vip in the city

OHNY launch @ The Torch Club

At NYU’s Torch Club on Waverly for the openhousenewyork weekend launch party hosted by OHNY and The Architect’s Newspaper.

The fundraiser was held on the eve of the annual openhousenewyork weekend, which has provided the public with free access to sites of architectural and design interest throughout all five boroughs every October since 2003. OHNY was inspired by the overwhelming popularity of similar events in the United Kingdom and in Canada. Back in its early days, the scale of the event was much smaller; it still felt a bit like a secret waiting to be discovered, peering into these spaces, many of which normally were closed to the public. (One year, we got to wander among the samples and dressmaker models at Narciso Rodriguez‘s design studio — pretty cool!) The secret — such as it was — is definitely out now: with every subsequent year, the number of participants has grown — from an estimated 50,000 site visitors in 2004 to over 100,000 in 2007; many locations began requiring reservations, which were booked up within minutes of offering. OHNY weekend is now the largest architecture and design event in the United States… and one of my favorite events in the city.

The number of sites participating, too, has grown dramatically: this year about 350 sites opened their doors, nearly doubling the number from the year before. (In 2003, the number of participating sites was around 75.) Highlights for 2007 included tours of the little-seen Roof Gardens at Rockefeller Center and a trip through the underground Murray’s Cheese Caves. More on those sites to come…

Tonight, though, we mingled among architects, designers, planners, and fellow OHNY devotees, comparing notes on upcoming weekend tours and commiserating over that most enduring of all New York obsessions: real estate.

There's 1 comment so far ... OHNY launch @ The Torch Club

Be a Good Daughter
October 25, 2007

Hello your article is funny.
I will definitely read your blog..
bye

Go for it ...