When the weather forecasters began to warn that the hurricane might take a turn up the Mississippi River, pass over our scented, magical city, then stall over Lake Pontchartrain, dumping millions of gallons of water on New Orleans, I took one look at my wife and said, "We're leaving."
From the windows of Two Penn Plaza, the offices of Architectural Record survey a tough-talking, broad-shouldered scene straight out of Miracle at 34th Street: It’s where the garment district collides with Macy’s, animated by the daily headlong rush of thousands of commuters inclining toward Pennsylvania Station and home.
It erupted as a primal scream from a frazzled-looking conventioneer leaning against a wall, hair askew, punctuated by a complaint repeated by others in corridors and grand spaces: “Get me out of here!” Not everyone felt it; many, if not most, reveled in the mix.
Set just off the axis of major highways connecting Anatolia and Europe, not far from a new airport in Istanbul, the strong, clear forms of the Anadolu Health Center project images of contemporary solidity to the surrounding countryside.
Something’s in the air. Call it community-based design. Call it architecture for people. In any understanding, socially conscious architecture seems to be blossoming again.
You are in store for a visual treat. In this issue, we celebrate 50 years of Record Houses by including a collection of 10 private residences from around the world, most in stunning natural settings—flung out into the desert, perched by the water, clipped to hillsides.