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Abu Dhabi, the Persian Gulf Emirate that’s the Chrysler Building’s majority owner, is considering a sale of the 77-story tower after about a decade of ownership, people with knowledge of the matter said Wednesday. Abu Dhabi Investment Council, the government’s sovereign wealth fund, paid $800 million for a 90 percent stake in 2008. — Bloomberg
Roughly ten years after changing ownership to an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, the iconic Chrysler Building is back on the market again. But what is a trophy worth?, asks Bloomberg. Gorgeous automobile-inspired facade details, symbols of a bygone industrial era. Image via Wikipedia.Strictly... View full entry
Los Angeles's Central Library, London's Hoover building, and Lisbon's Eden Teatro, are all considered to be some of the finest examples of Art Deco from around the world. They also all take center stage in the stunning photographs taken by graphic designer and film-maker Arnold Schwartzman, whose... View full entry
David Chipperfield Architects recently completed Selfridges Duke Street, a new entrance building and accessories hall for the Selfridges department store in London. The new Duke Street entrance by David Chipperfield Architects, located in London. © Simon MengesThe department store is housed in... View full entry
What most caught [German critic Hermann Muthesius's] eye was the work of a young couple, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, who were quietly making wildly original furniture, buildings and interiors. These struck him as utterly “divergent from everything that is familiar”. Fusing the sinuous forms of art nouveau with rugged Scots baronial motifs and exotic Japanese touches, their designs were a startling sight – too much for many British critics to stomach. — The Guardian
Couple Charles Rennie and Margaret Macdonald built their Mackintosh name into the art deco icon it represents today, yet the duo's designs were far ahead of their time. The Mackintosh art nouveau style, originating in Glasgow, would go on to be recognized internationally. Take a deeper look... View full entry
With the historic lifting of the Cuban embargo creating an instant rush to visit the long-cloistered island nation, a rush for rediscovery will bring all manner of Cuban art, culture and design to the fore.
While it's not always acknowledged as such, Cuban architecture, especially modernist buildings, showcase an eclectic and exciting blend of styles, from the Spanish and Art Deco buildings that preceded them to the modern and Brutalist influences that came during the postwar period.
— curbed.com
For more on Cuban architecture:Airbnb now open for business in Cuba, despite anemic internet accessA glimpse at Havana's rooftop dwellers as urban landscape transformsCuba in talks for cultural exchange with US museumHavana's overlooked Art Deco architecture View full entry
“People are more comfortable...with something that feels authentic." - Toby Moskovits, president of Heritage Equity Partners — NYT
Earlier this summer, C. J. Hughes took note of a trend in NYC real-estate, the conversion of unusual buildings into apartments and condos. But, it isn't only your typical post-industrial loft, the conversions include; phone company buildings (like 140 West Street designed by Ralph Walker, a... View full entry
These landmarks are not as grand as the Chrysler Building in New York, and there is no Art Deco district like Miami Beach’s, but fans say there is an unusual wealth and diversity of stock, much of which has remained standing — if poorly maintained — through 50 years of Communist rule. — NYT
Some 250 Cuban and foreign connoisseurs met last week in Havana for the start of the World Congress on Art Deco which runs until March 27th. Victoria Burnett interviewed a number of the organizers and participants and spoke to them about challenges facing the owners of Art Deco... View full entry
