Circle, Square, Triangle: Two Exhibitions of the Work of Late Architect Myron Goldfinger Opening on September 19th and 20th, 2024

Myron Goldfinger. Photo © David Michael Kennedy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York (August 29, 2024) – Two concurrent exhibitions celebrating the work of the late architect Myron Goldfinger will open on September 19 and 20, 2024. Circle, Square, Triangle: Houses I Never Lived In. The Residential Work of Myron Goldfinger 1963-2008 at The Paul Rudolph Institute For Modern Architecture (PRIMA) will be on view and Circle, Square, Triangle: A World I wanted to Live In. The Public and Unbuilt Work of Myron Goldfinger 1963-2008 will be shown at the Mitchell Algus Gallery.

The two interconnected exhibitions offer complementary studies of Goldfinger’s work, exploring his built residential projects and his unbuilt and community architecture. Both exhibitions consist of original material uncovered during the Paul Rudolph Institute’s process of archiving and indexing Goldfinger’s estate, much of which has never been seen.

The Myron and June Goldfinger Residence, designed by Myron Goldfinger in 1969 for Waccabuc, New York. This original drawing and others will be on view at the Paul Rudolph Institute. © The Estate of Myron Goldfinger.

At PRIMA, there will be multimedia studies outlining the designs for several houses, including contemporary and historical models, a range of original drawings, from conception to construction – either graphite on vellum or ink on mylar - and original photographic prints by Norman McGrath. Projects include the Goldfinger Residence in Waccabuc, New York designed in 1969; the Zack Residence in Sands Point, New York designed in 1977; and the 1975 design for Roberta Flack’s apartment at the Dakota building in New York City. The Mitchell Algus Gallery will explore unbuilt projects that Goldfinger designed including several for New York City, providing a local context for the exhibition. This includes a housing proposal for Roosevelt Island designed in 1975 and a proposal for the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza from 1970. Again, a collection of renderings and models outline the design process.

Roosevelt Island Housing Proposal, an unbuilt project designed by Myron Goldfinger in 1975 for New York City. © The Estate of Myron Goldfinger.

The curation of Circle, Square, Triangle sets out to demonstrate Goldfinger’s characteristic and distinctive approach to architecture, which is embedded in the title itself. The phrase “Circle, Square, Triangle” originates from Goldfinger’s own words—he considered these three basic shapes to be the heart of his design, shapes he would transform and assemble into dramatic volumes. His playfulness with geometry led to spectacular interior and exterior architectural features in his work, such as soaring ceilings and gravity-defying cantilevers. Goldfinger insisted that “the fashion of the moment is so temporary. Only the timeless basic geometry repeats in time”. His work was both deeply intuitive while also conveying a clarity of vision. With its clean lines and careful volumetric assemblage, it was honest and direct, described best by Goldfinger himself as ‘ordered simplicity’.

Born in 1933, Goldfinger grew up in Atlantic City. He studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, under Louis Kahn and Paul Rudolph, who informed his approach to geometry, spatial hierarchy and material expression. Goldfinger worked for Karl Linn, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Philip Johnson before establishing his own practice in 1966. That same year, he married interior designer June Matkovic, who designed the interiors for his buildings. Goldfinger also began teaching at the Pratt Institute from 1966 to 1976. He designed residences around the world, focusing particularly on the North-East, including Connecticut, Long Island, and New Jersey. These buildings reflect Goldfinger’s sustained interest in stark geometric forms juxtaposed with the exuberance of 1970s and 1980s interiors with oversized plants, expansive mirrored walls, textured carpeting and abstract art. In his monograph, Myron Goldfinger: Architect (1992), he wrote “I am always building the houses I never lived in as a boy.” Goldfinger was also interested in community architecture, as demonstrated in his first book, Villages in the Sun: Mediterranean Community Architecture (1969, reprinted 1993). Here, he voiced his belief that community architecture “is a place for human experience, a rich variety of forms and spaces in which to live, a structural framework which permits the expression of the individual, and the participation of all.”

“The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture’s collaboration with the Myron Goldfinger Estate began as an effort to digitize the archive of this important Modernist architect,” said Kelvin Dickinson, President of PRIMA.  “This show is composed of a fraction of the incredible drawings produced during his lifetime. We hope the preservation of his built work is a direct result of a renewed appreciation brought about by showing it to the public.”

