New York in the frame

New York in the frame

Seven one-off spectacle frames designed with an admiration for New York’s places and faces. From the Mudd Club to Studio 54, the Flatiron to the Guggenheim. Handmade in the Cubitts King’s Cross workshop.

Written by

Henry Whaley

#Articles

The Mudd Club

A neo-expressionist ode to the Mudd Club, antidote to the glamour of Studio 54 and second home to Lower Manhattan’s underground scene during the turn of the 1980s. Based on the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, who called the club a second home during its brief heyday. With details taken from his paintings: a contrasting colour palette in hand laminated acetate, sharp expressive edges, and folding inner temple 'eyes'.⁠

Outside the Mudd Club in 1979, photographed by Bob Gruen

The Guggenheim

Had history turned out a little differently, we might have had a pink Guggenheim. Frank Lloyd Wright's early plans had the building bathed in a vibrant Barbie shade.⁠
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Instead, we'll have to make do with this spectacle frame. Organic forms and curved lines. A front layered with heavily softened ‘inflated’ style acetate, a bridge gap recreating the museum's distinctive grooves, and thick paddle temples.⁠

The Flatiron

On completion in 1902, the Flatiron was the tallest building in New York, and opinions were split between 'architectural innovation' and 'sore thumb'.⁠
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Constructed in the short-lived 'Beaux Arts' style, it was conceived as a vertical Renaissance palazzo, with ornate terracotta and limestone detailing, classical columns, and a lot of windows.⁠
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Though it was officially christened the 'Fuller Building', the local nickname better captured the skyscraper's characteristic wedge shape. This was an innovative response to the tricky triangular plot of land on which Burnham had to build, but critics nonetheless considered the building 'a monstrosity' and 'a stingy piece of pie.'⁠
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The spectacle frame features large lenses and temple windows, engraved acetate 'brickwork', and temple tip ornamentation, in a Chestnut acetate that mimics the way the terracotta catches the light.⁠

The Flatiron's intricate terracotta tiling, a product of the short-live Beaux-Arts style

The Breuer Building

In the mid 1960s, Marcel Breuer constructed a building to house the Whitney Museum of American Art, on the corner of Madison Avenue and 75th Street.⁠
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In a neighbourhood defined by limestone, brownstone and brick, loomed over from afar by Manhattan’s new hypermodern towers of glass and steel, Breuer’s building is a statement in concrete.⁠
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Called ‘an inverted Babylonian ziggurat’ by one critic at the time, the building is defined by its top-heavy stepped construction, sharp edges, and granite exterior.⁠
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Concrete and granite are tricky materials for spectacle design, so this homage to Breuer is constructed of 8mm thick laminated acetate instead. Angular, with deep chamfered edges, sharp corners, and geometric ‘window’ lenses.⁠

Radio City Music Hall

On the opening performance at New York's Radio City Music Hall in 1933, one reviewer wrote: 'it needs no performers; its beauty and comforts alone are sufficient to gratify the greediest of playgoers.'⁠
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This pair of spectacles recreates the bright lights of ‘The Showplace of the Nation’, an Art Deco silhouette with multiple concentric acetate laminations referencing the sunrise stage and bright façade. Adorned with laser-engraved Cubitts ‘neon’ signage, and gradient lenses with a soft rosy glow.⁠

'It needs no performers; its beauty and comforts alone are sufficient to gratify the greediest of playgoers.'⁠

Bemelmans Bar

An ornate take on the bar in the Carlyle Hotel, where Ludwig Bemelmans exchanged murals for a year and a half’s accommodation. A bold cat-eye celebrating the bar’s Art Deco and illustrative motifs, with laminated acetate combinations drawn from the velvet furnishings and cut crystal glassware.

Inside the bar, with Ludwig Bemelmans' illustrations adorning the walls

Studio 54

A response to the glitz and the dark glamour of Studio 54, in a frame that would have shone on its dance floor. Black layered lamination with white recessed details, metallic lenses and Cubitts rivets in shining gold, and a laser-engraved club sign.

Bemelmans Bar