a la musée avec mes amis français

One of the best parts of living in NYC is that people come to visit- relatives, friends, online friends, friends of friends. This summer I met with people from London, Los Angeles, Portland, L.A. via Tampa, and now France. I had a great visit yesterday avec le cousin de la mariée de mon cousin et ta petite amie. (with my cousin's wife's cousin and his girlfriend.) As an architecture student, he was interested in seeing The Guggenheim. It's not one of the museums I frequent- probably having to do with the admission price. But I saw the value in going there with out of town guests. Frank Lloyd Wright's ingenious design of open galleries along a spiraled ramp allows for conversation and casual viewing. It's just a fun museum to go to- always changing and something for everyone. The exterior is undergoing a major structural renovation and is now encased (in rather beautiful) wooden scaffolding. I hope that an interior renovation follows. Gorgeous but shabby details exist everywhere- curved wooden reception desks, a built-in bank of phone booths, circular patterns in both the terrazzo floors and outside on the sidewalk, and small, individual bathrooms on each floor. Being in the Guggenheim makes one think of how artists imagined the future in the 1950's- that buildings would be designed for maximum efficiency while encouraging human interaction within a pleasing aesthetic environment.