History - New York Modern
Metropolis Magazine|May 2019

The story of architectural Modernism in the city goes beyond the familiar touchstones of Lever House and the Seagram Building.

Samuel Medina
History - New York Modern

Eighty-five years on, the little white townhouse on East 48th Street (pictured, p. 64) by William Lescaze still startles. With its bright stucco and Purist volumes, it pulls the eye away from the do-nothing brownstones on one side and the noirish subMiesian tower on the other. The machined rectitude of its upper floors, telegraphed by two clumsily large spans of glass block, is offset by the freer plastic arrangement of the bottom levels. Le Corbusier’s five points are in evidence (minus the roof garden), suggesting an architecture ready to do battle. Built-in 1934 from the shell of a Civil War–era townhouse, this was the first Modernist house in New York City, and its pioneering feeling for futurity extended to its domestic conveniences. (A skeptical Lewis Mumford noted its central air-conditioning.)

It is an undeniable window into the 1930s, and into the brief moment when interwar Modernism fought for a place in conservative New York architecture. A purifying of the “Brown Decades,” Mumford’s term for postbellum aesthetics, the terra-cotta romance of the Woolworth Building, and Deco’s jazzy black-granite fantasias, it has few counterparts. Here, at the base of the Empire State Building on 34th Street, a piece of pseudo-constructivism all the worse for wear. There, on East 53rd Street, the forlorn stylings of the Museum of Modern Art’s original building. And on Park and 57th Street, the postwar Universal Pictures Building (1947), a wedding cake of ribbon windows.

This story is from the May 2019 edition of Metropolis Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the May 2019 edition of Metropolis Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM METROPOLIS MAGAZINEView All
No New Buildings
Metropolis Magazine

No New Buildings

The energy already embodied in the built environment is a precious unnatural resource. It’s time to start treating it like one.

time-read
7 mins  |
November/December 2019
The Circular Office
Metropolis Magazine

The Circular Office

Major manufacturers are exploring every avenue to close the loop on workplace furniture.

time-read
1 min  |
November/December 2019
Signs of Life
Metropolis Magazine

Signs of Life

Designers, curators, and entrepreneurs are scrambling to make sense of motherhood in a culture that’s often hostile to it.

time-read
7 mins  |
November/December 2019
Interspecies Ethic
Metropolis Magazine

Interspecies Ethic

In probing the relationship between humans and nature, two major exhibitions question the very foundations of design practice.

time-read
6 mins  |
November/December 2019
Building on Brand
Metropolis Magazine

Building on Brand

The Bauhaus turned 100 this year, and a crop of museum buildings sprang up for the celebration.

time-read
8 mins  |
November/December 2019
Building for Tomorrow, Today
Metropolis Magazine

Building for Tomorrow, Today

Radical change in the building industry is desperately needed. And it cannot happen without the building trades.

time-read
6 mins  |
November/December 2019
Strength from Within
Metropolis Magazine

Strength from Within

Maggie’s Centres, the service-focused cancer support network, eschews clinical design to arm patients in their fight for life.

time-read
5 mins  |
October 2019
Next-Level Living
Metropolis Magazine

Next-Level Living

The availability of attractive, hospitality-grade products on the market means everyday consumers can live the high life at home.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2019
Mi Casa, Su Casa
Metropolis Magazine

Mi Casa, Su Casa

Casa Perfect creates a memorable shopping experience in lavish private homes.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2019
Enter The Culinarium
Metropolis Magazine

Enter The Culinarium

AvroKO imagines the future of residential amenities—where convenience, comfort, and sustainability meet.

time-read
5 mins  |
October 2019