Irrational Architectural Exuberance
MoMA’s exhibition “194X-9/11: American Architects and the City” commemorates a time when serious people thought that great architecture could prevent wars and infuse cities with an atmosphere of peace and optimism. That it proved not to be so doesn’t make the architecture of that period any less interesting. This Sunday, MoMA lecturer Jennifer Gray will give a gallery talk on the exhibition, which examines works from the immediate postwar period to the imminent opening of the 9/11 Memorial (11 W. 53rd St., nr. Sixth Ave.; 212-708-9400; 1:30 p.m.; free with museum admission; moma.org).
The Old at the Neue
Starting this Friday, the Neue Galerie will present selections from its permanent collection, which contains a trove of decorative pieces from the Vienna Secession and Bauhaus schools. Among the selections are Josef Hoffmann’s chair for the dining room of Purkersdorf Sanatorium, a Secession-era building he also designed, and an Adolf Loos Knieschwimmer-type lounge chair, an iconic design that commands thousands on the auction block (1048 Fifth Ave., at 86th St.; 212-628-6200; neuegalerie.org; $15, $10 students and seniors).
Mack Attack
If you are a collective interested in merging fashion, art, and lifestyle concepts, and you want to show off your spring 2012 collection, and you happen to have a 1990s Mack truck lying around, what do you do? Turn it into a gallery and drive it around the city, of course. Between now and October 15, the Convoluted Construct company will be driving their truck (which they’ve christened “83rd Anomaly”) around Soho, the Lower East Side, and the meatpacking district, showcasing their debut collection of men’s graphic tees evoking the imagery of Alice in Wonderland (Sa–Su, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; M–F closed; convolutedconstruct.com).
Buy a Chair, Help a Charity
Nordstrom’s new concept store Treasure & Bond is set to open this Friday in Soho, selling everything from new home goods to vintage sunglasses. Unlike their other Manhattan offshoot, Nordstrom Rack, however, the new shop will be free of company branding, and all of the proceeds will go to New York City children’s charities (350 W. Broadway, nr. Grand St.; 646-669-9049).