June Goldfinger, Myron’s wife, stated, “there is a joy in his work. The volumes Myron so intuitively created – with just a scribble of graphite on paper – complex, soaring, volumetric spaces with his command and love of the simplicity of juxtaposing geometric forms. He will always be remembered as a monumental Modernist. I worked with Myron on the interiors and was in awe of the beauty of the architecture. He designed a landscape for living, always letting the architecture dictate the interior solutions.”

Exhibition details for Circle, Square, Triangle: Houses I Never Lived In. The Residential Work of Myron Goldfinger 1963-2008

Opening reception: Thursday September 19, 2024, 5-8 PM

Hours: Tuesday-Wednesday: 1-4 PM, Thursday: 1-7 PM, Friday-Saturday: 1-4 PM; and by appointment other days/times.

Location: The Paul Rudolph Institute For Modern Architecture, The Modulightor Building, 246 East 58th Street, New York, NY 10022. The exhibition space is elevator accessible.

Exhibition details for the Mitchell Algus Gallery Show: Circle, Square, Triangle: A World I wanted to Live In. The Public and Unbuilt Work of Myron Goldfinger 1963-2008

Opening reception: Friday September 20, 2024, 5-8 PM

Hours: Thursday-Saturday, 2-5 PM and by appointment

Location: The Mitchell Algus Gallery, 132 Delancey Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10002.

The exhibition space is not ADA accessible.

About the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture

The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture is a New York City-based non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to educating the public about modern architecture and the need to preserve it.  Through preservation and advocacy efforts, educational programs, public events and maintaining and developing an archive of written and graphic materials, the Institute promotes the legacy of modernist architects in a larger architectural and cultural context to interested students, journalists, scholars, and the general public.

For more information about the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture, visit www.paulrudolph.institute and find them on Threads, TikTok, Twitter (X), Facebook and Instagram @PaulRudolphInst

About the Mitchell Algus Gallery

The Mitchell Algus Gallery was founded in 1992 on Thompson Street in SoHo by Mitchell Algus, a former public-school teacher who grew up in Brooklyn and Long Island. After gaining a reputation for exhibiting artwork by then little-known artists such as Lee Lozano, Barkley Hendricks and Judith Bernstein, he relocated to a new space off Delancey Street in the Lower East Side in 2010. Algus, who wants each show to feel like a discovery, is committed to showing work he considers neglected. During the pandemic Algus discovered the work of architect Myron Goldfinger following an interest in local overlooked post-war architecture.

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Press Contact

Kate Robertson, Susan Grant Lewin Associates: kate@susangrantlewin.com

Celebrating EZRA STOLLER

The famous architectural photographer (with his famous subject) himself gets photographed: During the 1963 New Haven session, during which Ezra Stoller made his iconic photographs of Paul Rudolph and his Yale Art & Architecture Building, Judith York Newman captured the two of them in action.

We celebrate the 106th Birthday of EZRA STOLLER (May 15, 1915 – October 29, 2004) — one of America’s greatest architectural photographers.

Anybody who has tried to capture a good image of a building (or architectural interior or detail) will know that there is no such thing as a purely objective photograph. Instead: the photographer makes significant decisions about composition, lighting, depth-of-focus, proportion, distance, contrast, framing, and other factors. Both the architect and the photographer have to deal with practical requirements but, no less than with the architect, the result of the photographer’s efforts is an artistic work: one which can be both expressive and meaningful.

What photographer operated at the highest level of this simultaneously practical and artistic discipline? When one thinks of architectural photography in America, the name—or rather: the images—of Ezra Stoller are what probably first come-to-mind. For decades, Stoller photographed many of the 20th Century’s most significant new buildings in the US and thereby created an extensive archive of the achievements of Modern American architecture. More than that, Stoller’s views are some of the most iconic images of that era of design, or of particular buildings.

EZRA STOLLER AND PAUL RUDOLPH:

Of the several photographers that Rudolph worked with, Ezra Stoller is likely the one with which he had the most involvement and lasting relationship. Stoller photographed much of his residential work in Florida—including some of Rudolph’s greatest and most innovative houses like the Milam Residence (as seen on the cover of Domin and King’s book on the Florida phase of Rudolph’s career (see image at right), the Walker Guest House, the Umbrella House, and the Healy “Cocoon” House. He also captured the Yale Art & Architecture Building (see below), Sarasota Senior High School, the Temple Street Parking Garage, Endo Labs, the UMass Dartmouth campus, the Tuskegee Chapel, the Hirsch (later: “Halston”) Townhouse in New York City , the Wallace House, Riverview High School , the Sanderling Beach Club, and numerous others—including the Burroughs Wellcome US headquarters and research center.

