Of Matter into Energy

If you saunter on by the beautiful black and gold Bryant Park Hotel at, say, 7:03pm, on your way from the office after a long day of reading, writing, and foruming, you'll see gathered outside all sorts of lovelies; dazzling fashionistas, slick muscle-bounds, and heavily made-up glamour types, doing what I suppose they do best: gathering. You might wonder what goes on inside.

I can't tell you.

I can tell you that the Bryant Park Hotel, 40 West 40th Street, combines the design elements of the 1st and 2nd place entries from Chicago's Tribune Tower competition: deco black blows a great big kiss to gothic gold. Built in 1924 for the American Radiator Company, the bronzed base features carved allegories, symbolizing the transformation of matter into energy.

I'd always wanted to take a closer look. Last week, Thomas Meyer, Public Relations Manager for Sonos, sent out an invite:

Sonos, Inc., the Santa Barbara-based CE/software company that last year brought multi-room music to the digital home with the award-winning Sonos Digital Music System, is hosting an exclusive media-only open house in New York City on Tuesday, March 28, at the Bryant Park Hotel at 40 West 40th Street...

This afternoon, John and I snuck out of the office and casually sauntered through this springtime air to the American Radiator Building for the Sonos demo.

The interior walls of the Bryant Park Hotel are colored blood red and covered in soft cushion, so that, one might imagine, warm bodies can be pushed up against them without causing awful pain. The elevators are illuminated by deep, red bulbs, to resemble a photographic dark room, or, indeed, a fiery furnace, or better yet: a boiler room.

Up on the 23rd floor, the Sonos suite was expansive and impressive, with wonderful views, fine lighting, and designer furniture. Beyond the windows and mirrors, high ceilings and long halls, several Sonos ZonePlayers were set up, and ready to be enjoyed.

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