this a selling point? If so, we'd probably have to redo the moldings. Worth it? in this market? Apt. is in PS6.

I just bought too pure silk chairs in a vry light color. However, I am afraid that they are going to get stains on them which will be tough to remove. Anyone here experience with silk chairs - if scotch gaurd works on them or any other suggestions...please helpppp

To t.p. from yesterday's "have a simple day" thread, regarding Fiestaware: there is a huge stock to choose from at edish-dot-com right now, including rarities like pitchers and sauce boats.
(linked @ my signature)

hey, it's not according to the subject but i thought i'd throw the tip out there anyway for anyone who wants it.

i've been looking for a steel table like this one from dwr for quite some time, but being that i'm cheap, i can't pay that much.
http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=4957

the one in cb2 is out of production till next year. i found this last night. http://stackchairdepot.com/merchant2/mv_tableSteelRound.html looks about the same to me. :)

Oh, Tat, just when I thought my dishfunction was under control...

I know, Jean! Relish plates...coffee pots...gravy boats...in apricot and teal... That was a blow.

My opinion of Dubai is that it looks good on paper, but from what I understand it isn't a fantastic place to live, especially if you aren't stratospherically wealthy or installed there by a big corporation.

Which is my opinion of a lot of the ideas of high modernism.

For instance, my apartment. For the last 8 months I've lived in a complex of high rises which was built as base housing for the Brooklyn Navy Yards during the Second World War, along the lines of urban planners like Le Corbusier. There are certain things about my place which are really wonderful and vastly preferable to pre-war tenement style housing. I have two elevators, basement laundry, trash chute/incenerator and a public courtyard. The hallways are spacious and well-lit. My building is fireproof (which is probably the only reason it survived the 70's). Walls are thick, plumbing is quality. My unit is efficiently thought out, with lots of built in storage. the kitchen is amazingly well designed for such a small space. i get tons of air and light here on the 12th floor. If i worked in the navy yards, i'd have a quite pleasant 5 minute walk to work every morning. Most units in my building are either 2 or 3 bedrooms and relatively spacious (and as mentioned designed thoughtfully when not spacious).

but there are downsides. usually the sides that aren't covered by blueprints, proposals, and urban design position papers. i share an apartment complex with at least 2000 other people (and post-war, the complex population would have been at least twice that). this leads to a certain degree of congestion and a slightly institutional feel. because this has traditionally been a working class or low income building, a lot of the things that look so great on paper are not maintained properly. our laundry room typically only has one of four dryers actually functioning, and the elevators always smell faintly of urine. anything not mandated is absolutely atrocious, for instance most of what's in the individual units. my kitchen cabinets aren't hung plumb, so the doors won't shut properly. which means we have a chronic rodent problem because we can't keep them out of our food. and Le Corbusier and the other high modernists would roll over in their graves at the sight of the shoddy design 'bones' - soffits on every wall, sometimes multiple soffits per wall. window sills that are buckling and cracking due to the heat of the radiators (another contributor to the vermin issue).

i imagine that Dubai is basically that on a grand scale.

I recently bought a beautiful teak table. A friend came to work on the table and to oil the wood. The beautiful ash grey table turned a terrible shade of yellow after he applied danish oil to the surface. i am horrified. What can I do to get that wonderful ash grey look back.

christine,

the DWR stores are all 'small' in my opinion. i've been to a number of them and they never have everything in the store. so if you want to look at a certain item, you need to call ahead to make sure that location actually has it there (or they'll direct you to another location). The one in Georgetown is also pretty small with a limited selection.

I don't know if their sales people are hands-off style or indifferent. :)

Actually a few times they have asked me if i needed help. But it's kind of dumb to talk to a sales person because they just order your stuff from the website. I'm not sure what the benefit of getting it from the store is (i'm pretty sure items ship directly to you, the store cannot receive anything for you).

I just go there to check the dimensions in real life or get a feel for the quality of something then go home and order it myself.

it is very late. i meant to write gray, not grey.

There is nothing wrong with using "grey" instead of "gray". I use both.

Like "theatre"/"theater"... it's one of those words you see spelled both ways in America.

Get your teak table out in to the sun, where it will eventually bleach back to the silvery gray you prefer.

Thanks Trish,

Can someone please give some advice about the teak table. This guy used danish oil and the whole thing turned yellow redish. Now for the love of God, can someone give me advice or point me in the direction of some wood expert. UUUgggghh, I have to know if this table can ever go back to the original grey, gray.

sorry, Petr, don't have any advice...my first instinct is: you're screwed, but maybe someone else has input, because having lived with Ikea and other particleboard furniture for so long, I am just getting reaquainted with real wood.

Thanks Minh, good to know... :)I did satisfy my curiosity, having never been to a showroom before.