Ezra Stoller took a series of photographs of Paul Rudolph’s Yale Art & Architecture Building (now rededicated as Rudolph Hall)—including the above portrait of Rudolph with the building in the background. Decades later, Stoller issued a set of monographs on key works of Modern architecture—his “Building Blocks” series—and the Yale building was selected to be one of the structures upon which the books focused (see image at right.) One of Stoller’s photos of the building—taken when it was freshly finished, in 1963—was to become an iconic image, and was used on the cover of the book.

STOLLER: ON-EXHIBIT, IN-PRINT, AND ON-VIEW

EXHIBITIONS:

Ezra Stoller’s work was exhibited numerous times: we know of at least ten solo exhibitions (listed here)—and the countless times when his photographs were included as parts of other exhibits, around-the-world (including in major museums).

BOOKS:

His photographs are in magazines and journals, as well as books that cover architecture (and, significantly, they’re in the monographs of individual architects—including Paul Rudolph). Several books have been published which focus exclusively on Ezra Stoller’s work, from “Ezra Stoller: Photographs of Architecture” (1980) -to- “Modern Architecture: Photographs by Ezra Stoller” (1999). The latter’s cover features a stark photograph in color—and that illustrates an important point: although Stoller is most well-known for his work in black & white photography, he could also create striking images in full color.

More recently, his work has been collected into extensive, large-format monographs—which allow one to comprehend and appreciate his full career: “Ezra Stoller, Photographer” (2012); and “Ezra Stoller: A Photographic History of Modern American Architecture” (2019). At 288 and 416 pages, respectively, these two volumes offer comprehensive views of Stoller’s oeuvre—and of the Modern era, subjects, and architects upon which he was focused.

EZRA STOLLER — TODAY:

A screen capture from the ESTO website, of the page focusing on Ezra Stoller. It includes a portrait of the famous photographer himself, as one of his iconic images of a building by Louis Kahn: the Salk Institute.

ESTO, the organization founded by Ezra Stoller, continues to operate, and is now directed by his daughter, Erica Stoller. It provides access to their extensive photographic archive: a treasury of images of unique importance to the history and understanding of Modern architecture, and which documents the work of key architects of the 20th Century.

Within that archive are images of compelling photographic power. One can see its holdings via the Esto Stock collection here—and an indication of the depth its holdings can be judged by the fact that it includes nearly 800 photographs of Paul Rudolph’s work; as well as the work of Wright, Saarinen, SOM, Breuer, Meier, Kahn, Aalto, Johnson, Warnecke, Mies, and numerous others.

ESTO also continues to be the home of a group of professional. design-focused photographers who work in Stoller’s tradition of clarity, expressive imagery, and compelling vision—whether capturing a building complex, a set of interiors, or singular objects. At their website, one can can see these photographers’ portfolios.

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IMAGE CREDITS

NOTES:

The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation gratefully thanks all the individuals and organizations whose images are used in this non-profit scholarly and educational project.

The credits are shown when known to us, and are to the best of our knowledge, but the origin and connected rights of many images (especially vintage photos and other vintage materials) are often difficult determine. In all cases the materials are used in-good faith, and in fair use, in our non-profit, scholarly, and educational efforts. If any use, credits, or rights need to be amended or changed, please let us know.

When/If Wikimedia Commons links are provided, they are linked to the information page for that particular image. Information about the rights for the use of each of those images, as well as technical information on the images, can be found on those individual pages.

CREDITS, FROM TOP-TO-BOTTOM, AND LEFT-TO-RIGHT:

Ezra Stoller photographing Paul Rudolph: photo by Judith York Newman, © The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation; Cover of “Paul Rudolph: The Florida Houses”: from the Amazon page for that book; Photo portrait of Paul Rudolph, with the Yale Art & Architecture Building in the background: photograph by Ezra Stoller;  Cover of “The Yale Art + Architecture Building”: from the Amazon page for that book;  Cover of “Ezra Stoller: Photographs of Architecture”: from the Amazon page for that book;  Cover of “Modern Architecture: Photographs by Ezra Stoller”: from the Amazon page for that book;  Cover of “Ezra Stoller, Photographer”: from the Amazon page for that book;  Cover of “Ezra Stoller: A Photographic History of Modern American Architecture”: from the Amazon page for that book;  Esto page with Stoller portrait and Salk photo: screen capture from Esto website

Happy 119th Birthday to Luis Barragán !

