This Sutton Place Building Is Now A Mid-Century Modern Landmark
Patch
Peter Senzamici - December 20, 2023
SUTTON PLACE, NY — A "striking" Sutton Place building that is a "living example" of a storied architect's "genius" is now a protected city landmark.
The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission members unanimously voted Tuesday to give an individual landmark designation to the Modulightor Building, designed by architectural superstar, Paul Rudolph.
At 246 East 58th St. near Second Avenue, the Modulightor Building was designed by Rudolph in 1989, built in 1993 just four year before his death and features a striking facade filled with intersecting vertical and horizontal lines, forming a jigsaw-like experience.
The commission calls the building a "highly significant late work" by Rudolph. The name "Modulightor" comes from the architectural lighting company he founded in 1976, the commision writes.
Rudolph, a leading figure in American architecture who served as the Dean of the Yale School of Architecture for several years, has two other landmarked buildings on the east side: The Paul Rudolph Penthouse & Apartments at 23 Beekman Place, and the building referred to as the “Halston House,” named after the famous designer who lived and partied there for 15 years, at 101 East 63rd St., on the Upper East Side.
It was at the Beekman Place apartment that Rudolph hoped would "become a study and resource center for the architectural community," said Ernst Wagner, executor of Paul Rudolph's Estate. "When that didn't happen, I promised him that I'd use the Modulightor building to fulfill his wish and then created the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture.
During the initial phase of the construction, Rudolph moved his office to the building and became his own contractor, the commission said, while the lower floors operated as a lighting showroom by his partner, Wagner.
In 2016, the building was officially completed with the addition of two floors and a roof deck based on Rudolph's original drawings housed in the Library of Congress.
City landmarks commissioners took notice of the building this year as an example of modern architecture. The Modulightor building was landmarked along with the The Barkin, Levin & Company Office Pavilion in Astoria, officials said.
"It is fitting that the Modulightor building – designed by and dedicated to Paul Rudolph – will be preserved as a living example of his genius," said Wagner. "Thank you to the Landmarks Preservation Commission for ensuring future generations will get to experience and learn from his work."