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| Saturday, January 25, 2020 |
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| 8 min. reading |
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Suggestions for your senses,
every Saturday at 9 a.m. |
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Good morning.
This week, we flip through MASS Design Group’s new book, Justice Is Beauty; explore the science of touch; stop by the latest restaurant from The Fat Radish’s Phil Winser; take audio walks with Jon Mooallem; and get our “olfactory diagnosis” at Parisian concept store Nose.
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| Courtesy The Monacelli Press |
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“Architecture is not agnostic about ethics,” writes Michael Murphy, founding principal and executive director of MASS Design Group. “As with art, the political is inherent in architectural choices. Architecture points forward, it must consider the environment and the society around it.” The collective nonprofit’s new book, Justice Is Beauty (Monacelli Press), gathers work from its first 10 years of practice, taking stock of the progressive and public-facing projects around the world for which MASS—short for Model of Architecture Serving Society—has come to be known. Among these are the Butaro District Hospital in Rwanda; the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama; and the recent Gun Violence Memorial Project installed at the Chicago Architecture Biennial.
Negotiating between the pursuits of beauty and justice—the age-old “bread and roses” problem—Murphy rejects the notion that they are mutually exclusive: “The two are intertwined in the built world. Instead, we should ask: what is the societal impact of beauty? Or what does a more just society construct?” Project case studies, essays, conversations, beautiful photography from Iwan Baan, and a foreword by Chelsea Clinton make a powerful case for architecture as an avenue for change, justice, and dignity—building a more equitable world that places people before profits.
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Long before we learn how to speak or read an alphabet, we grasp and feel our way around the world, and listen to our bodies to discern between pleasure and pain. Skin is the largest organ of the human body, and houses receptors that perceive what we touch externally, but understanding the mechanisms that control and communicate the sense of touch and feel inside our bodies has long remained a bit of a mystery—though researchers have begun to crack the code over the past 10 years.
While cells have been understood to communicate with one another through chemical signaling, according to a recent Nature magazine article, scientists are hard at work to learn more about specialized pressure-sensitive proteins, called Piezo proteins, that act as mechanical signals that respond to physical sensors. Though very little is known about Piezo proteins, they are found in mammals—that includes us humans—and are believed to act as ion channels, opening up the pores of a cell’s membrane. Shaped like three-bladed pinwheels, Piezo proteins are uniquely structured and bear a passing, comical resemblance to fidget spinners. Researchers know little about how these specialized proteins function mechanically, but hypothesize that they are only part of a much larger, yet-to-be-discovered set of force sensors shared among many living things.
Nearly every tissue and cell type functions by way of touch, molecular neurobiologist Ardem Patapoutian explains, from the sensation of air filling our lungs, to our stomach or bladder feeling full. With more knowledge about the inner workings of Piezo proteins, scientists may be able to understand why some people are immune to certain diseases, or even find a targeted way to relieve chronic pain. As Patapoutian says, “We’ve just barely scraped the surface.”
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Phil Winser, co-owner of Silkstone, the hospitality company behind celebrated restaurants such as The Fat Radish, on New York City’s Lower East Side, tells us about his latest project, The Orchard Townhouse, a cozy restaurant in Chelsea that’s soon to open a garden and six fully furnished long-stay rental apartments upstairs—room service optional.
As the Fat Radish celebrates its ten-year anniversary, what inspired the idea of opening Orchard Townhouse?
It’s been a real journey, and, first of all, it’s very exciting to be doing another restaurant in the city. New York’s such a special place because neighborhoods mean so much—they’re what make up the city. I’ve always wanted to do a project in Chelsea because it has such a strong character. It’s got such a diverse group of New Yorkers, old architecture, as well as the crazy and amazing new starchitecture happening near the High Line [buildings by the likes of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Zaha Hadid, and Bjarke Ingels]. It’s a juxtaposition between the Meatpacking District and all of the stuff that’s been happening there, and Hudson Yards.