The Torres de Satélite ("Satellite Towers",) located outside of Mexico City—one of the country’s first major monumentally sized Modern sculpture groups (whose highest tower is 170 feet.) It is the result of a combination of input from architect Luis Barragán, painter Jesús Reyes Ferreira, and sculptor Mathias Goeritz., and was inaugurated in 1958.

LUIS BARRAGAN WOULD HAVE BEEN 119 oN MARCH 9, 2012—AND TODAY WE CELEBRATE HIS BIRTHDAY!

If any architect’s work truly exemplifies Dieter Rams’ saying, “Less but Better”, it would be the Mexican architect Luis Barragán (1902–1988). Barragán’s oeuvre was known for an asceticism of form, and an utter avoidance of the casual or frivolous. Yet the buildings and spaces he created were brought to vivid life by careful composition, devoted detailing, keen juxtapositions and choices of materials, and—most famously—a florid use of color.

His work encompassed whole residential districts, artwork (like the Torres de Satélite show above), a chapel and convent, and other projects—but he is probably most well-known for individual homes he created, both for clients and for himself.

WITH BARRAGAN, MATERIAL BECOMES SPIRITUAL

Architect Luis Barragán (1902–1988)

Barragán is often classified as a “Minimalist”—but this would be an error, as the interior and exterior spaces he created are alive with a sensuous serenity. His is a body of work that aspires to embrace (and invoke) the spiritual. As Barragán himself put it:

“…the words beauty, inspiration, enchantment, magic, sorcery, charm and also serenity, silence, intimacy and amazement have disappeared at an alarming rate in publications devoted to architecture. All of them have found a loving welcome in my soul, and even if I am far from claiming to have made them complete justice in my work, they have never ceased to be my beacon.”

And:

“Any work of architecture which does not express serenity is a mistake.”

For those not familiar with Barragán’s oeuvre, here is a mosaic of images which may serve to convey the flavor—and, as important, the atmosphere—of his work:

Casa Gilardi

Fuente de los Amantes

Fountain spout and pool at Casa Barragán

Roof patio at Casa Barragán

Casa Gilardi

A close-up of the Torres de Satélite

A stair within Casa Barragán

Faro del Comercio

FAME, INFLUENCE—AND THE AFTERLIFE OF AN ARCHITECT

The book, by Emilio Ambasz, which accompanied the Museum of Modern Art’s 1976 landmark exhibit on Barragán

Luis Barragán received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1980 (and you can read his insight-filled acceptance speech here)—but he had not been very well-known, outside of Mexico, until the 1976 retrospective exhibition of his work at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. That exhibition was accompanied by a book, “The Architecture of Luis Barragan”—also published by the MoMA—whose complete text (by Emilio Ambasz, who curated the exhibit) and luminous photographs and informative drawings you can see here.

He was a direct influence on Louis Kahn (who received advice from him about the great open space at the heart of Kahn’s Salk Institute) and he was consulted by designers from both Mexico and other parts of the world.

Barragán—besides the inspiration which can, ongoingly, be taken from his work—has had another kind of afterlife. After he passed in 1988, his will directed that his estate be divided into different categories of materials, and allocated to several people who had been important in his life. The legacy that comprised his professional archives and copyrights went through more-than-one ownership, until this important body-of-work reached its current residence in Switzerland at the Barragan Foundation.

But that was not the end of the story. Jill Magid is an artist (working in various media), writer, and film-maker—who has had exhibitions at major venues around-the-world. She became fascinated with the numerous facets of the Barragán estate—-not the least of which include its location an ocean away from the architect’s homeland, Mexico; and (at the time Magid was doing her work) the perceived restrictions on access to the archive. Her artistic activism on this topic resulted in works in a number of forms: several exhibits, a 2016 book, and a 2018 film (both titled “The Proposal”)—and Magid’s project achieved further prominence when it was written about in a series of articles in The New Yorker.

