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Architecture
05/24/13 5:00pm

Delta Air Lines’ New Rooftop Lounge at JFK Airport

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Source Architectural Digest

Source: Architectural Digest

Delta Air Lines beats their SkyLounge by opening an outdoor sky deck where travelers can watch planes lift off the ground and step outside JFK airport without missing a flight. The terrace is on the roof of Terminal 4′s Concourse B, where Delta hopes people will find the space’s red, silver and black color combination to be a warm and casual feel. Our friends at The Culture-ist talked to designer Thom Filicia about the project, which is Delta’s largest Sky Club to date. (more…)

Seville
05/24/13 4:00pm

Flip This Temple? The Hidden Past of Carmona’s Elephant Tomb

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elephants-tomb-spain

Researchers have recently discovered that a Roman tomb in Carmona, Spain may have originally been a Mithraic temple years before. Photo courtesy of Universidad Pablo de Olavide. 

Long thought to have been solely used as a burial site by ancient Romans in the 1st century B.C. and the 2nd century A.D., a tomb in the necropolis of Carmona, Spain (just outside of Sevilla) surprised researchers from Universidad Pablo de Olavide last week, who announced that the tomb was actually first used as a temple by the devotees of Mithraism, a cult that came to exist during the Roman empire.

(more…)

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New York
05/24/13 3:36pm

Featured App of the Week: The Silent History

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There are so many apps out there that sometimes it can be a little difficult to decide which to download, and whether an app is worth the money. Every week, we’ll be spotlighting an app that we find particularly interesting or helpful and giving you the rundown on what it does and why we like it. 

The promo video for The Silent History, a fictional account of an apocalyptic plague whose main symptom is silence.

Have you ever liked a novel so much that you wished you were part of the story? That you could go and explore the setting of the book itself, crawl around in the inner workings of its world? Well, if you’re a fan of futuristic, apocalyptic stories, or even if you’re just a fan of exploring your city, looking at your surroundings in a new and different way, The Silent History is the app/novel for you.

(more…)

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Architecture
05/24/13 2:00pm

New Blog Alert: Los Angeles’ Valley Blahg

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San-Fernando-Valley-Los Angeles-Valley Blagh-1924

Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley map in 1924, from Valley Blahg

For fans of the Brooklyn blog, F’d in Park Slope, the founder, Erica Reitman, has transplanted herself across the country to Los Angeles and launched Valley Blahg, dedicated to showcasing unique real estate in the “Valley” through an architecture and design lens. We’re of course also fans of Erica’s dual NYC-LA mindset in general, since Untapped Cities has just arrived to LA too.

Some favorite posts so far from Valley Blahg:

VALLEY HISTORY: What Things Looked Like In 1924

Hollywood Legends Hanging Out In Their San Fernando Valley Homes

ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY: Joseph Eichler & The Balboa Highlands Tract in Granada Hills

(more…)

Arts & Culture
05/24/13 1:00pm

Berlin’s Stattbad: A Former Pool Repurposed as Cultural Center

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Stadtbad_Wedding-019

Designed by the renown German architect Ludwig Hoffmann, Stattbad (formerly Sadtbad Wedding) – which has nothing to do with marriage but refers to a public swimming pool in one of Berlin northern districts – hosts something that is quite different from its original conception. Built in 1907, the building was supposed to meet a sanitation need for a poorly-equipped workers neighborhood nearby. The architectural design consisted of two pools, officially called “large” and “small.” The first one was strictly dedicated to men’s bathing, whereas women were only admitted in the second one. (more…)

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Arts & Culture
05/24/13 12:00pm

Celebrate Local Talent at San Francisco’s Offside Music Festival

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You do not have to be a jazz aficionado to appreciate the workings of San Francisco Offside Festival’s co-founders – musician Alex Pinto and local music presenter Laura Maguire. Rather, at its core, the festival is about expanding the awareness of unique, local talent. The plethora of talented musicians all share the commonality of having cultivated their art in the Bay Area. Underscoring these sentiments, the festival’s founders exalt the local San Francisco music scene in their mission statement – “Our hope is that the San Francisco Bay Area ultimately gets the recognition it deserves as home to a rich, diverse, and exceptionally talented jazz community.” (more…)

