Memories of Twenty-Third Street by Keith Godard

London-born, NYC-based designer Keith Godard created the glass mosaic mural Memories of Twenty-Third Street to show the glorious hats that famous people from the 1880s through the 1930s might have worn. Above, Polish rockstar [and chemist] Marie Skłodowska-Curie.

Happy City by Peter Sis

The multi-part installation Happy City by Peter Sis depicts the diverse ingredients found in NYC communities. Created with etched stone and glass, the mosaics include landmark buildings near the 86th St. station on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, along with whimsical people and animals.

Bethesda Terrace Arcade in Central Park

You’ve probably seen this in movies or on TV — the Bethesda Fountain is the heart of Central Park, and the subterranean arcade features a 50-ton ceiling made of encaustic tile designed by Jacob Wrey Mould and made by the famed Minton Tile Company.

Blooming by Elizabeth Murray

Blooming by Elizabeth Murray is a 120-foot long mosaic located in Manhattan’s 59th St. station mezzanine. It’s a dreamy representation of putting on one’s shoes and drinking a cup of coffee to get ready for the morning commute to work.

John Breiner Ghost Tile in Over-the-Rhine

John Breiner was born in Austria-Hungary in 1880. He was a tailor by trade. With his wife Anna and their young daughter Frances, he came to the US in 1904, settling in Over-the-Rhine. By 1915, the family was living above Breiner’s Dry Goods, their store at 126 Elder St. between Race and Elm, shown here.

Carew Tower in Downtown Cincinnati

Downtown Cincinnati’s Carew Tower was designed by W.W. Ahlschlager & Associates with Delano & Aldrich, and is an early example of an urban mixed-use development, or a “city within a city,” containing a hotel, offices and a shopping arcade.

S&W Cafeteria Building in Asheville

The old S&W Cafeteria building at 56 Patton Ave. in downtown Asheville is now an upscale restaurant called S&W Steak & Wine. In a town that seems filled with Art Deco architecture, this building is a gem, its façade covered in blue and gold geometric patterns.

Elsewhere

Vertical Panorama: The Rhine and the Birth of Tourism: map eye candy featuring the other Rhine.

Stranger Helps Emily Rauh Pulitzer Save Childhood Home: in Springfield Township, a Moderne home is saved from ruin.

Christie Blocks Tax Credit for ‘Jersey Shore’: for once, mad props to the Governor of New Jersey for his refusal to foot a “$420,000 bill for a project which does nothing more than perpetuate misconceptions about the state and its citizens.”

One Track Mind: a documentary that “chronicles an obsessive love affair — that between one man and the New York City subway system.”

No More Summers: The End of the Coney Island Mom-and-Pops: an era came to a close at the end of this summer.

Overunder Completes Astounding Tiled Piece: “Living Walls: Albany”: seriously amazing work of public art.

3′-By-4′ Plot of Green Space Rejuvenates Neighborhood: incredible news from Detroit.

The Guardian Building in Detroit

Readers, if you enjoy eye candy as much as I do, brace yourselves because the Guardian Building at 500 Griswold St. in downtown Detroit is positively overflowing with Art Deco ornamentation! Designed by Wirt C. Rowland, it opened in 1930 and is decorated with tile from both Pewabic Pottery in Detroit and Cincinnati’s own Rookwood Pottery.

2853 Tile in Cincinnati

I never tire of tile — here’s a street number in an entryway on Colerain Ave. in Camp Washington, Cincinnati. Note the triangular tile in the diagonal parts of the numbers, and the double notches in the number 8.