Reference Page: April 2009

Distilling the Classics

We at Reference were more than a little embarrassed to find out that we’ve been mispronouncing Thonet all these years. It’s pronounced TAHN-ett, not tho-NAY. (Michael Thonet was German-Austrian, after all, not French). Adding to our confusion is the fact that there are three (wholly independent) splinter companies around the world that are licensed to produce furniture under the name Thonet. But don’t be misled: there’s only one that is still affiliated with the original family and that produces the Muji collection: the fifth-generation business headquartered in Frankenberg, Germany (www.thonet.de). The one based in Missouri (www.thonet.com) caters to the contract market and, according to James Irvine, “doesn’t do anything interesting.” The last is Gebrüder Thonet Vienna, once owned by the Thonet family but now run by Poltrona Frau out of Milan (www.thonet-vienna.com).

The Big Apple Store

Lately, it seems as though all of New York’s best-looking projects are sprouting up around Times Square. There’s Perkins Eastman’s TKTS booth (www.perkinseastman.com/projectDetails.cfm?p=L2C182K14869); Renzo Piano’s pricey New York Times Building (www.newyorktimesbuilding.com), which is not wholly Times-owned any longer (Google “Times Co. Building Deal Raises Cash”); and, most recently, the sleekly designed Official NYC Information Center, by Local Projects (www.localprojects.net) and WXY Architecture + Urban Design (www.wxystudio.com). Twenty years ago, no one would have pegged Times Square as a design tourist’s destination. It was a nasty place, full of sharpers and cut-rate skin shows. The only thing it had to recommend it was an enduring production of Cats. As Clyde Haberman wrote in the Times (www.nytimes.com/specials/times-square/ts-index.html), the area’s demise stemmed from the Great Depression, which gutted various cultural institutions (and felled architectural gems such as the Paramount Theater and the Astor Hotel), leaving the neighborhood no choice but to reinvent itself as the sort of underbelly William S. Burroughs might have fondly recalled. The recent closure of a spate of Broadway shows, some good (Spring Awaken­ing) and some bad (Grease), doesn’t bode well (Google “Big Finales, All Together Now”). Perhaps Times Square will revert to those sleazy middle years that were so cheerfully immortalized in Guys and Dolls, which, incidentally, has returned to Broadway (www.guysanddollsbroadway.com).

Dutch Treat

The Dutch reached the Hudson Valley in 1609. Had they maintained their stranglehold on Manhattan, the city would likely be a much nicer place. There’d be colorful apartments where dreary, high-rise monoliths now stand. There’d be bicycle paths instead of four-lane death gauntlets. Everyone would be taller and, of course, better looking. (Call us, Rutger Hauer!) But, no, the British had to sail in, with their tea and their persecution complexes, and ruin everything. New Amster­dam, as Russell Shorto described in The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America (Vintage, 2005), was a wonderfully disorderly place. (See monuments to some early settlers at www.thebattery.org/battery/monuments.php and renderings of UN Studio’s forthcoming New Amsterdam pavilion at www.unstudio.com/news/recent/200901/488.) Only recently has the Dutch colony become ripe for historical scholarship, with the discovery of some 12,000 pages of letters, contracts, and drawings. Charles Gehring, a German-opera-loving bear of a man, has spent the past 30 years holed up in the New York State Library, poring over these convoluted 17th-century documents. The fruits of his research make up the New Nether­land Project (www.nnp.org), an excellent resource for early New York history. On a recent virtual tour (scroll to the bottom of the page), Reference learned that Dutch settlers erected Wall Street as a fortification against British invaders. But the British never came, which meant that Wall Street was an utter waste. How little things change.

Cabinet of Curiosities

Looking for more affordable examples of Antoine + Manuel’s graphic style? They can be difficult to track down Stateside. Fortunately, the French design duo operates its own retail establishment through its Web site (www.antoineetmanuel.com). The firm’s recently published book, for example, can be purchased for about $44, which includes the hefty shipping fee (click on “Works,” and look under “Shop”). Also check out A + M’s wonderfully folksy rendition of a Paris subway map, which is available in a medium-size limited edition of 200 ($95 each) and a large-size edition of 50 ($260). Both versions are numbered and signed by the artists. If money’s no object, the duo’s wall decals for Domestic can also be purchased online (www.domestic.fr)—just be ready for the $95 shipping charge.

Aging Gracefully

A recent poll found that a stunning 72 percent of all Japanese citizens were familiar with the term “universal design.” What percentage of Americans, we wonder, would claim familiarity with the term? “Oh, God,” an editor here groused. “Less than one percent.” (And all of them, we’re guessing, are faithful readers of AARP The Magazine.) The Japanese commitment to universal design is totally mainstream. If you have any doubts, check out the International Association for Universal Design (www.iaud.net/en), an overwhelmingly Japanese organization (name not withstanding) with backing from some of the largest corporations in the world. By contrast, our homegrown organizations—the Institute for Human Centered Design (www.adaptenv.org) and the Center for Universal Design (www.design.ncsu.edu/cud—don’t feel as … robustly funded.

Unsung Heroes

Like Rodney Dangerfield, Belgians just can’t seem to get any respect. “In international organizations, Belgium is a laughing stock,” one of the country’s politicians complained in 2007 (www.independent.co.uk; search for “Belgian talks collapse”). But in America at least, the tiny nation is suddenly in vogue. Steven Spielberg is working on a movie about Tintin (with Daniel Craig playing Red Rackham, the evil seaman), the Brussels-born Le Pain Quotidien bakeries are thriving, and a Manhattan branch of the capital’s upscale eatery Rouge Tomate just opened in a $10 million “food spa” designed by Bentel & Bentel (www.bentelandbentel.com). Still, Reference couldn’t help but wonder: Are Amer­icans getting the authentic Belgian spirit? On the food front at least, the answer is no. (We’ll withhold judgment on The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn until its 2011 release.) Le Pain Quotidien sells French bread, not waffles, and Rouge Tomate’s menu (www.rougetomatenyc.com) offers no fries, no mayonnaise, and no beer. Instead, dishes comply with the principles of S.P.E., a nutritionist-approved food charter that stresses natural Sourcing, Preparation, and Enhancement. (Insert obligatory “enhancement” joke here.) For a loving tribute to a true Belgium-sourced dish, prepared in hot oil and enhanced with copious amounts of salt, check out www.belgianfries.com/bfblog, a blog about all things frites (or friet in Dutch).