Famous Ankles

Lever House is one of NYC’s historic skyscraper buildings.  It was built in 1952 by the Lever brothers, of soap-making fame.  It’s called the first of the “International Style” of buildings.

It’s green color makes it distinctive, along with the uniformity of its window shades.

There’s an art space in an open area within the grounds.  At present, there’s a weird statue called “The Virgin Mother” by Damien Hirst.  I guess he has all sorts of “art” reasons why it is great, but I must confess that I found it..unmoving.

Yep, it’s a nude woman; but more than just nude.  The artist want’s to show us what’s underneath, so he has it with cut-away flesh to show the baby within and the muscle below.

And strips away the face, at least in part.

My guess is that the artist is trying to be provocative by citing the virgin Mary and having her nude and beyond.  And it is…well, the only thing I’ll say is to quote from a song from the movie “Popeye” where Olive Oyl is trying to say something good about Brutus and simply comes up with “and he’s large”.  Yes, it’s a large sculpture.  Mr. Hirst can be proud of that.  Yep, it’s large.

 Although I’m not fond of a lot of art, my distaste towards this arises from the abomination around town called the Bodies Exhibit that I can’t stand.  Oh, and if you thought you were to think the sculpture is “educational” in any way, note that the flap of skin on the thigh.  That shows that this is supposed to be more an evisceration than an X-ray view beneath the skin.

-H

On East 53rd is a modest looking building with a cool name:  The Timekeeper.  Originally, it was a factory building.  Sad to say, I couldn’t quite fit it all into one frame.

 And, of course, it was originally know for its production of….cigars.  Okay, later it became known for its work in…specialized woodworking.  It’s now known for…being an office building.

Here’s the plaque:

It reads:  “The Timekeeper – 307 East 53rd Street – Constructed in 1886 A.D., as a  factory for the manufacture of cigars.  On the site, and on its adjoining properties, had been clapboard rowhouses, stables, and a foundry.  Some forty-five years later, The Timekeeper became a center for the production of specialized woodworking of custom design.  After its 100th anniversary, painstaking rehabilitation was begun, and in 1989 the building re-opened for use as modern office and retail space.”

 I haven’t the foggiest idea why it is called “The Timekeeper”.

-H

It’s big.  It’s imposing.  It’s very clean.  It was nearly one of the great catastrophes of New York City.

It’s also a subway stop, but that has nothing really to do with this post.

The Citigroup Center, located at 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue is notable from a distance if only because of its triagular top.

But it’s big and just dominates the area around it.

The gleaming whiteness does set it apart.  But what really sets it apart are the columns at the base.

They’re almost as wide as some buildings (a bit of an exaggeration).

When it was built in 1978, the original design had the old church that had been on the corner nestled under the columns.  That didn’t work out, but the design was kept after they nixed the church remaining (it’s now nearby).  But, they didn’t redesign the place to account for the missing church.  The rest was nearly history.  If near hurricane speed winds had hit it at a certain angle, there was the real possibility that it would have toppled over.  Folks, it’s a tall, tall building.  It could have wiped out entire blocks.

Instead, they did a fast repair that took months to do (and from what I’ve heard, spoiled the views of a lot of people who had prime window offices inside the place).  And apparently did it more or less in secret.  It wasn’t until the 1990’s that the story became known.

-H