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A lot of what I do requires taking a chance, going out on a limb as it were. The safe place would be to stay firmly on the ground, protected and sure of each next step. But the view from there offers little in the way of inspiration. And so I climb, far from any comfort zone, and head out to the edges of where acceptable and unacceptable meet. Salable and unsalable. Heavy and hernia causing. This is where you’ll find me. Gazing all around and taking some time to enjoy.

Warren Platner designed Windows on the World. As well as the furnishings in the iconic restaurant. And I’m pretty sure that I have the tri-fold mirror from the golden reception room. Proving that the mirror in my home is a surviving example of Platner’s design for the renowned restaurant will take a little digging. As well as going out on a limb or two and asking others to do the same for me. But if you ask me, it’s pretty bananas that I even have it. “Though much of his work adhered to a rigid modular grid, he also had a flashy side, one that bubbled up in his use of brass and mirrors in the 1960s (that’s the fern bar aesthetic) and reached its apotheosis at Windows on the World, the restaurant and club that opened in 1976 at the top of the New York City World Trade Center’s North Tower.” - Alexandra Lange The Opulent Modernism of Warren Platner.

Bananas
I really love that term. That fruit. That image the word creates in your head when someone says “Yo, that’s bananas!”. And so here I am. Eating a banana. Checking my reflection (last week’s email was all about reflecting). And thinking to myself, wondering just how I’m gonna be able to get others to go out on that limb with me. My daughters are always up for the challenge and so when it came time to move the central piece of the mirror down a flight of stairs and into our home, I knew they were the ones to ask. I won’t lie, there were a couple moments when I questioned my thought pattern. But I knew their grips would win out. Grips strengthened through their daily practice and training in Jiu-Jitsu. (Yeah, you already know it’s called a monkey grip). And so the three of us carried the mirror into our home. Collapsing onto the sofa just after setting it up and congratulating our fortitude. Now to walk out a bit further on that limb.

Because I still need to prove that this is the mirror designed by Platner that was installed in Windows on the World in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. A piece of history. Design history. New York history. World history. Our history. I’ve reached out to Knoll as well as the School of Visual Arts, the Nestle Library at Cornell and a few deep dives online. While I’m waiting for the experts to weigh in, I’ll stay perched out on this limb enjoying the view and a few bananas. ❤️ hkv