Her project asked important questions about art, creativity, relationships, identity (both personal and national,) and artistic legacies (both their control and protection). We know that these are complex matters, and all sides can bring forth pertinent evidence and cogent arguments. Moreover, there seems to have been further developments since Magid’s exhibits, book and film came out—so we can offer no pronouncement about the important issues she raises. Nevertheless, what Magid presents is compellingly told (and includes a strikingly unorthodox proposal!) and you might find it of interest to view the film. You can see the trailer here; as well as view a more recent symposium about her project here.

BARRAGAN: AN ARCHITECT TO CELEBRATE !

Whatever the issues around the archives—and however their status may stand or change—the important thing about Luis Barragán is the amazing body-of-work which created during more than a half-century of practice. So, for this, the 199th anniversary of his natal day, we wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY !

A twilight view of the Torres de Satélite, a project on which Barragán collaborated.

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IMAGE CREDITS

The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation gratefully thanks all the individuals and organizations whose images are used in this scholarly and educational project. If any use, credits, or rights need to be amended or changed, please let us know.

Note: When Wikimedia Commons links are provided, they are linked to the information page for that particular image. Information about the rights to use each of those images, as well as technical information on the images, can be found on those individual pages.

Credits, from top-to-bottom, and left-to-right:

Torres de Satélite: photo by Octavio Alonso Maya Castro, via Wikimedia Commons;  Photo portrait of Luis Barragán: photo by Tomjc.55, via Wikimedia Commons;  Casa Gilardi with pool: photo by Ulises00, via Wikimedia Commons;  Fuente de los Amantes: photo by Susleriel, via Wikimedia Commons;  Fountain spout and pool at Casa Barragán: phot by Daniel Case, via Wikimedia Commons;  Roof patio at Casa Barragán: photo by  Ymblanter, via Wikimedia Commons;  Casa Gilardi interior: photo by Ulises00, via Wikimedia Commons;  A close-up of the Torres de Satélite: photo by ProtoplasmaKid, via Wikimedia Commons;  A stair within Casa Barragán: photo by  Francesco Bandarin, via Wikimedia Commons;  Faro del Comercio: photo by Cvmontuy, via Wikimedia Commons;  A twilight view of the Torres de Satélite: phot by Correogsk, via Wikimedia Commons  

Successful (and Packed!) Opening of Shoreline Exhibit in Buffalo

SHORELINE: Remembering a Waterfront Vision

An exhibit featuring Paul Rudolph’s Shoreline Apartments - presented in partnership with the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation - opened in Buffalo last Friday. Shoreline is a development in the heart of downtown Buffalo—and would have included housing for various income levels, extensive community facilities, and a boat marina along the city’s lakeside edge—all planned and designed by Paul Rudolph—but only a portion of the proposed project was built.

The exhibit, at El Museo—which traces the erosion of an architectural, urban, and social vision for Buffalo’s waterfront—opened to a packed group of enthusiastic attendees.

Below are pictures from the exhibit’s preparation, opening, and of the some of the images and objects which are on-view—including a collection of impressive drawings, by Paul Rudolph, which convey his vision for the project.

NOTE: Further information about the exhibit (including location and hours) is at the bottom of this post.

Three key players: [left-to-right] Cheng Yang “Bryan” Lee, the museum’s curator; Liz Waytkus, Executive Director of DOCOMOMO US, and Barbara Campagna, leading preservationist—and co-curator of the exhibit. Photo by Joanne Campagna. [Photo by Barbara Campagna]

Two of the drawings that were put on display in the exhibition:

ABOVE: One of Paul Rudolph’s perspective renderings of the project, showing a near-street-level view of a line of the brick townhouses, along with the radially planned parking adjacent to the residence.

BELOW: Rudoph’s site plan drawing, showing his overall disposition of the townhouses, parking, and green areas in one section of the development.

Paul Rudolph’s work is © The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.

William Vogel, El Museo’s executive director, works on the exhibit’s signage. [Photo by Barbara Campagna]

The venue for the exhibit: El Museo in Buffalo—and the public is welcome! [Photo by Barbara Campagna]

A view from the back of the exhibit space, looking towards the entrance—with attendees carefully studying the displayed materials. [Photo by Barbara Campagna.]

One of the numerous—and impressively large and detailed—drawings which Paul Rudolph created for the project. At the top is laid out the portion of the housing that was built. In the center is shown the boat marina—and the buildings that were to surround it: a mixture of housing of various heights, as well as community facilities. © The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.

