HISTORICAL MAPS

Most people who know me know I am obsessed with both history and geography.  I have found a site that combines these two special things: The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.  The site allows you to zoom in on each map and see an impressive level of detail.  I have spent, and will no doubt spend many more, hours pouring over the 18th and 19th century maps of California and New York.  One of the most interesting finds was viewing this 1844 map of New York Harbor and comparing it with a very similar harbor map from 1866.  You can see how quickly Manhattan grew, and Brooklyn too, in just 22 years.  

The natural features of the harbor and shoreline are detailed beautifully in both maps.  There were so many creeks and swamps and estuaries before it was all paved over and industrialized! A fascinating exhibit currently showing at MoMA outlines urban planning and design solutions for returning a level of natural interface between land and sea here in New York.  I highly recommend seeing it before it closes in the fall.

First map image via Swaen.com

HISTORY

I have always enjoyed history, and recently discovered a couple new blogs that deal with New York City history.  The first and best is The Bowery Boys, whose podcasts and blog really make the history of places we walk every day as New Yorkers come alive with context and humor. The second is Ephemeral New York, which has little tidbits about forgotten areas of the NY and is a great resource for vintage imagery of the city (see above). Another, which I have known about for a while and is the most obsessive and cantankerous of the bunch, is Forgotten New York. There is an entire section on this blog about lampposts! Amazing!

Another great source of historical amusement is the now out of print book New York Then and Now. You can view it online on Google Books. It's great because the "new" comparison shots are from the 70's and look even less familiar than some of the older 19th century ones.

image via Ephemeral New York

NOGUCHI MUSEUM

It was a beautiful weekend in New York, and I took the opportunity to take a long walk to the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City.

Isamu Noguchi was a prolific artist, furniture designer, landscape designer, set designer and 20th century man of the world.  He studied with Brancusi in Paris, lived in Tokyo, New York, LA, Beijing, and Mexico, among other places.   Some of my favorite public art in New York belongs to Noguchi.  His studio in Queens was converted to a museum by the artist himself in the 1980's and recently underwent a massive renovation that closed the doors for years.  I hadn't been since I was in college.

The garden is simple and wonderful.

My favorite thing in the garden was this fountain.  I sat with it for an hour.  So peaceful.

Noguchi did set design for several Martha Graham productions.  This piece, created for the 1958 performance entitled Embattled Garden, is meant to symbolize an apple.

Here is a model for a playground he designed, in bronze.  When I was doing my thesis project in college-- an elementary school converted from an abandoned German social club on the Bowery-- I studied Noguchi's playground design along with Howard Gardener's theory of multiple intelligences, Christopher Alexander's super hippy-dippy but wonderful Timeless Way of Building, and the layout and design of my grandmother's house, which was a fantastic laboratory of educational fun.  Being at the museum brought me back to those days when I had so much time to think about things.  What a luxury.

This piece is just brilliant.  Anything with stone and water makes me happy, apparently.  Imagine a flower floating in one of those depressions.  Sigh.

Noguchi is best known in the design world for his paper lantern lights, copied the world over and available in rip-off form at Pier 1 and CostPlus (we have an authorized reproduction in our apartment from the museum).  Here, however, was a very special 1944 light sculpture entitled Lunar Infant.  I didn't remember this from my last visit, and it was a great surprise.

Find out more about the Noguchi Museum here.