163 NEW YORK THE INFINITE JOURNEY

From up-and-coming long island city to the skyline of Manhattan, which is nowbeing increased in height by super-thin skyscrapers, this is a city that never ceases to astonish. Meanwhile, says Ian Schrager, the future will be turning its attention to Brook

CREATIVE TALENTS Looking for lightness in New York. That’s the mantra here, in the most glittering, seductive and at the same time the busiest, most congested city in the world. Brooklyn designer Syrette Lew, who’s originally from Hawaii and was the founder of the studio Moving Mountains, is one interpreter of that desire. Her very light, modern, minimalist touch has made its mark and her Palmyra Lamp – an extremely thin trunk that branches out into tufts of palm trees the colour of brass – has already become a cult object. Other designers find strength in colour; the projects of Jessica Carnevale, who previously worked in Europe with MarcelWanders and Tom Dixon, are a volcano of bright, bold colours that has come to maturity in products that are very different one from another but are united by her use of intense, glossy tones («you have to try out an infinite number of colours before you get to the right tone», she says). The bubble-gum pink of her neon lamps does not pass unnoticed, nor do the chairs in her Puffy range, which are actual inflated furniture: mahogany seats combined with backs and armrests that have a blown-up balloon effect. On the other hand, the work of Eva LeWitt (the daughter of conceptual artist Sol LeWitt) probes the line that separates heaviness from volatility. She expresses herself by means of an elegant apparatus consisting of humble elements like plastic bags, sponges, fibres, and ribbons: «I always gravitate towards synthetic materials that are coloured but are above all tactile and soft. I want to be able to control, transform, and dominate them in any way I want», she says. For an artist like Jason Krugman, who’s something of a scientist as well, beauty «is organised complexity»; his ‘LED meshes’, electrified networks of wires and semi-rigid lamps, transform themselves into digital marine landscapes. «I begin from intricate styles and processes and try to make them comprehensible to others. In fact, that’s one of the characteristics of beautiful forms: conceptually they’re complicated, but at the same time they’re simple to understand». ARCHITECTURE Manhattan is an island that has no borders, being surrounded by water; and yet it is in continuous expansion. The latest novelty is Vessel, a vertical park in a beehive shape located in the Hudson Yards district (built over the former Hell’s Kitchen railway depots) which, in the intentions of its British designer Thomas Heatherwick, will prickle the severity of the surrounding towers. The same desire to amaze also lies behind The Shed, an expandable theatre, also in Hudson Yards, that’s able to compress and expand like an accordion. «In the words of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, my partners on the project» says its designer the architect David Rockwell, «The Shed is infrastructural architecture. Our greatest challenge was to create a space that would be flexible and liberating, but highly functional at the same time». These days Manhattan is putting its money on super-thin skyscrapers, one after another: at 111West 57th Street the architectural practice SHoP is in the process of constructing the most slender building in the world (433 m high with a ratio to the base of 24:1) as confirmation of how technology is finding appropriate solutions for spaces that are becoming smaller and smaller and that reach ever more vertiginous heights. At 56 Leonard Street, Herzog& de Meuron’s building slices through the Tribeca sky with a tower of staggered cubes that look like toys. Inside it, a sculpture by Anish Kapoor presides over the lobby whilst Dada (part of the Molteni Group) has created some of the fittings for the apartments: rounded-off island kitchens with mirrored surfaces in black lacquered granite. For her luxury condominium on the High Line the late architect Zaha Hadid, who died two years ago, was not aiming for height but for a third dimension that was entirely voluptuous. She reworked the architectural lexicon of the historic industrial district of Chelsea by embracing the curved glass of her building with interweaving chevron-shaped steel strips that enhance its flowing, magmatic volumes. «Zaha was very enthusiastic about this project», they tell us from her London office. «Right from the beginning of her career she was an assiduous visitor to New York, a city that played an important role in the development of her creative work». Meanwhile out at JFK, we’ll have to wait another year to see the rebirth of Eero Saarinen’s secret masterpiece, the TWA airport terminal, which has been closed for more than 15 years. His historic lounge seating area, upholstered with red velvet and animated by flowing lines that evoke travel, is to become part of a first-class hotel opening in 2019. HOTELS& RESTAURANTS Enjoy the music of your choice under a ceiling decorated by a cascade of cherry blossoms: borrowing from the original in Japan, New York’s Tokyo Record Bar has made its debut. Guests can listen to their favourite song as they sip drinks based on sake in an intimate, underground atmosphere. Meanwhile at the new Lobster Club, the outsider architect Peter Marino has designed a Japanese brasserie furnished with pink chairs and green banquettes, and has a tiled floor inspired by Jackson Pollock. The oriental theme materialises in an explosion of colours that are just a little inconsistent. Another of the most successful new places that have opened in recent months is Legacy Records, where the exuberant Californian designer Ken Fulk has created a warm, elegant Fifties look in which to enjoy Mediterranean cuisine inspired by Italy. Inundated with gold, emerald and mahogany wood, it’s frequented by a super VIP clientele. A new design destination in the heart of SoHo that also has a decidedly feminine touch is the 11 Howard Hotel, a project that marks the debut of Anda Andrei who, having directed the interior design department of the Ian Schrager Company, decided at age 60 to set up on his own. With its clean lines and organic materials, the 11 Howard reinterprets the Scandinavian tradition and goes beyond it («there’s lots of light, high ceilings, light colours,» explains Andrei) even though it’s completely filled with the essence of New York. The staircase is inspired by the city’s fire escapes, and the graffiti wall on the outside was created under the supervision of Jeff Koons. IAN SCHRAGER’S NYC Ian Schrager’s life has been a roller coaster ride; during his 72 years he has owned nightclubs, including the most famous ones there have ever been, and in between times has opened some ten hotels scattered across the States (as well as spending a year in prison for tax evasion). But despite it all, Schrager, with his strongly old-school accent, still has the air of a kid who’s ready to take on the world. There’s no doubt that very few people, of whom he is one, understand luxury and how it changes. And this being the era of populist splendour, unpretentious and not obsequious, in his latest hotel, the Public, he has banned room service and instead has introduced the ‘scene’, i.e. the context, in which to see and be seen (and maybe instagrammed). For his next adventure he’ll be turning his attention to Brooklyn because, he says «Manhattan isn’t as avant-garde as it used to be» -even though that’s where he lives. « I do like the restaurants there: the vegan AbcV, and the classic coffee bars, from La Colombe on Lafayette to Dean & DeLuca in SoHo. And maybe I’m going against the tide, and even though the New York Times Building and the Morgan Library, both by Renzo Piano, are some of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen in my life, I’m not thrilled by the new architecture of New York». And although he’s putting money on the future, you still sense that he has a passion for old things; he preferred the jewellery of James Robinson, the legendary Park Avenue antique dealer that specialises in Belle Époque, when he gave a present to his second wife, the former ballet dancer TaniaWahlstedt. If you want to breathe the air of old New York, he says there’s only one place to go: «Peter Luger in Brooklyn. They have the best steaks in the world. I used to go there with my father more than fifty years ago and nothing about it has changed. That place taught me how to be true and faithful to yourself». EMERGING AREAS New York has the ability to transform the most neglected districts into the most desirable of places. Long Island City, formerly an industrial area in Queens where nobody would have wanted to live, is now one of the most