Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Smallest World

After spending an entire semester "mapping the world" talking about connectivity and globalization with a professor from Holland but was more present in Holland than the US via his iPhone, we believe the world is shrinking.

Except when you visit a place as remote as Shelter Island, you begin to appreciate how big the world is. Shelter Island is a quiet harbor island between the two forks out on Long Island. Its about a hundred miles east of New York City and is only accessible by ferry. The residents never built a bridge because they don't want the congestion and development that goes on out east, just south of Shelter Island in the Hampton's. So it is a very quaint relaxing landscape, not to say that quaint and relaxing doesn't also attract the high-end real estate market.

When I was biking around after a day at the beach I spotted a sign for an Open House/exhibition featuring paintings from a contemporary artist and a house designed by contemporary architects for sale. My sense of schmoozing curiosity couldn't say no, so I biked around the bend and after ladies entered in with sun dresses I followed with bathing trunks and wet hair (both equally appropriate for the Island.) The house was very sleek and contemporary. And after meeting one of the polite hosts we started a quick conversation. She said "have we met, you look familiar?" As often as I hear that in elevators and bars and respond in disappointment, I had never been more certain, there was no way I was in someone's memory all the way out here on Shelter Island.
Continuing conversation, she mentioned she received her MArch from Columbia and when I discovered she was Korean I started explaining my semester in Seoul... till she cut me off "You were on that tour of the Urban Hive and Boutique Monaco in Gangnam." [Seoul] Where to I responded perplexed "Uhh, yeah... and you were also."


House on Shelter Island for sale by architects Morris + Sato (Corcoran)

7,000 miles away... Urban Hive and Boutique Monaco