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New York State Welcomes The World's Longest Pedestrian Bridge

If you need somewhere to take in the sights of autumn this weekend, then you should consider New York’s newest state park. After rotting away for decades above the Hudson River, the Poughkeepsie Bridge has been reborn. Thanks to the time and deep pockets of local businesses, investors, and dedicated volunteers, the old railroad bridge that connects Poughkeepsie with Highland reopened earlier this month to traffic. The bridge has been transformed into a 1.25-mile pedestrian bridge—that’s two and a half miles roundtrip for the mathematically challenged.

The Walkway Over The Hudson is now the longest pedestrian bridge in the world, and it is certainly something for the Hudson Valley to get excited about. The walkway is totally free and visitors are encouraged to check out the view as it crosses the water about 200 feet in the air. Bicyclists, walkers, runners, and even the eight people that still rollerblade are welcome to take a trip across the Hudson. No need to worry about things being too crowded, the bridge is over 30 feet wide as it crosses the river, so you’ll have plenty of room to set up for some photo opportunities.

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Architecture Travel / Art Deco / Architecture / Winter Travel / Restaurants / → All Tags

Miami's Ultimate Art Deco Weekend, Courtesy Of Buenos Aires

In our minds, any time's a good time to obsess over the art deco explosion that is Miami. But toss in horrible weather in the Northeast right now and a special event, and the city looks even hotter than usual.

Despite the name, Art Deco Weekend 2009 starts Tuesday, January 13 and continues all the way through Sunday. This year's theme is Down Argentine Way, leading to a focus on the architectural ties Miami has to Buenos Aires. (There's nothing that can generate more buzz than name checking 2005's hottest destination!)

Along with lectures, tango shows, films, street performances and a parade, the Miami Design Preservation League will host a gaggle of walking tours of the city's art deco district. If you need even more architecture, an exhibit at the historic City Hall on Washington Avenue will also run all weekend. Most everything is free, though the tours will cost you $20.

To refuel between events, we'd recommend stopping by the Fontainebleau Hotel for the all-you-can-drink-and-eat Sunday brunch at Scarpetta. Fear not, weak mimosa-phobics: Thrillist reports a menu including truffled mushroom fricassee, scrambled eggs with pancetta, beer-braised short ribs and bottomless Bellinis.

Related Stories:
· Art Deco Weekend [Official Site]
· All-You-Can-Eat Scarpetta Sunday Brunch [Thrillist]
· Miami's Five New Must-Try Restaurants [Jaunted]

[Photo: Bill McIntyre]

T5 at JFK / JetBlue / JFK / New Terminals / Buildings / Architecture / → All Tags

JetBlue T5 at JFK Officially Opens

The lights are off at Terminal 6, and JetBlue has switched all its operations at JFK over to the brand-new Terminal 5. The first flight in was a red eye from Burbank that pulled up to gate 11 at 5 am.

CEO Dave Barger, who's been at the terminal with his employees since the wee hours, waved off the first outbound flight, which left for San Juan at 5:59 am. Also on the scene are members of the carrier's PR team, who are live blogging like whoa at t508.wordpress.com.

One thing we haven't heard about yet is the status of the much-anticipated sit-down dining areas--which held up the opening of T5 earlier this month.

Related Stories:
· Inside JetBlue's Terminal 5 Opening Party [Jaunted]
· First Video of JetBlue's T5 Ribbon Cutting [Jaunted]

[Photo: jetblueflickr]

Architecture Travel / Architecture / Secret Lairs / → All Tags

London Underground: Your Very Own Secret Lair

Do you spend a lot of time in London? Do you need more permanent accommodations than a hotel, but want something a little different than a rental apartment? Then perhaps you'd be interested in purchasing the Kingsway Tunnels.

Located 100 feet below central London, the tunnels are 77,000 square feet of prime underground real estate. The mile-long system of vertical and horizontal shafts could be converted for use as an interesting hotel, as an underground mansion or, of course, as a secret lair from which you could operate your world domination scheme.

The tunnels were originally built as air-raid shelters in the 1940s and have since been used as war command headquarters, document storage facilities and as some sort of early IT system that connected long distance telephone calls.

For the low cost of about £5 million ($8.6 million), you can step your game up to Dr. Evil status--or just have a safe place to ride out the economic crash.

Related Stories:
· For Sale: Mile-Long Tunnel Complex. Price: £5m [UK Times]
· In Pictures: Kingsway Tunnels [BBC]
· Architecture Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: BBC]

Fall Travel / Architecture Travel / Architecture / → All Tags

Fall Travel: Checking Out Asheville's Architecture

Western North Carolina perks up in the fall: The leaves are changing, the weather is cooler and downtown Asheville is the place to be--especially for those interested in unique architecture. A big city it isn't, but it certainly delivers some thrills.

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Time for Change: Redesigning the White House

As you've probably heard, everyone is gaga for something new in 2008, and even John McCain and Co. have hopped on board the change-wagon.

But why stop at changing the occupant of the Oval Office? In January, the Storefront for Art and Architecture, a nonprofit urban planning group in New York, figured they would push the whole change thing as far as possible and offer up some ideas for changing the White House itself.

