popturf

pop culture locations from movies, music, tv & more...

studio 54

from disco posted in music by corporate_sunshine

In 1977, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager transformed a theater in midtown Manhattan into a nightclub. The club was called Studio 54, and the rise of disco music, use of drugs, and open nature of sexuality at the location helped it become the preeminent den of iniquity that it is so fondly remembered for.

It was a natural meeting place for artists and celebrities, and the interior was constantly changed to match the theatrical setting. The doorman was instructed to "cast a play" among the people clamoring to get in so that "nobodies" could party with celebrities.

The club closed in 1980, with Schrager and Rubell sentenced to 13 months in prison for tax evasion. There is now a bar called Studio 54 in Las Vegas, where everything is fresh and original.

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fuller dome home

from buckminster fuller posted in art and design by nevereatshreddedwheat

While Buckminster Fuller was teaching at Southern Illinois University Carbondale from 1959 to 1970 he lived in this thirty-nine foot white plywood dome on the corner of South Forest Street and West Cherry Street, the only geodesic dome that he ever lived in and owned. It is currently (as of 2012) undergoing a complete restoration.

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union tank car dome

from buckminster fuller posted in art and design by nevereatshreddedwheat

This site in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is the location of another early geodesic dome designed and constructed by Buckminster Fuller. The dome was used to cover a unique turntable-like system that the Union Tank Car Company had developed to service multiple railway cars. When it was completed in 1958, it was the world's largest clear-span (meaning no columns) structure until a larger geodesic dome was built to house Howard Hughes's Spruce Goose in Long Beach, California in 1982.

When railway cars increased in length from 50 feet to 60 feet in the 1960s, the cars would no longer fit, and the dome became obsolete. The rail yard, including the dome, was sold to Kansas City Southern Railway in 1990 and the dome remained vacant. In 2007, one year before the dome would be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, Kansas City Southern had the building demolished.

Watch a documentary about the Union Tank Car Dome.

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etta james’ deathplace

from etta james posted in music by prof_improbable

Etta James (a.k.a Jamesetta Hawkins, a.k.a. Miss Peaches, a.k.a. The he Matriarch of R&B) died of complications related to leukemia at the Riverside Community Hospital on January 20, 2012. She had been diagnosed with the disease in early 2011.

Etta James had received numerous awards throughout her career, including six Grammy Awards, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1993), the Rockabilly Hall of Fame (2001), and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2003).

Etta James was 73 years old when she died.

The Obamas slow-danced to James' signature song, "At Last," during one of their inaugural balls on January 21, 2009.

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andy warhol’s last residence

from andy warhol posted in art and design by pete_nice

Andy Warhol lived at 57 E. 66th Street from 1974 until his death in 1987.

Warhol purchased the 8,000-sq-ft home for $310,000 in 1974. He hired decorator Jed Johnson, and together they merged their tastes in art deco with primitive contemporary paintings as well as religious emblems.

Warhol lived comfortably here with his pet Dachshunds and Johnson, a constant stream of commissioned work and portraits continuing his profitable career. His main outings would be to Studio 54 to go clubbing, the Plaza Hotel to eat, and Bloomingdale's to shop.

This period saw the production of The Andy Warhol Time Capsules, where he would collect and categorize trinkets from his daily life.

There is now a plaque on the front placed by the Historic Landmark Preservation Center honoring the artist, and the last value for the home (as of three years ago) was $35 million.

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