Features

Assignment: Libeskind

Designing a loft for the ground-zero master planner and his wife, Nina, sounds like a terrifying prospect. A conversation between Daniel Libeskind and architect Alexander Gorlin.

Beyond the Pale

The dirty details behind the creation of an immaculate all-white 52nd-floor penthouse

Towering Ambition

How to wrest a water tower from the co-op board—and then renovate it without wrecking it

A Question of Taste

Can an architect prevent his client from redoing an East Village basement in leopard print and fur?

The Diplomats

Peter Marino taught Enrico Bonetti and Dominic Kozerski how to handle high-end clients like Donna Karan. Their new project: David Barton’s fantasy re-creation of the 23rd Street Y.

Transformer

The pleasures and perils of designing furniture for Lou Reed

Dean of Decorators

Albert Hadley offers advice to young designers (no more “beige rooms”)—and looks back at his own career

A Garde in the Making

Ten other young designers who are making their mark

Departments

Letters to the Editor

Readers sound off on the Atkins diet, Martha Stewart and Tom Ford's fashion legacy.

Smart City

Decadent Flower

Softening our urban environment with flowers

Best Bets

Homemade flower pins, rare-skin totes by Rafe, and a Kate Spade Barbie doll

Plus: This week's sale listings

Deal of the Week

Farberware pots and pans

Shoptalk

Going green at the New York Botanical Garden.

Ask New York

I’m an avid flea-market bargain hunter, but I can barely afford to refurbish my finds. (I paid $265 to redo a $30 chair last week!) Where can I learn to do it myself?

Test Drive

Body scrubs at the city’s top salons

Travel

Making the scene in Miami

Intelligencer

Intelligencer Gossip

Diane von Furstenberg, Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin, Barry Sonnenfeld, Tina Brown, Liesel Pritzker, Madonna

Juror Deliberations

Legal experts weigh in on the Tyco trial’s infamous obstructionist, Juror No. 4.

Blackberry Sabbath

Handheld-gadget addicts are told to give it a rest.

General Hospital

After two deaths, a hospital says plastic surgery now requires general anesthesia.

Skirt Chaser

The pencil skirt is fall’s fashion must-have. Get yours this month at Bloomingdale’s.

Big Question

With a new CD to promote, how can Janet Jackson top her last publicity stunt?

Columnists

The City Politic

Iron Mike: Mayor Bloomberg’s inner Rudy busts out

Cityside

Al Franken’s Air America: Is liberal comedy still an oxymoron?

Naked City

When your dating life goes into a slump, hire yourself a coach

Real Estate

New Paltz’s gay-marriage moment brings out the same-sex house-hunters

Critics

Movies

In Kim Ki-duk’s searing Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter . . . and Spring, the flesh is willing and the spirit is weak

Art

An artist who used the detritus of the times to chart an age

Theater

Sly Fox returns, along with a resplendent Barbara Cook

Classical Music

An operatic flop from the sixties refuses to improve with age

Pop Music

Janet Jackson: Do ya think she’s sexy? Usher and LCD Soundsystem just say “Yeah.”

Restaurants

Jonathan Waxman heads west again, but only to Washington Street

The Week

Restaurant Openings & Buzz

This week's openings include: Evviva, Mas, Itzocan Bistro and Barbes. Plus, Gael reveals her diet-busting indulgences.

New on DVD

New on DVD this week: The Matrix Revolutions, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Cheaper by the Dozen, Charade and more.

Spring Break Museum Ideas

Five child-friendly shows to keep kids learning while school is out