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Architecture / Buildings / Frank Gehry / Dance / → All Tags

Dance Travel: Softshoeing on Gehry

A Canadian choreographer and crafty ambassador for modern dance, Noémie Lafrance, has found a ready-made world stage for her shows by exhibiting them on architect Frank Gehry's buildings.

Dancers, equipped with bungy chords, harnesses, and ropes, leap and bounced all over a Gehry structure at Bard College in New York two weeks ago. With the architect’s blessing, Lafrance has eight more performances planned.

Next up? The Guggenheim museum in Northern Spain and the Walt Disney concert hall in Los Angeles. (No dates have been announced.) The whole thing projects an air of pretentiousness, but watching spidermen and women legally climb around on some of the world's most revered modern buildings holds a decent amount of appeal.

Related Stories:
· Dancers on a Hot Gehry Roof [IHT]
· Alain Robert's Climbing Stunts Map [Jaunted]

Architecture / Buildings / Design Travel / → All Tags

Architectural Travel: Tokyo's Playground Lofts

Located in the Mitaka area of western Tokyo, the colorful Reversible Destiny Lofts look more like a children's playground than any kind of modern day luxury condo. Reversible Destiny is the of product of New York-based architect-poet-philosophers Arakawa & Gins who believe that comfort should only play a small role in the home--and that by encountering perpetual challenges, residents will stay young and healthy.

Each loft is designed to:

Stimulate the senses and force inhabitants to use balance, physical strength and imagination.

A jumble of weird features like bright colors, tiny doors, oddly placed power outlets and rooms with concave floors will indeed have people feeling like they've stepped into a big-kids playground.

If you're up for the challenge, two rental units are now available. They go for $2,000-$2,400 a month, and short term stays can be arranged.

Related Stories:
· Reversible Destiny Lofts [Official Site]
· ARAKAWA + GINS [Official Site]
· Tokyo Travel coverage [Jaunted]

Airports / Architecture / JFK / Jetblue / Buildings / T5 at JFK / Eero Saarinen / → All Tags

JetBlue Terminal 5 Opening Pushed Back!

Crisis at JFK! The new JetBlue terminal will not--repeat, will not--open on October 1!

While the carrier insists that construction is on schedule, a spokeswoman tells the Associated Press:

The operational opening was delayed to give [our] Marketplace vendors more time to complete necessary work.

Hey, we like fully operational wine-and-tapas bars as much as the next guy, but we're definitely not happy that we'll have to wait until October 22 to check 'em out.

Related Stories:
· JetBlue Delays Opening of Terminal [AP, via BW]
· Inside JetBlue's Terminal 5 Opening Party [Jaunted]
· There Will Be Live Blogging: JetBlue's T5 Grand Opening Already Underway [Jaunted]
· Inside JetBlue's Terminal 5 Trial Run [Jaunted]

Art / Design / Architecture / → All Tags

Architecture Travel: Underground to Above Board

Open House London is an annual event where private buildings and houses are opened up for the architecturally curious to explore. More than 700 different locations were available to tour this year. Sure, the traditional styles were represented, with names like Victorian, Bedfordshire and Elizabethan. But yawn!

If you wanted to see some really edgy dwelling design, the real action was with the soon-to-be classic: recycled tube carriages.

Village Underground is an office complex made up of four former London Underground Tube carriages that were lifted on top of a giant brick Victorian arch. The cars were gutted and re-fitted with clean looking modern office spaces, then completely covered in graffiti.

It's all part of a social enterprise project, funded by the local government. The offices are now rented out to various members of the creative community as a place to work and socialize.

Related Stories:
· Open House London [Official Site]
· Village Underground [Official Site]
· Open House London: Village Underground [Treehugger]
· London Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Squirmelia]

Airports / Architecture / JFK / Jetblue / Buildings / T5 at JFK / Eero Saarinen / TWA / David Neeleman / Dave Barger / Videos / → All Tags

Inside JetBlue's Terminal 5 Opening Party

Our ever-stylish correspondent JetSetCD was on-hand for JetBlue's ribbon cutting bash yesterday...

Yesterday's shindig out at JetBlue's new Terminal 5 was no boring, corporate ribbon-cutting, nossir it was not. Instead, the carrier threw a straight-up block party to celebrate more than just a new address; the festivities and congratulations all centered on JetBlue's employees, many of whom turned out to spend half the day cavorting in their future workplace.

Getting business out of the way with a packed-to-the-gills press conference at 2 pm, where JetBlue founder (and current Azul airline mogul) David Neeleman entered to an immediate standing ovation, the day slowly progressed into pure fun with a performance by Estelle and free booze.

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Airports / Architecture / JFK / JetBlue / Buildings / T5 at JFK / Eero Saarinen / TWA / Videos / → All Tags

First Video of JetBlue's Terminal 5 Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

JetBlue's new Terminal 5 may not be open to the public yet, but there seem to be approximately 17 billion people on hand for the ribbon cutting today, as seen in this video starring CEO Dave Barger.

In the crowd are David Neeleman (just in from Brazil?), New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and The Rockettes.

Also on view at the new terminal are some fancy seats from Lufthansa, which owns 19 percent of JetBlue. And our spy on the scene says they're serving "T5-tinis," which sounds nice!

Related Stories:
· T5 Live Blog [Official Site]
· There Will Be Live Blogging: JetBlue's T5 Grand Opening Already Underway [Jaunted]