Astor Place Silhouette

Peter: 8th Mar 2006 - 16:37 GMT

i imagined it slowly and menacingly rolling through the east village, using its windows to condense/reflect/focus sunlight into death-ray beams that it will use to decimate any non post-post-postmodern architecture whilst zapping all the area hipsters and art school students!

oy. ive been reading too much cyberpunk :/

ROBOTS!

elaine: 8th Mar 2006 - 17:00 GMT

probably.
i would like it if it was a gravity defying swimming pool.

Peter: 8th Mar 2006 - 17:10 GMT

there is a building in my old neighborhood, on the upper west side, that houses a healthclub on the 7th floor. and wonder of wonders, they have a pool there! there are apartments all around it, save for below it, which is a solid wall, which im sure is the foundation of the pool itself.

in the evening, you can stand on the sidewalk and look up through its windows to see kids diving off the diving boards, and water splasing up... seven floors up in the air, with people in apartments above and below watching tv, cooking, etc.

only in nyc!

jeeff: 8th Mar 2006 - 17:19 GMT

ha, cool. i lived in a building with a pool on the roof, 27 floors up. the pool was enclosed (glass walls and ceiling) but you could sunbathe outside. it was really nice, minus the creepy pervs in the men's change room.

kc: 8th Mar 2006 - 18:19 GMT

Hey, Peter. Nice shot. I do kinda hate that building...although maybe more than anything I hate the signs for the incredibly expensive apartments and the giant bank facing down the cube--hard not to believe they'll be wanting to crack down on the street life from in there. On the other hand, there are things I kinda respect when I think about it...I don't think you could have built a square building to compete with all those wonderful complicated old stone buildings around there--but whoever did it went for an interesting shape anyway, and then beyond that one that was reflective, so that in some ways you get to look at the old stone buildings again. I also like, although possibly the reason is zoning, that it doesn't bump right up against the Carl Fischer building, there's a little breathing space in there, plus so far they've kept the clock...so in a way it's a monstrosity but on the other hand I prefer it to the bland and cheap-looking monoliths you can see in your Hockey post. Sorry, I need to a do a refresher on creating links...

Peter: 8th Mar 2006 - 18:22 GMT

ahh good points!

i just miss the seedy dude in the van that used to sell "used porn" in the parking lot that used to occupy that space ;)

hahahahaha.

kc: 8th Mar 2006 - 19:53 GMT

yeah, he used to set up on the sidewalk, tho...did he go entirely? Sigh. Truth to tell, I miss the parking lot! Can't really explain it. I enjoyed the minor trespass of walking through it for a tiny shortcut, which they never used to prevent, unlike the one on 4th Street. It's the little thangs...

elaine: 9th Mar 2006 - 08:40 GMT

that's the trouble with your famous grid system. a human likes a cut through.
what i would like to see, and i think it is possible, if quantum mechanics can get with it, is say you had enough gravitons squashed into the core of the building, in an appropriate shape to keep the gravity constant all the way up, and the swimming pools on the outside, then you could just walk up to the water and start swimming. i would like to do backstroke on the way up and breast stroke on the way down. since there would be four pools, plenty for everyone, could people who just want to stand and chat keep out of my lane? thank you.

kc: 9th Mar 2006 - 13:37 GMT

I'm intrigued, but I'm not sure I understand. Are the gravitrons holding the water to the outside of the building, like a sheath?

elaine: 9th Mar 2006 - 14:11 GMT

yes. and then when you jump in you are in relation to the gravity of the building and not the ground. i think that the gravitons would have to be packed into a carefully plotted shape which would be bigger or more dense at the top.