Group Show: Brutal Destruction, at pinkcomma gallery, Boston, MA

My Orange County Government Center 'transformation' images are included in an exhibition opening this week in Boston, MA. I have mixed emotions — I'm thrilled to be included in this exhibition but sad that the general attitude toward brutalism is almost universal destruction. As this show highlights, there are many excellent examples of the architectural style that should have been saved or more carefully redesigned.

If you are in Boston, please check out the exhibition. Full info below:

Brutal Destruction

Thursday, April 12, from 6:00 until 8:00 pm

pinkcomma gallery
46 Waltham Street, Courtyard One, Boston, MA 02118

An exhibition documenting the ongoing destruction of significant works of concrete architecture, and the issues raised by their demolition and alteration. 

The exhibition is curated by Chris Grimley, over,under.

Photographs by:
Matthew Carbone: Mechanic Theatre, Baltimore, MD
Harlan Erskine: Orange County Government Center, Goshen, NY
Jason Hood: Birmingham Public Library, UK
Rey Lopez: Third Church of Christ, Washington, D.C.
David Schalliol: Prentice Women's Hospital, Chicago, IL
David Torke: Shoreline Apartments, Buffalo, NY
Oliver Wainwright: Robin Hood Gardens, UK

pinkcomma is a division of over,under.
The gallery receives support from the Boston Society of Architects and NADAAA.

Jane's Carousel in the Snow

This holiday I had the pleasure of working with Jane's Carousel to license my image for a holiday puzzle of the carousel in winter. I made the image the year before when a huge winter blizzard rolled through. As I make this post it's been unseasonably warm and rainy here in New York. I wish we had more snow this year. There is nothing worse than a cold rainy winter.

Me, making the Jane's Carousel Puzzle with my picture from a winter blizzard.
Music: 24 Caprices, Op. 1: No. 16 in G Minor - Itzhak Perlman.
Video © harlan erskine 2018.

I hadn't made a puzzle in years and I forgot how long it takes! The above assembly of me putting it together was made over two nights and took a little over five hours. The original image is below.

Big thank you to Jane Walentas! If you haven't been to DUMBO, Brooklyn and visited the carousel; go! It's a new classic New York institution! Also, there are puzzles for sale inside the carousel building.

‘Blizzard and Jane’s Carousel’ © 2017 harlan erskine

This year I also included the above image in my holiday postcards. In a previous year, I have a more pulled back landscape of downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, and the lower Manhattan skyline as well (see below).

‘Winter over Brooklyn Bridge and Jane’s Carousel’ © harlan erskine.

The 1922 carousel was bought at auction and transported from Youngstown, Ohio. Then lovingly restored in over several decades working in a DUMBO warehouse by Jane Walentas. The carousel is housed in a beautiful modern steel and acrylic pavilion designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. For more info check out the Carousel's WIKI or watch the interview below.

It might only cost two bucks to pony up but it took over 15 million dollars and 27 years to bring a 1922 Carousel from Youngstown, Ohio to a clear pavilion in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Host Annamaria Stewart (@annamariachen) meets up with Jane Walentas, the woman behind Jane's Carousel (@janescarousel), to learn the storied past of Brooklyn's iconic Carousel.

CARVANA, Car Vending Machine, Raleigh, NC

New architecture work up for CARVANA.

I covered their new car vending machine in Raleigh, NC. Measuring five stories high — customers who buy a car on the CARVANA website can pick it up a few days later from a local vending machine.

CARVANA, with a MINI Cooper S in bay 3 and their car vending machine off to the left, Raleigh, NC © harlan erskine.

CARVANA, car vending machine and garages, Raleigh, NC © harlan erskine.

CARVANA, with a MINI Cooper S in bay 3 and their car vending machine on the left, Raleigh, NC © harlan erskine.