9/11 Memorial Photos

9/11 Memorial, New York City

New World Trade Tower, New York City

9/11 Memorial, New York City

9/11 Memorial, New York City

The 9/11 Memorial exemplifies how simple design can be effective and evoke emotion.

9/11 Memorial, New York City

9/11 Memorial, New York City

9/11 Memorial, New York City

9/11 Memorial, New York City

9/11 Memorial, New York City

9/11 Memorial, New York City

9/11 Memorial, New York City

Photoshop Friday: Barbie meets Project Runway Judges

Kors, Garcia, & Klum critique Barbie Architect

I wanna be "Barbie Architect" for Halloween this year. Look at her: She is a hot mess. And with total understanding that she is toy for 5 year old girls, She is still a hot mess! Let's start with her shoes. If I am wearing black leather booties to the job site, please make sure they are under a pair of black pants. I made the mistake of wearing a skirt and cowboy boots to the job site once. The remainder of the project I was known as "Texas" to all the foremen. I'm not from Texas either. 

This comment is more about Barbie's fashion statement. Should I ever wear anything that resembles a skyscraper on my chest, please bring me to the doctor or maybe check to see if I have been accidentally drinking drano. Never mind, that will never happen. 

The chunky pink bracelet would never happen due to the fact that she will be sitting at her desk drawing on Autocad all day everyday, whereby that chunky pink bracelet will become insanely annoying to her and everyone around her, and she will throw it across the office within 10 minutes of drafting. Also, she will not need that tube of drawings (We present everything on iPads now). 

Okay enough, You get the picture! Barbie, we are glad you are representing women in the architecture world, really, it was long overdue. 

Fact: Women make up more than 50% of architects in the work place these days.

Quote by Steve Jobs

Steve Job 1955-2011

My appreciation for Steve Jobs came late in life. In fact, it was after my third apple purchase. I watched a video of Steve Jobs introducing the iPad (a product I still do not own, sadly).  I thought to myself, "Man, this guy has such charisma and he is so inspiring".  Jobs has said many important and inspiring things and the above quote is one of my favorites.

What's better than hanging out with bums & hipsters in the LES

...Hanging out UNDER bums and hipsters in the LES!

Hipsters above the Low-Line are contemplating opening an American Apparel Underground

Few facts: 

• An architect, a money manager and an executive (not the beginning of white-collar joke) created the master plan calling it the "Delancey Underground"; however writers and bloggers are dubbing it the "Low-Line"
• Fiber Optic cables are being used to simulate natural sunlight. "Come on guys, It's just like being outside!"
• MTA will not contribute funds to the project, because DUH I mean, HELLO they are bankrupt, or so they say!
• Community Board 3 will give the trio of innovators a piece of their mind. Community board 3 is defined by 14th street, the Bowery, the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge! 

Crusty's are staying above; they rather pollute Tompkin's Square Park- where they rule over the real bums! 

Downtown Eatin'

My picks for a light to moderate priced budget

Best Quick Brunch

Grey Dog: My love for this place grew at the Carmine Street location when my fiance and I went in on a Saturday night and took advantage of the half priced bottles of wine. We also indulged in a free desert. It has an unconventional service whereby you order at the counter and a very californian-esque employee will bring your food to your table. "The Grey Dog" breakfast is the meal-to-get with a little sample of everything: eggs, carbs & breakfast meat!

Best Spicy Brunch

Diablo Royale: the steak and eggs are delish! Also try the Chilaquiles! I am a huge fan of the complimentary cinnamon chips that are served as a brunch-only item. There are two locations. Be prepared to wait at the West Village location but there's usually no problem getting a table at the larger East Village location.

Best Market Greens Brunch

Westville East: there's nothing on this menu that isn't delicious. All made with fresh vegetables, everything feels like it was made straight from the garden. The menu isn't veggies-only, so even meat-lovers like my fiance, has many options. There is a west village location where the original Westville resides.

Best Belgian Waffles

Markt: feels like you are in Europe. Coffee is served in individual french press containers. Also amazing omelets.

Best Boozey Brunch

Paradou: Get the "Wake & Bake"! This place may be filled with Europeans making out and dancing in the aisles, but blame the booze prefix menu option! Larger groups are served bottles of champagne and mixers for a small prefix price.

Best Quick Lunch

Baoguette: Never had a Vietnamese sandwich? Don't worry~ there's nothing in the sandwiches you haven't eaten before. The Sloppy Bao is a play on the classic sloppy joe, but tastier. Try the classic bao and the BBQ chicken ~ once you've had a Vietnamese sandwich, you'll find yourself craving it over american classic sandwiches.

Best Lunch with your Italian-lovin' significant other

Grimaldi's: no need for a write-up; simply amazing pizza!


Best $17 Burger

Goat town: this place has a very european, rustic flare. The $17 burger has something I haven't seen on other burgers: onion jam and bone marrow butter. Prepare to be very full after!

Best Pizza

Now I know there's lots of talk about the BEST PIZZA in NYC! But I have lived in the village for 7 years and I think I have tried almost every pizza place. There's something special about the best places, but you really can't go wrong with my following recommendations:

Best Naples Style Pizza

Numero 28: Yummmm! Split a 18" Spicy Sopressata and Numero 28 classic with truffle oil. Two locations: one in the east village and one in the west.

Luzzo's: There's something about the sauce at Luzzo's. The crust is thin, but unlike Numero 28's rectangular pizzas, Luzzo's sticks to the classic round pies. There's a slight creaminess to the sauce that is reminiscent of Naples style pizza. This place is pretty popular so be prepared to wait up to an hour~ but it's worth the wait.

