May 09, 2004
An Architectural Wedding
Here are the highlights from the New York Times Wedding Section this Sunday, so that you can follow the war, the economy and the Bush administration's deceit and arrogance, rather than waste Sunday morning with your nose in the froufrou. Those of you who live in swing states, and would not ordinarily get the Sunday Times, should pay attention to those things too.
I do hope I have an architectural bridal photograph for this. I seem to have posted alot of architectural pictures lately, and may have blown my wad.
The marriage of Andrea Monfried, an editor of architectural books, and Mike Harshman, an architect, is featured. The piece is peppered with architects - Carlo Scarpa (the bride couldn't spend her life with someone who didn't know who he was), Alvar Aalto , Philip Johnson (possible famous houses in which to have the wedding). Paul Rudolf (the reception took place in a house of his design) Frank Gehry (a wedding cake in the shape of the Bilboa Guggenheim was considered) Peter Eisenman (an attending architectural guest) and Jean Nouvel (honeymoon destination, Paris).
The bride is a girl after my own heart, a "pack rat" (as described by the groom) with a snappy answer (her defense, "I'm an archivist") Her wit has served her well through a relationship with a person with strong aethetic sensibilities, "I had no idea that, as an architect, he would have to have so much control over the living space". When he moved into her apartment (it would probably have been easier for her to move into his space, in "historic Brooklyn", because she doesn't care as much about aesthetics, but perhaps her place was in a better location or is rent controlled), he purged her outdated Conran's furniture (possibly discarding something of collectible value in the future -- my archivist's point of view) and designed cabinets to hide her piles.
She explained that their first date was "not a blind date, but a myopic one" and that "When you buy a piece of furniture with an architect, first you have to know the program". Adorable.
There is a first in the Wedding Section this morning. A further iteration in the couple-with-hair-blowing-in-the-wind portrait trend --Furniture in the Picture --in this case, two rustic wooden lawn chairs. Remember this is just the beginning. The couple, embracing across the space between the chairs, hair blowing, in the case of the bride, firmly affixed with baseball cap, in the case of the groom, are wearing hiking boots and ski sweaters in front of what might be a lodge.
Finally, Mark Vonnegut's son Eli married. He is the grandson of Kurt Vonnegut who, modestly, isn't mentioned as one of Eli's ancestors, the surname has a high recognition value though.
Photo note: The buildings in the background of this photo are those of Lluis Sert ., I think. It was nearly impossible to come up with a weddingy architectural shot, and this is the best I could do without taking a trip to Newport .
Posted by Dakota at May 9, 2004 07:31 AM