THE KARIM SHOW, ASIA EDITION
In case you haven’t heard, we’re big in Malaysia. That’s right. Last month, we were in Malaysia, being big. Our face appeared on billboards. Fans lined up for our autograph. We kid you not; this really happened. You see, we were asked to speak at the inaugural MIDI Convention in Kuala Lumpur anddbesides giving us a big head, of courseeit was a chance to marvel at our fellow invitee, Karim Rashid. Why Karim Rashid? Because, in a funny way, we like him. Because he’s also big. And there he was, in all his white-on-white, pink-on-pink, phantasma-glory. He informed us that he and brother Hani Rashid aren’t speakinggsomething to do with sibling rivalry. He railed against style, promoted paring things down, and then demanded a bigger, fancier hotel room for himself. He said he’d had enough of signing autographs but, at a party just an hour or two later, couldn’t help scrawling his nameein permanent markerrall over the stainless steel serving trays. (Organizers were not happy.) Rashid is a man of contradictions, truly a prophet of the future, we thought, as he started busting moves on the dance floor like it was 1999.

MEIER’S PIANO LESSON
We recently got to find out how Richard Meier really feels about Renzo Piano‘s new addition to Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, the breakthrough building that Meier completed in 1983. I haven’t been [to Piano’s addition] yet, so I have to withhold any comment,, Meier told us during an interview for a forthcoming issue of Whitewall, the snazzy new art magazine. But was he disappointed that the commission didn’t go to him? Yes, I was,, he said unhesitatingly, adding that [The museum] felt that if I did it, it would somehowwThey wanted someone new.. So the decision to hire Piano was based as much on marketing as architecture? Oh yes,, Meier said.

SEX AND THE ICKY
Which flashy New York architecture firm is a sexual harassment suit waiting to happen? Exhibit A: Homosexual male principal. He’s a likable fellowwexcept, it seems, when he’s terrorizing an entire generation of cute young things with his predatory behavior and unsolicited late-night booty calls. It was sort of creepy,, says one victim, who confesses to being a past conquest of our hardy horndog. Why was this man calling me at all hours?? And what of his poor interns?! We’re told the interview process for one especially strapping Danish candidate included a background check to determine the direction in which the, um, Nordic winds blew. Turns out it was the wrong one, but no matter: We hear our Lothario had better luck getting into the pants of another, less fortunate assistant. Exhibit B: Graying senior designer, heterosexual male. When this dirty old man isn’t grossing out female co-workers by discussing the goings-on in their nether regions, we’re told he can be found inducting new office internssthose poor interns!!with visits to a nudie bar. Exhibit C: Female principal, heterosexual (allegedly). Upon entering an elevator with a male client, who asked if they were going down,, we’re told her groaning response was I LOOOVE going down.. Control yourselves, people!
LET SLIP: achen@archpaper.com