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Arts & Culture
05/24/13 11:00am

The Art of Style by Kit Mills 023: Summer Colors

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Contrary to what the Starks up at Winterfell would have you believe, summer is coming. For those of us who feel exposed and uncomfortable without a scarf and blazer on, this is a tragic time of year involving a lot of forlorn sweating, sunburn, and gin-and-tonics with a very high ice-to-tonic ratio. On the plus side, not everyone is a total curmudgeon about putting away their collection of wool sweaters until September, which means there are cute people everywhere enjoying their breezy summer duds in the great outdoors. People-watching is better in warm weather, for obvious reasons, so one of my favorite low-intensity things to do is put together a good summer playlist (usually a lot of the White Stripes, Violent Femmes, and Van Morrison) and go for a walk.  (more…)

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Arts & Culture
05/24/13 10:00am

Untapped Cities Instagram “Pic” of the Week: Brooklyn Bridge

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This shot was submitted to the Untapped Cities photo pool by @brooklynpoets via Instagram. www.instagram.com/brooklynpoets

This shot was submitted to the Untapped Cities photo pool by @brooklynpoets via Instagram.

Introducing the Untapped Cities Instagram “Pic” of the week. We’ll be pulling images from our Untapped Cities Photo Pool, which you can submit to simply by hashtagging #untappedcities in your Instagram and Twitter photos.

This week’s Untapped Cities “Pic” of the week, titled “Well Hello Little Bridge”, is by @brooklynpoets. Here at Untapped, we try to look for the view less seen, perhaps never before captured by a camera. We also look for unique angles of well-known places, such as this spot in DUMBO that frames both the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. From the cobblestone street to the Brooklyn Bridge (happy birthday today Brooklyn Bridge!) peering through a break in the warehouses, elements like this are what make this the Untapped Cities Instagram “Pics” of the week.

To have one of your photo’s featured for the #untappedcities Instagram “Pic” of the Week, simply tag your Instagram shots with #untappedcities. Check outwww.untappedcities.com/live for our Photo Pool.

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Architecture
05/24/13 9:00am

The Historic Hotel Pennsylvania: Saved!

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Front entrance to the Hotel Pennsylvania.

Front entrance to the Hotel Pennsylvania.

Last month, the Hotel Pennsylvania Preservation Society finally breathed a deep sigh of relief. The historic Hotel Penn, across the street from Penn Station, has been denied landmark status several times in recent years and its owner, Vornado Realty Trust, planned to demolish it in order to build a new office complex in its place. After a five-year battle, however, Vornado gave up its plan to tear down the hotel and has launched an effort to restore the hotel to its former glory instead.  (more…)

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Architecture
05/24/13 8:00am

Daily What?! Watertower Hangout in Times Square

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Watertower_Hangout_8th Avenue_NYC

Today’s Daily What?! is this watertower “hangout” we found on 8th Avenue between 45th and 46th Streets. Normally, watertowers fly solo or in pairs, depending on the size of the buildings they serve. Sometimes watertowers come in unique forms, like the speakeasy watertower or the glass watertower by Tom Fruin.

But these watertowers in the Times Square Theater District are the social type, clustering in a group of seven. They also seem fond of unique architecture, situated in between The Paramount Hotel (which has a storied history), the Golden Theater and the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. We also like to think they look down scornfully at the parking lot next door. Looking at historical images, there’s has been a parking lot there at least as far back as 2001, a building that partially filled the lot was demolished around 2009.

Get in touch with the author @untappedmich. Have a quirky find you want us to publish in the Daily What?!? Contact us at info@untappedcities.com or submit to us on Twitter with the hashtag #DailyWhat.

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