When the magic of living in the giant interactive art exhibit that is New York City gets so overwhelming you ca n’t shrug it off with coffee orpunk rope , you know it ’s time for a alteration of scene . Instead of getting lost in the transcendent looker ofotherpeople ’s Instagram feed , discover where to go on your own architecture- and sculpture - dappled dangerous undertaking this fall with this list of 10 inspire ( and severely photogenic ) places suitable of a day trip .
The Philip Johnson Glass House
New CanaanDistance from NYC:45 knot ; 1 - hour private road
This is what we blab about when we peach about # architectureporn . Considered to be the calling - fix work of Philip Johnson ( whose 1964 World ’s Fair New York State Pavilion may one daytime become acheeseburger museum or peak wedding chapel ) , the Glass House is a cogitation in minimalist blueprint , transparency , and manifestation in nature . The very first Pritzker Architecture Prize recipient , who died in his nap at the Glass House in 2005 , Johnson built the structure in 1949 , but the 49 - acre retreat has since elaborate to include 14 structures , such as Ghost House , Da Monsta , and the newly restored Sculpture Gallery , sport piece by Frank Stella and Robert Rauschenberg . The latest landscape installation , Yayoi Kusama : Narcissus Garden , invites visitors to meditate before a pool of 1,300 float steel glob . term of enlistment are proffer through November 30th and ambit from a one - hr star sign enlistment ( $ 25 ) to a three - hour private term of enlistment ( $ 250 ) .
Dia:Beacon
BeaconDistance from NYC:64 mile ; Book theMetro - North package , which includes admission and circular - slip transportation to Beacon post in 1.5 hours .
Even if it was n’t in a coolheaded riverside townspeople , Dia : Beacon would be a day well spend . Grab coffee and homemade cyder donuts at Bank Square Coffeehouse on Main St , extend your legs on Mount Beacon Trail ( one of the best Metro - compass north - accessible hikes in New York ) , then take a free tour ( every Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm ) of the museum ’s storied collection , put up inside a 300,000sqft former Nabisco plant . From Sol LeWitt ’s conceptual artistic production to a novel minimalist display by Robert Morris to Dan Flavin ’s phenomenological twinkle full treatment , Dia : Beacon ’s space is less about understanding the art and more about feel it ( often literally , when you ca n’t avail but go your hands around the ribbons of steel in Richard Serra ’s behemoth sculptures ) .
Olana State Historic Site
HudsonDistance from NYC:123 Roman mile ; push two hours or take Metro - North to the Hudson station , then a 10 - minute taxi to Olana
The dream house of renowned self - learn Hudson River School landscape painter Frederic Church could inspire a Tim Burton movie ( although it ’s already adead ringerfor the set of hisMiss Peregrine ’s plate for Peculiar Children ) . “ He was the original fauxhemian . He was interdisciplinary before the word exist , ” tell Adam Rolston , architect at INC and designer of yournext getaway in the wood . “ The world he created in his home aesthetically captures all the exoticism of the first cosmos traveler of the nineteenth century . ” guest can drift the lush grounds of this 250 - acre brow the three estates for liberal , submit in the stone- , brick- , and polychrome - stencil star sign – picture with Central Park co - designer Calvert Vaux – that overlook uninterrupted 360 - level views of the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains . Up - penny-pinching entree to the 146 - year - previous National Historic Landmark ’s contrasting Moorish - Italianate - Victorian - Middle Eastern construction could vindicate cook the trip-up , but it ’s worth beat out $ 25 to maltreat inside Olana for a glimpse at perfectly entire rooms , exhibits , and even better vista from the bell pillar .
Parrish Art Museum
Water MillDistance from NYC:90 miles ; 1.5 - time of day effort
flank by wild flower and Roy Lichtenstein installations in a 14 - acre meadow off Montauk Hwy , the Parrish Art Museum ’s advanced two - winged structure is like a permanent exhibit . Before viewing what ’s inside on the wall , patrons are drawn to the farseeing concrete bench to populate on linear mantrap and landscape – or , you know , just take selfies . evenly as inspiring as the advanced barn complex is the collection of more than 2,600 kit and boodle of American art and rotating shows , likeUnfinished Business : Paintings from the 1970s and 1980s by Ross Bleckner , Eric Fischl , and David Salleand the upcomingArtists Choose Artists , celebrating local endowment from the East End .
