Despite the iconic nature of the Manhattan skyline, there are only four places the public can see it from, even if paying: the Empire State Building, the Rockefeller Center, ONE World Trade Center, and the Edge at Hudson Yards. All other elevated views are a private privilege, only available to owners of luxury penthouses.

Posing as an apartment-hunting Hungarian billionaire, Andi Schmied accessed and documented the views of 25 of the city's most exclusive high-rise properties. Her project, Private Views: A High-Rise Panorama of Manhattan offers a glimpse into this elite world. Showcasing the surreal strategies of persuasion used by real estate agents, the exhibition book allows visitors to bypass the gatekeepers of luxury real estate, guiding them through the sunset from Trump Tower, view from the private club of the tallest residential tower on the planet, and showing samples of the most luxurious materials, such as the Siberian marble used in soaking tubs overlooking the Statue of Liberty.

The exhibition opening takes place on Thursday 7 October 2021 at 7 pm at the Brno Gallery of Architecture. The exhibition runs until 26 November 2021 and is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 2 pm to 7 pm. The publication Private Views. A High-Rise Panorama of Manhattan will be available for purchase at the gallery. The accompanying program will include a guided tour of the exhibition with the author Andi Schmied and lectures by researchers on the financialization of housing.

Andi Schmied is a Hungarian visual artist and architect. Her work focuses on places that do not follow conventional logic, yet remain part of our cityscape. These vary from areas that have deviated far from their originally planned function (Jing Jin City), utopian architectures (Noguchi Town), or spaces of privilege (Private Views). Schmied graduated from the Bartlett School of Architecture and her work has been shown in several institutions in Europa, the USA and Asia. Her book Private Views. A High-Rise Panorama of Manhattan, published by VI PER Gallery, won The Most Beautiful Czech Book of the Year 2020 in the category Art.

http://andischmied.com/

Andi Schmied: Private Views. A High-Rise Panorama of Manhattan

7. 10.–26. 11. 2021, WED–SUN 2–7 pm

exhibition opening 7. 10. 2021 at 7 pm

Brno Gallery of Architecture, Starobrněnská 18

production: Karolína Plášková

architecture: Petra Šebová

graphic design: Barbora Růžičková

translations: Filip Staněk

project support: Adéla Šoborová, Radmila Presová

supevision: Jan Kristek

This project was realized with financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Czech Architecture Foundation, Faculty of Architecture at the Brno University of Technology, Future Architecture Platform and Graham Foundation, with help from the VI PER Gallery and Trapéz Gallery.