Well, when I was a copy editor, I was taught that in the U.S., it's "gray" and "theater." The English spellings, "grey" and "theatre," are always wrong (unless, of course, they form part of a proper noun). I've had to correct this at every copyediting job I've had.

So, Petr gets a gold star. And sorry for the digression.

Paging *leeds!

Will be in Montreal on the 16th, do you want to have a brunch together?

Unashamed thread hijack!
My final lanscape design plans are in! Anyone that wants to see plans for the huge yard surrounding my small house (well 1030 sq feet is small for my area), check this out.

http://www.myaimistrue.com/archives/2006/06/my_landscape_design.html

Huge size scan of it here:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=161170377&size=o

Best part: none of it is grass (I'm doing groundcover in the big open spaces due to a shady yard and the lack of a desire to mow a lawn).

Now if I could just hit the lottery to pay for this. But at least I know where I want to take it haha!

Tat, I'd love to get together, talk about Portugal (Sat. I usually go for lunch at a Portuguese place actually...)

You've probably timed your visit to coincide with the exhibition- Italian Design & Avant-Garde in the 20th Century at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, right?:)
Anyway, lots going on as you know; my cell is 514-6021497 (# will change from 23rdJune), call when you wish.
cheers!

Leeds, thanx!
mine is 347.885.5415

[the exhibition sounds fantastic!]Portugal: click on my name; I managed to put together sort of a travelogue on paper, or rather on screen.

Hey, anything you like from NY? I accept requests (for a limited time:)).

Petr -- Patrick above is correct, get your table out in the sun to make it wear.
What your friend did by applying Danish oil was to create a finish on an essentially unfinished table. Teak is often oiled to prevent the grey/gray weathered look; oiling also preserves the wood and will make your furniture last longer. (That said, teak furniture is pretty sturdy and will last for several years regardless.) The oil prevents the wood from drying out and splintering. Your untreated gray teak may splinter a bit after several years of use, if left untreated.

See this link for info: http://www.mdramazon.com/teakfaq.htm

Not to continue the grammar digression, but having also been an editor, I just wanted to chime in that I don't think "grey" and "theatre" are incorrect--though most style books (per Jeffery's observation) require use of the one that is found first in the dictionary and is hence the "most preferred" or most used in the U.S. Publications usually pick one and go with it so as to not have multiple spellings of the same word in the same publication, understandably. I think using them on blogs and personal communications is fine, though. I do believe, however, that people should be banned from naming shopping centers and business establishments in the U.S. with "towne," "centre" and "olde." Ugh.

Thanks Patrick and Me,

The teak table sits in front of a huge floor to ceiling window. Do you think that after 4 or 5 months, the table will turn gray, or does it have to go outside the house. The table is huge and can't fit through the back door.

I'm kind of in awe about the grey gray discussion. I've never stirred up a topic on the web. I'm feeling kind of web-portant. Could this "Web-portant" be a new word? Discuss.

Tat - thanks, but no! Careful, I may ask for a suitcase full of shoes!;)
I read the page you linked re Portugal. Interesting. You said in Porto people stared at you, it was exact opposite for me-I blended right in. My regret was not speaking Portuguese. Oh well, on my to-do list! When I have more time I'll check out the photos you took, they're good even at a quick glance.
I've linked the design exhibit to my name.
see you in Montreal!

*leeds: shoot away! I still have a week.
tat_epstein-at-hotmail-dot-com

Yes, not knowing anything besides "obrigado" is my biggest regret, too.
Thanks for visiting my LJ.
See you !

Petr--"Web-portant." I like.

Petr: it has to be full spectre (yep, here's another one, on par with *theatre and *gre(a)y) of solar radiation, including UV-rays. I would go further and say - not just sun, but all elements: rain, and snow, and sleet, and dust. Your table will acquire such authentic patina just in one year, nobody will ever believe it had some wood care products applied before.

Amber: you're one brave lady. The undertaking looks like Brooklyn Botanic Garden...you should start selling tickets as soon as construction ends.

Better "web-portant" than "im-potent."

P(too)..how did I just know..? :)

Tat-thanks, I was kidding. Appreciate it, though!

*leeds (hmm..I'm not sure I should part with this info here..uh wth): I'm known as one to buy bras as a house present to unknown to me previously ladies of 36DD' persuasion. And they fit. And I was revered as divine presence afterwards.

I take shoes very seriously.

Wow, you Are good! that's quite an art, buying a bra for someone else & have it be the right fit, style, etc.! Impressive.
If I come up with anything will e-m. merci.
You're in town just the weekend? Are you equipped with the March Gourmet Montreal issue which gave good listings,reviews of Mtl places & neighbourhoods? I have a copy you can 'study' if you don't have it; then again, you have a head start since you already know Montreal.
if there's anything you want me to research before your arrival let me know.