The model as muse

Last week I visited The Model as Muse exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

The exhibition explores the reciprocal relationship between high fashion and evolving ideals of beauty, "The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion" focuses on iconic models of the twentieth century and their roles in projecting, and sometimes inspiring, the fashion of their respective eras. 

Each room represents perfectly the atmosphere of each decade, its style, its colors, its music and of course its muses.

The galleries illustrate a model's power to inspire a design, to elevate a garment to a status much larger than life.

Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld presented a poised, elegant and mostly black take on power suiting for Chanel that included this fantastically witty take on the working gal's briefcase. 

The transparent briefcase comes with slots to hold a purse, lipstick, sunglasses, iPod and other ladies’ stuff!

After the escalator up to the second floor of Diesel I was met with the contemporary layout of a glossy black dining table. Upon which forks and other culinary utensils merged with striking silver jewelry. This caught my attention as a sophisticated and original set up for their new jewelry collection.  

A month has passed since living in NYC and every time I pass this building I love it even more! The Hearst Tower in New York City is located near columbus cirlce. It is the world headquarters of the Hearst Corporation, bringing together for the first time their numerous publications and communications companies under one roof, including Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping and the San Francisco Chronicle, to name a few. (Hopefully one day I will be working there!)

The tower – designed by the architect Norman Foster and constructed by Turner construction – is 46 stories tall, standing 182 m (597 ft) with 80,000 m² (856,000 ft²) of office space. The uncommon triangular framing pattern (also known as a diagrid) required 9,500 metric tons (10,480 tons) of structural steel – reportedly about 20% less than a conventional steel frame. Hearst Tower was the first skyscraper to break ground in New York City after September 11, 2001. The building received the 2006 Emporis Skyscraper Award,[2] citing it as the best skyscraper in the world completed that year.

Hearst Tower is the first green building completed in New York City, with a number of environmental considerations built into the plan. The floor of the atrium is paved with heat conductive limestone. Polyethylene tubing is embedded under the floor and filled with circulating water for cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. Rain collected on the roof is stored in a tank in the basement for use in the cooling system, to irrigate plants and for the water sculpture in the main lobby. The building was constructed using 80% recycled steel. Overall, the building has been designed to use 25% less energy than the minimum requirements for the city of New York, and earned a gold designation from the United States Green Building Council’s LEED certification program.

In my opinion the best building in New York!