Good Modernist Bones at U.N. Plaza

Design editor Wendy Goodman takes you inside the city’s most exciting homes and design studios. [Design Hunting]( A visual diary by Design Editor Wendy Goodman [Good Modernist Bones]( James Spindler and John Vitale bought their U.N. Plaza apartment from the family of its original owner, who had decorated it as though it were a prewar. They opened it up. The living room. Photo: Annie Schletcher James Spindler and John Vitale had been living together in what had been Vitale’s bachelor’s pad — a Union Square loft that had a translucent wall between the shower and the kitchen and living area. They wanted more room and also thicker walls: After Vitale retired from his job as executive vice-president for merchandising at Bloomingdale’s in 2016, he took up the banjo. “Banjo is a loud instrument, and it accelerated the search, I would say,” Spindler, the executive creative director of RadicalMedia, says. Their friends, architect David Mann and his husband, Fritz Karch, lived at the U.N. Plaza, the austere side-by-side steel-and-glass towers, which opened in 1966 on the East River, and when they saw this 23rd-floor apartment, they not only bought it but hired Mann of MR Architecture & Decor, along with Brendan Sanchez and Kimberley Frederick, to renovate it. The place had been owned by one of the building’s original residents and “was a total maze” with an enclosed foyer and formal dining and living rooms. “It had an almost rococo design,” Spindler says. The bedroom, which is also home to Vitale’s banjo Photo: Annie Schletcher — Wendy Goodman [TAKE THE FULL TOUR]( Want more on design, real estate, and city life? [Subscribe now]( to save over 40% on unlimited access to Curbed and everything New York. This Week in Design 1. [‘Becoming Karl Lagerfeld’ Feels Just Like Disco-Decadent Paris Did to Me “Cinema can’t be satisfied with historical reality,” says the production designer on the Hulu series.]( 2. [What the Architect Thierry Despont Built for Himself His sprawling office in an 1899 Tribeca warehouse is for sale for $25 million.]( 3. [A Passive House in Ghent With Its Own Spring-Fed Lake The hexagonal windows and north-south layout maximize light while minimizing energy bills.]( 4. [Oh No, We Like the New MTA Lamp The OnlyNY design revives an old logo and is, unfortunately, kind of great.]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read More on Curbed]( [Sign up to get The Listings Edit](, a weekly digest of the most worth-it apartments in New York. [GET THE NEWSLETTER]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe]( | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1701 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2024, All rights reserved