A Budapest artist posed as an ultra-wealthy property buyer to snap photos inside 25 of New York City's most lavish penthouses.
Andi Schmied might be an architect, but she posed as a wealthy Hungarian and potential real-estate buyer to have agents show her the luxury apartments.
The result of Schmied's project is a selective and crafted window into the vistas only New York's most wealthy have access to.
Schmied, whose journey capturing the magical landscapes as part of her artist residency at Dumbo's Triangle Arts Association, told Curbed she was inspired after spotting a few buildings as tall as the Empire State after a visit to the famous landmark.
'I was very quick to realize that those buildings are all luxury residential high rises. And I started to think, I don't have too many choices — how do I get up there?' she told the outlet.
Schmied's journey capturing the magical landscapes were part of her artist residency at Dumbo's Triangle Arts Association. Northern view of the Empire State Building and western view of the Hudson River from one of the upper floor staged living rooms at Cetra Ruddy’s One Madison
'There was one agent who asked me to sit down and close my eyes — it was in the Ritz-Carlton Residences on Central Park South — and the curtains were closed, and she asked me if I like Édith Piaf. An unusual question, but I said, 'Of course,' and I asked, 'How do you know?' and she said, 'Oh, because of your European sophistication,'' she recounts about one particular exchange
Andi Schmied might be an architect, but she posed as a wealthy Hungarian and potential real-estate buyer to have agents show her the most luxurious penthouse apartments in Manhattan. This unit, facing central park, wasn't completed during her visit, with its walls and floors unfinished
Schmied then decided that pretending to be a billionaire interested in buying the properties was the sole way of having access to them. Her persona, Gabriella Schmied, was born.
To make the story believable, Schmied used the name of one of her friends - an antiquarian and a gallerist- as her husband.
'He wouldn't be able to afford those apartments but he has professional websites that somehow put him in this sphere of 'well …' she said.
Real-estate agents would casually ask Schmied questions to determine she had the means to afford the luxurious apartments such as who was the designer of her clothes and jewelry, or if she and her 'husband' had a private chef.
Schmied even came up with a fake assistant - Coco - and spent her 'entire' budget on her wardrobe that added credibility to the story.
The artist would then ask 'Can I take some pictures for my husband?' and when suspicious agents asked why she was using a film camera instead of a digital one, she replied that it was a special gift from her grandfather to 'record all the special moments in [her] life.'
Schmied, however, remained unimpressed by the all-too-similar penthouses and weary of the agents' compulsive designer name-drops. She said: 'They are all the same! I mean, really! For example, the layout of the apartments are essentially identical
