Is the New LaGuardia New York’s Best Airport?
“I’m just here to review the building,” I told the attendant. “Tell them they need better parking,” he said.
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New York’s Best Airport?
I went to LGA and all I got was a perfect Starbucks drink.
by Eva Hagberg
The Starbucks salted caramel cream cold brew is a difficult drink to get right. You would think it’d be easy—cold brew, cold foam, a few spritzes of caramel, a dash of salt—but of the maybe sixty Starbucks salted caramel cream cold brews that I’ve had, only one truly stands out as an excellent, perhaps even Platonic, example of the form. This Starbucks salted caramel cream cold brew had caramel not only in the cold brew itself, but also mixed into the cold foam, rendering the entire drinking experience one of smooth, sweet saltiness. Usually, I order the salted caramel cream cold brew and mostly just kind of scoop the foam off with the lid. This one? I drank the whole thing. I was at LaGuardia.
Read more about airports and cold coffee foams here.
Generative Nostalgia
Art can serve as both a necessary reprieve in a deeply fraught time and as a catalyst for change, inviting us to see things just a bit differently.
by Kelly Pope
There was a nostalgia in these conversations, and while being herded into a packed exhibition space overcrowded with unmasked people is not usually my idea of a fun and relaxing afternoon at the museum, I eventually felt a sense of calm wash over my nerves. Cezanne did not provoke or challenge me. Rather, it made space for a pleasant moment. Uptown, hard-edged supergraphics in black, white, and vermillion line the crisp white walls of the Graham Foundation, offering a stark contrast to the existing warm and decorative wood detailing of the Madlener House interior. EXITS EXIST isn’t a blockbuster in the way that other exhibits in Chicago and New York are, but in it it’s easier to spot the driving idea behind all of these throwbacks: they showcase liberatory, ground-breaking moments in art and design.
Read the dueling reviews here.
Nairobi Now, Nairobi Next
The vision of the David Adjaye–designed Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute is one of intent rather than form.
by Kahira Ngige
The Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute’s location subverts the logic of urban development. Located on the top floor of a shopping mall, it’s hidden within a warren of interchangeable shopfronts: beauty spas that never open, a closed Mexican taqueria, a micro cinema that is up for sale, and a private clinic. Instead of being aspirational, the journey through the mall is grounded with a very palpable sense of failure. The social function of shopping malls, like offices, only works if there are people; otherwise, the sequence of long corridors begins to feel absurd. In an unexpected moment of rapture, NCAI’s existence in the middle of failure signals that another mode of cultural production can exist within absurdity. This is a bold statement of the workings of the city as we see now, and how we hope to see it one day..
New York Review of Architecture is a team effort. Our Editor is Samuel Medina, our Deputy Editor is Marianela D’Aprile, and our Editors-at-Large are Carolyn Bailey, Phillip Denny, and Alex Klimoski. Our Publisher is Nicolas Kemper.
To pitch us an article or ask us a question, write to us at: editor@nyra.nyc. For their support, we would like to thank the Graham Foundation and our issue sponsors, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, and Thomas Phifer.
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