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News

Valentino in Architectural Record

New York City's ever-changing landscape is particularly fast-paced when it comes to retail shops. Where once a fancy facade of columns, capitals, and cornices heralded Takashimaya New York on Fifth Avenue between 54th and 55th streets, a discreetly linear, glass-and-steel facade signals the new Valentino flagship store. When the high-end Japanese emporium closed in 2010, the original facade, with black granite engaged columns, paired red granite colonnettes, and bowed windows, already looked out of fashion. While you can still catch a glimpse of the upper floors of the 21-story tower designed by John Burgee Architects in 1993 (two years after Burgee and Philip Johnson had dissolved their partnership), its eight-story base now reflects the austerely modern approach of David Chipperfield Architects. (Few have lamented the loss of Burgee's flourishes: no DocoPomo conservation group has sprung up in the tracks of Docomomo.)

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