Sunday, November 21, 2010

Lost and Found in New York

Slide show and article in the New York Times about Temple Court, a nine-story building in lower Manhattan that has been largely vacant for a decade. As the current owners have renovated, they have removed acres of drywall and found behind it hidden architectural wonders, like this skylight with its view of the Woolworth Building. They are playing up the mystery of the place, allowing in fashion photographers doing shoots but not the general public. Their plan is that someone will buy the building and turn it into a boutique hotel, but obviously it needs a lot of work, and they must be hoping that the buzz they are creating will raise the price and, eventually, the allure of the hotel. I hope it works; it would be sad to see this charming structure fall to ruin and be replaced by another blah modernist tower.

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