We first looked at a site in this area a decade ago, and I always knew at some point that I wanted to do a project here. I’ve always been fascinated by architecture and how hospitality, specifically, can contribute to a neighborhood. Then, this beautiful townhouse that sat on the corner came on the market, and we thought we could do something fun with it and make it for the neighborhood. It’s also a bit of an homage to our first restaurant, on Orchard Street.
Did the building itself lead to the idea to also renovate and rent out the apartments above?
In all of the projects we’ve done in the city, we’ve always had people living above, and the restaurant really becomes part of the family. One of our hosts ended up being the maid of honor at a guest’s wedding. We get all the local regulars: the dog walker, the mail collector—and everyone keeps their spare keys with us. We have this great connection with the people in the neighborhood and what’s going on with their lives. It’s something that makes New York so special. For Orchard Townhouse, we’re bringing more of that sort of hospitality into the entire building.
The idea is to renovate the building while having this great restaurant downstairs. They’ll be stylish rental units that will carry on the aesthetic of the restaurant, and you’ll be able to get room service and all of the perks of having a restaurant downstairs, if you live there.
It’s a bit like a modern day bed and breakfast, city-style.
But with longer-term stays—how I like to live in the city. We’re just launching our design company within our operation, and for me, as a designer, it has been a really enjoyable process. Restaurants are kind of like a theater—you’re almost creating a set. It’s not all fully finished yet, and will probably be another six months [until it is]. But that’s why we decided to open the restaurant early, and have just been keeping it quiet for now, as we go through our teething problems. It’s an opportunity to get to know everyone in the neighborhood.
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As everyday life becomes increasingly enmeshed with technology, our attention spans fragmented by constant distractions of the attention economy, one podcast makes a case for unplugging and simply taking a hike. In his Walking podcast, journalist and author Jon Mooallem doesn’t interview guests, host any celebrities, or sound off on current affairs. Instead, with a recorder in hand, he simply takes us along for a walk.
There’s an odd and contemplative comfort in listening to the nearly hour-long episodes, each filled with the ASMR-like rustle of the wind and the crunch of branches, leaves, and gravel beneath footsteps, as Mooallem meanders about in the woodlands of the Pacific Northwest. (Occasionally, he’ll run into a friend, making small talk about “clearing his head” or cleaning out the chicken coop.) Part Calm session, part random core, it’s like receiving a transcendentalist butt-dial from a nature-loving friend, or the #oddlysatisfying audio equivalent of playing with slime.
Mooallem has said that walking is an exercise in self-reflection, and he is in good company. Considering famous walkers in history and literature in Wanderlust: A History of Walking, Rebecca Solnit muses that “walking articulates both physical and mental freedom.” Writers have long linked the mind with the feet, and according to The New Yorker, taking regular walks (especially in nature) not only stimulates the growth of new neurons, it actively sharpens our memory, attention, and thinking: “Because we don’t have to devote much conscious effort to the act of walking, our attention is free to wander—to overlay the world before us with a parade of images from the mind’s theatre.”
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Finding a signature scent can be a challenge—especially when shopping online. After all, perfumes not only go directly on our skin, they follow us around, setting our mood and acting as a primal greeting to those we encounter. Nose, a Parisian fragrance boutique, offers customers an online “olfactory diagnosis” to help them navigate its large library of scents. Entering a list of the last three perfumes you’ve owned, along with how long you’ve worn each, will render an “olfactory portrait,” synthesizing your preferred olfactive families, along with your favorite head, heart, and base notes. Afterward, you can order a sample kit of your top five recommendations, based on your results, for less than $12. The survey, however simplistic, is a helpful hack for modern times—and, for the lazy lover shopping for an intimate gift, a solid way to sniff out a scent the recipient will actually like.
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Until next week...
Today’s email was written by Aileen Kwun
Editor: Spencer Bailey
Creative Director: Andrew Zuckerman
Producer: Mike Lala
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