The visionaries at Pandiscio have graciously provided a color version of Bela Borsodi's portrait of Cuddle Me Condos, and I think we can all agree that One Kenmare has never looked moodier, Urban Glass House has never looked whippier, 40 Mercer has never looked floozier, and Cipriani Club has never, well, let me just say I hope my uptown wife looks half that downtown trendy and well-renovated when she's 170. Leopard print pumps!
Anyway, I also got a note from Andy Hawgood informing me that it was not he, but his brother Alex who had written the article for Pin-Up Magazine. Since I haven't had the pleasure of meeting either of the Hawgood Brothers in person, I realized I'd made the Andy/Alex mistake in my head. And that got me thinking.
I rarely get called Craig, but people who don't even know I have a brother call me Jeff all the time. Somehow, Jeff and Greg--and now, it seems, Alex and Andy--are paired up, interchangeable in peoples' heads. There's some kind of dna-level similarity beyond just a sound or structural ressemblance. It's like the names are siblings before they're ever given to siblings. Why is that?
Everyone knows families who give all their kids Bible names, or "J" names. Or twins with matching names. But what about this idea of sibling names? Is it real? Or is it just me? [And my brother Jeff, obviously.]
Previously: Cuddle Me Condos Residential Starchitecture Plush Toys
I have also noticed the Jeff/Greg connection. In fact, I know a set of twins named Geoff/Greg
Another one, for some reason, is Ben/Nick oh, and Stephanie/Jennifer
I always assumed this was post a joke, and one that went over my "provincial" head. They're also pretty ugly interpretations of the original buildings. But it would be funnier with cuddly little dolls for actual starchitects/designers, such as Philippe Starck, Karim Rashid, Philip Johnson, Neutra, Corbu, Mies, Rem Koolhaas (who incidentally also wins the award for best name for an architect), etc. Or at least bobbleheads...
[oh, they're real. Meanwhile, I've started wondering about plush toy versions of other--I was about to say "actual", ahem--architectural landmarks, but I always hear Tom Hanks' voice in my head going, "Buildings? Who'd want to play with that? They just sit there." As for Koolhaas, I'm in the market for a voodoo doll... -ed.]
By joke, I meant the plush dolls, not the name thing. I don't know about the name thing. My father has always called me by my brother's name and vice versa, but I just assumed that's a father thing.
A voodoo doll, huh? What's your beef with Koolhaas? I like his work that I've seen. The Seattle Public Library is an amazing space. I remember seeing a French documentary on architecture produced by Arte that featured a home he'd done on the outskirts of Paris (the Villa Dell'Ava in Saint-Cloud, I think). It was a great house with this incredible view of the Eiffel Tower. But that location and view annoyed Koolhaas, because he thought it was "too obvious" and that the tower competed with his work, or something like that. So he intentionally angled the house so that it didn't line up with the view. I always think of him as the architect that that Kohler commercial is modelled after.
That's really spooky that you mention Jeff/Greg. My husband's name is Jeff and people are constantly mistakenly calling him Greg. We are always wondering why. Is there a linguistics thesis in here somewhere?
[Is it because people are really working their way through just one namelist for all their kids? Are there any other name pairs/groups like this? -ed.]
well having invested a lot of my 9 mths of seriously fat time at the computer looking at babyname sites and reading baby name books.... I can assure you that there are not only multiple lists but sibling lists!
But surely you have realised that the Greg /Jeff thing is akin to a Murray/Anthony thing....can't speak for the Alex/Andy confusion but a wiggle is a Wiggle...or was a Wiggle Greg..err Sam.
Andy/Adam.
I think it's more about the sound of the name than a sibling thing.
I don't know, my sister's name is Sarah and people who have never met her, don't even know her, barely know me will mistakenly call me Sarah. It doesn't happen often, but often enough, that I wonder about it. Maybe siblings put off some sort of wierd other name vibe, too many times of my mother calling for Sar...I mean Kristen. I've never been able to figure out an explanation, but I always thought it was just us.....