Motorino Pizza

Best Culinary Masterpiece Pizza

Motorino: Motorino is in it's own class! Really there are no other pizza places like it. Unfortunately their  Brooklyn location has recently closed (due to building management problems) making the East Village location even harder to get a table. But the friendly wait staff will take your phone number while you wait at a local bar and call you when your table is ready.  Everything from the crust to the sauce to the unique combination of toppings. I have never eaten Brussels sprouts until I ate my first Motorino Brussels sprouts pizza- and now I crave them! Usually their specials make it hard to order from the regular menu.

Runner-Up: Pulino's A little more sceney than Motorino but unique pizzas and oh don't forget to check out the Grappa selections.

Best New York Style Pizza

Grimaldi's (see above)

Gruppo: Sister restaurant to Vezzo and Posto, this is a thin crust pizza served with a salty and satisfying marinara sauce. Like many other NYC pizza restaurants, only fresh mozorella is served on these pies. Gruppo is a great place for lunch too.

Patsy's: There's four locations of this NYC favorite. They're affordable and delicious. They also offer a "price per topping" menu unlike the above restaurants. I like the classic margherita pizza.


Lombardi's: When you hear "best NYC pizza", Lombardi's is usually mentioned in the conversation.

John's of Bleeker: Melt in your mouth delicious and without a pretentious wait staff!

Runner Up: Little Frankie's There's plenty delicious things on this menu and the pizzas are good too!

Best Quick 'N' Dirty Slice

Maffei's: Get the two-dollar grandma's slice.

South Brooklyn: A little more pricey than your average street slice, but high quality ingredients make it a step above the rest. "SoBro" Pizza is known for their homemade garlic puree and coffee-soda! I like the East Village location but there's a new West Village location too.

Best Pasta

Il Corallo  this is not a place to go if you are looking for a romantic evening with impeccable service. This is the place to go, if you want great pasta dishes at a low price and no fuss! There's over 40 pasta dishes; there's something for everyone!

Barbone Fantastic pasta dishes for a moderate price (all $16-$19). The red wine is served at the correct temperature which made me very happy.

Malatesta Melt in your mouth homemade gnocchi! Great atmosphere!

Supper Unique Italian dishes that don't disappoint. Great wine selection and romantic!

Best Mexican

Barrio Chino I cannot decide what I love more about this place: the small charming location or the spicy and strong jalapeno margaritas. The guacamole is amazing too!

Mercadito A little cramped in the front room of this restaurant, but delicious food and fantastic margaritas!

Best Southern Fare

The Smith My favorite for shrimp and grits! Their half-roasted chicken is fantastic too.

The Redhed charming and New Orleans' style food


Best Shared Meal

Azul's skirt steak for two

Max's classic homemade lasagna

Best Cheap Bites

Baoguette (see above)

7A's

Grey Dog (see above)

Bamboleo

Cafe Habana

Rickshaw Dumplings

Lychee 

New Blog

Hello Bloggers, I haven't been able to blog much lately with my new project, my engagement and finishing up my licensing exams. I do; however, have a new blog! While studying for my exams, I found it helpful to come up with tricks to help me remember the info. On this new blog, I'll be sharing ARE information using my study techniques. Hope you enjoy :) Kim
http://kimsguides.blogspot.com/

Escola Primaria-Portuguese Architecture

When I was in Portugal on business last month, I was lucky enough to have a lunch in the countryside. Located approximately 140 Km away from Lisbon, an old school house is running successfully as a restaurant offering many traditional Portuguese meals and local wines. As I sat inside the restaurant, I noticed the interesting arches that span the length of the dining room. Later in NYC, I searched on google to find the meaning behind the asymmetric arches. I found images of the school house abandoned.

In the 1940s , the New State of the Centennial Plan launched a program of school construction in mass that was intended to allow all children to have a Portuguese school at your fingertips, enabling you to increase the level of public education. Schools Plan of centenarians were built according to models typified adapted to local conditions, which allied with the feature traditional Portuguese architecture. Until the 1960s , were built more than 7000 of these schools, going to be at least one in almost all parts of the country, what became a trademark of Portugal.

The photos above were taken while I was at the Escola Primaria restaurant somewhere between Grandola and Santiago do Cacem.

Lunch time stroll through Midtown

There's a giant head on exhibit in Madison Square Park. I  watched as a few artists painted their own interpretations of the extra large white head by Spanish Sculptor Jaume Plensa. 

The Van Alen Book Store on 22nd Street designed by LOT-EK. To be honest, I have never heard of this firm until now. Their website sort of looks like the bookstore with its NEON YELLOW font type. I do appreciate this innovative idea of making stadium style seating with multiple doors suspended by steel cables. I would probably linger in this store a lot longer than I would linger near the giant head in Madison Square Park. 

My final stop on my lunchtime stroll is Limelight market.  This old church was renovated into a mini-mall, Ya'll! A mini-mall! 

The reason for my lunchtime stroll: Grimaldi's Pizza (located in Limelight). 

Dallas & Fort Worth, Texas

Dallas is not only known for its amazing BBQ and "hair-so-high it can talk to Jesus", but it also known for its downtown art district with numerous starchitect museums, opera houses, & theaters.  Fort Worth is only 35 miles away and holds architecture gems of its own.

AT&T Performing Arts Center Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, 2009 REX/OMA, Joshua Prince-Ramos (partner in charge) and Rem Koolhaas

AT&T Performing Arts Center
Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, 2009 Foster + Partners, Norman Foster

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Cente, 1989 I.M. Pei

Nasher Sculpture Center, 2003 Renzo Piano

http://www.thedallasartsdistrict.org/art-in-architecture/architecture/

Kimbell Art Museum, Louis Kahn, recognized for its use in daylighting interior gallery space. 

The Modern Art Museum, Tadao Ando, whose architecture boost of pure minimal forms.