Archive

New Into Old

In the art world, designers and architects are looking to the past for inspiration. Catie Marron’s visual tour.

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Denis Balibouse/Reuters
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Architect Santiago Calatrava’s foot bridge in Venice is the perfect example of old-world culture meeting new world ideas. It connects the train station to the Piazzale Roma, and though there have been controversies over the bridge’s lack of wheelchair access and high cost, it is still a beautiful reminder that fresh design can flourish in ancient places.

Denis Balibouse/Reuters
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Jeff Koons is the “king of kitsch” in the American art world (giant balloon animal sculptures, a gold-leaf Michael Jackson effigy, NBA basketballs suspended in clear goo), so imagine the gaping reaction of the civilized French when the artist decided to install 17 glossy sculptures in the old palace in September. The exhibitionlasts through January 4, so the French should be used to the old/new mashup by now. See a slideshow of the work.

Newscom
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VW Westfalia buses are no longer just for traveling around the country spreading peace and love—Canadian vehicle design team Verdier has come up with a newer, greener version with a with a “4 speed automatic turbo BioDiesel Hybrid drive train.” We hope they kept the wood paneling in tact.

Verdier Van and Camper Inc.
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Is there anything Google cannot do? As part of its new “Google Earth” feature, web browsers can check out "Ancient Rome 3D”, a virtual map of what the city might have looked like during the flourishing days of the Empire. You can fly in and out of the Forum, the Coliseum, and other historical structures recreated with extreme precision—and lose an afternoon in the process.

Procedural Inc.
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With the rise of cell phones, telephone booths in New York City have become all but useless. That is, until artist Dylan Mortimer decided to convert several booths into “Prayer Stations,” complete with fold-known kneeling pads. The booths will only be up through December 7, but if they catch on, they may soon reappear all over.

Newscom
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In London, designer Auro Foxcroft decided to convert old train cars into affordable artist studios—for just a week, artists can now work inside revamped carriages on top of a roof in Shoreditch. Several artists and theater companies rent the spaces, saying that their business has boomed (even if just because people are curious to see the spectacle).

www.lightandtime.co.uk
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The Times called the abandoned Eero Saarinen TransWorld Airlines terminal at JFK the embodiment of the ‘Come Fly With Me’ era of jet-setting,” but as of this fall, it has re-opened as Jet Blue’s new home. Passengers now have the chance to walk through Saarinen’s land marked building—a pinnacle of modernist design—on the way to make their flights. Now if only hot towels and happy hour would return to planes as well.

JetBlue Airways Corporation
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The High Line is the latest big urban revitalization plan in New York City, and a true example of renewing public spaces. The old rail structure from the 1930s has been defunct for years, and will soon become an open-air promenade and gathering place on Manhattan’s west side, modeled loosely after Paris’ Promenade Plantee.

Left: AP Photo; Right: Friends of the High Line
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The dome of the German Parliament building has existed in its current incarnation since 1999, when architect Mark Braun converted the old seat of Nazi government into the home of modern Berlin politics, a symbol of the Bundestag’s move from Bonn to the capital. It is still one of the greatest testaments to the fact that with new design and a fresh eye, anything can be reinvented.

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Waddeson Manor, a French-renaissance chateau first built in the 1800s was recently renovated with the help of decorator David Mlinaric, and is now open to the public in Buckinghamshire, England. This striking new chandelier made of broken porcelain and cutlery by Ingo Maurer is a bold addition to the traditional “Blue Dining Room.”

Rob Judges