Welcome to the Archives of The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture. The purpose of this online collection is to function as a tool for scholars, students, architects, preservationists, journalists and other interested parties. The archive consists of photographs, slides, articles and publications from Rudolph’s lifetime; physical drawings and models; personal photos and memorabilia; and contemporary photographs and articles.

Some of the materials are in the public domain, some are offered under Creative Commons, and some are owned by others, including the Paul Rudolph Estate. Please speak with a representative of The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture before using any drawings or photos in the Archives. In all cases, the researcher shall determine how to appropriately publish or otherwise distribute the materials found in this collection, while maintaining appropriate protection of the applicable intellectual property rights.

In his will, Paul Rudolph gave his Architectural Archives (including drawings, plans, renderings, blueprints, models and other materials prepared in connection with his professional practice of architecture) to the Library of Congress Trust Fund following his death in 1997. A Stipulation of Settlement, signed on June 6, 2001 between the Paul Rudolph Estate and the Library of Congress Trust Fund, resulted in the transfer of those items to the Library of Congress among the Architectural Archives, that the Library of Congress determined suitable for its collections. The intellectual property rights of items transferred to the Library of Congress are in the public domain. The usage of the Paul M. Rudolph Archive at the Library of Congress and any intellectual property rights are governed by the Library of Congress Rights and Permissions.

However, the Library of Congress has not received the entirety of the Paul Rudolph architectural works, and therefore ownership and intellectual property rights of any materials that were not selected by the Library of Congress may not be in the public domain and may belong to the Paul Rudolph Estate.

LOCATION
Address: Avenue of the Americas, Flushing Meadows Corona Park
City: Flushing
State: New York
Zip Code: 11354
Nation: United States

STATUS
Type: Exhibition
Status: Project

TECHNICAL DATA
Date(s): 1960
Site Area:
Floor Area:
Height: 70’-0” (21.3 m) low point; 160’-0” (48.8 m) high point
Floors (Above Ground):
Building Cost: $4,000,000 USD (estimated)

PROFESSIONAL TEAM
Client: Portland Cement Association
Architect: Paul Rudolph
Associate Architect:
Landscape:
Structural:
MEP:
QS/PM:

SUPPLIERS
Contractor:
Subcontractor(s):

Proposed Theme Center for the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair - the "Galaxon"

The design is for the 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair. It is to serve as the centerpiece of the fairgrounds and as a visual logo for fair publicity, similar to the Trylon and Perisphere of the 1939 World’s Fair which were once standing in the same location.
Rudolph’s design is prepared for the Portland Cement Association and features a giant 160-foot high 340-foot in diameter, saucer-shaped concrete structure with stations for star viewing and tilted at an 18-degree angle to offer an optimum view of the heavens held up by two curved walls rising from a circular lagoon. Visitors are lifted to the center of the “saucer” by escalators and elevators inside the curved supporting walls. From the central ring they would walk outward over curved ramps to a constantly moving sidewalk on the disc’s outside perimeter. A stage is projected from one of its two supporting walls and a restaurant, planetary viewing station and other educational or recreational features can be located at points along the top surface to make it an entertainment center.
The P.C.A. calls it “a dramatic and imaginative design in concrete.” in the July 1961 edition of the Architectural Record.
The Galaxon is among several designs displayed at an exhibition in New York of the use of concrete in so-called “visionary” architecture.
Moses's views on an appropriate central symbol are set forth in an August 21, 1960 memo to his assistant, Stuart Constable. The memo states in part, “It gets down to these alternatives:
- A. Pure abstraction. Absolutely nothing doing. Toss it out.
- B. Understandable abstraction symbolizing theme, with some significance or meaning for the average person.
Moses rejects Rudolph’s design and the ‘Unisphere’ - a spherical stainless steel representation of the Earth designed by Gilmore D. Clarke in association with the engineers of Peter Muller-Munk Associates and the American Bridge Company - is built in its place.