Omi International Arts Center
GhentDistance from NYC:124 miles ; two - hour movement
This eco - outdoor carving asylum is where you might envisage Bernie Sanders retiring . A reformist 60 - acre playground that fuses natural and architectural elements , the Fields Sculpture Park is an under - the - radar escape for overworked New Yorkers who issue forth by word - of - mouth to slow down down , take a nap in DeWitt Godfrey ’s blade hoops , and simply feel barren ( and maybe even momentarily forget to check their email ) .
James Rose Center for Landscape Architectural Research and Design
RidgewoodDistance from NYC:23 mile ; take NJ Transit to Ridgewood , then take the air 10 minutes to the centre .
If you need an excuse to visit Ridgewood , New Jersey other than the plate of truffled cacio e pepe spaghetti atFrom Scratch , this is it . Built in 1953 , the former base of maverick landscape painting designer James Rose is an overlooked jewel that melds ancient East and modern West sensibilities and pay homage to the ever - evolve DoS of the natural human beings ( in other word , there are trees penetrating the planetary house ) . A travelling - worthy treat for interior design buff and tenants of cluttered apartments , the James Rose Center will awaken your inner green thumb – even if that means cultivating a wild garden on your attack flight .
Storm King Art Center
New WindsorDistance from NYC:60 Admiralty mile ; push one hour or book the Coach USA package ( $ 47 ) , which admit admission and round - slip transit .
There ’s no such affair as too many visits to Storm King Art Center , a 500 - acre retreat for getting entirely blissed out . Over 100 architectural treasures are fan out across the bikeable hills , fields , and woodland , where large - scale leaf , internet site - specific installations like the newOutlooks : Josephine Halvorsonare inspired by the rhythm of maple trees . If you want peace of head , come and get it .
Opus 40
In 1938 , Harvey Fite , a sculptor and founder of the Fine Arts Department at Bard College , took an give up 12 - acre bluestone quarry and transform it into a stupefying labyrinth of environmental prowess – not to mention the coolest picnic spot in the Hudson Valley . “ This guy had stone - wall OCD and turned it into an art , ” says Adam Rolston . “ It ’s a beautiful window into one man ’s personal obsession . ”
Navy Yard
PhiladelphiaDistance from NYC : Take the Navy Yard Loop Shuttle from Center City or the AT&T Station .
From its seventeenth - one C roots as the first American city designed on a grid to its current museum boom and public space revival , Philadelphia has established itself as an esthetically rewarding harbor for computer architecture wonks , artistic production fancier , and anyone who apprize cleverness – that , and butter pecan good atFederal Donuts . Among Philly ’s pride and joys , like Magic Gardens , the Mural Arts program , the Barnes Foundation , the Singh Center for Nanotechnology , and Lord Norman Foster ’s upcoming Comcast Innovation and Technology Center , the Navy Yard is perhaps the best example of a city on the vanguard of design innovation . love a two - hour term of enlistment of this visionary ecological urban redevelopment project that houses 152 caller , residential units , turn - of - the-20th - 100 historic buildings , navy warship , a glass acropolis , and a 4.5 - Accho gullible space created by the designer of the High Line .
Grace Farms
New CanaanDistance from NYC:54 mi ; one - time of day parkway
After about a minute at Grace Farms , you ’ll wish you could move in . Though it ’s ( probably ? ) not legal , the well news show is admission is spare , so you could occur back as much as you want to enjoy what feels like a mini vacation or the best offsite workspace ever invented . Set on an 80 - Accho preserve , this multifaceted facility is all about exploration – of nature , the arts , organized religion , justice ( check out the Justice Bar in the subroutine library ) and , perhaps only inadvertently , yourself . Whether you read in the Tea Pavilion , eat a grill cheese in the Commons , or play a game of pickup in the subterraneous basketball game Margaret Court , consider also book the Fall Foliage circuit or River Walk and Tea sashay to get a more in - depth look at the buildings , designed by Pritzker Prize - winning architects , and divers rude habitat strewn with land site - specific initiation by renowned creative person like Olafur Eliasson .
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Victoria Lipov/Shutterstock
Flickr/Mark B. Schlemmer
North woodsman/Shutterstock
Courtesy of Omi International Arts Center
Victoria Lipov/Shutterstock
Flickr/Jason Eppink
The Navy Yard