Barbara Campagna reported that it was a “Jam packed museum exhibit opening…”—and the photos testify the same. [Photo by Barbara Campagna]

More of Paul Rudolph’s drawings, as displayed on the exhibit’s walls—and in the foreground is one of Kurt Treeby’s architecturally-focused artworks. [Photo by Barbara Campagna]

A full view of one of the drawings shown in the above exhibit installation photo. Rudolph was a master perspectivist, and this is his overall rendering of the project. In the middle is the boat marina, from which multi-story apartment houses radiate. In he foreground (at the bottom of the drawing) are townhouses that line the outer edge of the peninsula that surrounds the marina. Just visible, at the top-right, is the portion of the housing that was constructed. © The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.

Bryan Lee, the exhibit’s co-curator (far left), gives an overview of the Shorline project and exhibit. [Photo by Barbara Campagna]

In addition to drawings and artworks, photos of were included—including of its littlest residents, as well as interiors—and this gave a sense of life in Shoreline. [Photo by Barbara Campagna]

Included in the exhibit were examples of Kurt Treeby’s artwork. Here he bases one on a portion of a row of Shoreline’s Rudolph-designed townhouse. The tissue-boxification is Treeby’s commentary our our society’s throwaway attitude to our architectural heritage. For more on Treeby’s work—and to see further examples of his work in this mode—see our blog post about him. [Photo by Barbara Campagna]

Kurt Treeby—the artist with one of his works. [Photo by Barbara Campagna]

Shoreline—under construction.

Shoreline—built, occupied, and the plantings already coming in. Phase One occupies the center of the photo. You can see a portion of the further construction of project (Phase Two) in the upper-left corner.

A artifact of Buffalo’s history—and of the aspiration to use architecture to make better lives. [Photo from a post by Barbara Campagna]

SHORELINE: Remembering A Waterfront Vision

EXHIBIT VISIT & cONTACT INFORMATION

DATES:

The exhibit is open from October 4 to November 16, 2019

PUBLIC SYMPOSIUM:

A public symposium on October 25–26 will convene architects, urban planners, preservationists, and researchers to discuss Paul Rudolph’s design legacy in Buffalo and New York State, the social legacy of urban renewal and modernism, and preservation efforts surrounding these sites and structures. This event will take place at the Earl W. Brydges (Central) Library in Niagara Falls and at the Frank E. Merriweather (Jefferson) Library in Buffalo.

PUBLICATION:

El Museo has announced that a publication will bring together images, essays, and other findings from the project to tell the varied histories of the Shoreline Apartments—and the book will be published later this year.

LOCATION:

EL MUSEO 91 Allen Street, Buffalo, NY   14202

HOURS:

Wednesdays–Fridays: 12–6pm
Saturdays: 1–5pm
First Fridays: 7–9pm
and by appointment (please call or email)

ADMISSION:

Admission is free—but If you like what they do, help support their work.

TRANSPORTATION:

El Museo is accessible by NFTA Metro Rail (5-minute walk from Allen/Medical Campus Station) and Metro Bus routes 8 Main, 11 Colvin, 20 Elmwood, and 25 Delaware. Limited service on routes 7, 29, 64, 66, 67, and 69. Metered parking is available on Allen Street and Delaware Avenue.
NFTA Metro
Google Maps directions

CONTACT INFORMATION:

• website: http://www.elmuseobuffalo.org

• exhibit web page: http://www.elmuseobuffalo.org/exhibitions/shoreline-remembering-a-waterfront-vision-1/

• phone: (716) 464-4692

• email: info@elmuseobuffalo.org

New Exhibit documents the Erosion of Paul Rudolph’s Modernist Vision in Buffalo, New York

Paul Rudolph’s perspective drawing of the Buffalo Waterfront Housing Project (“Shoreline Apartments”)—this view foregrounds the higher-end housing (which was not constructed) which would have surrounded the marina. The complex of lower-rise apartments, which were built (and which are under ongoing threat), are lightly rendered at the top-right of the drawing. © The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.

Located near Buffalo’s celebrated City Hall, the Shoreline Apartments is a housing complex designed by Paul Rudolph and completed in 1974. Featuring shed roofs, ribbed concrete exteriors, projecting balconies, and enclosed garden courts, the project combined Rudolph’s spatial radicalism with experiments in human-scaled high-density housing.

Paul Rudolph’s axonometric drawing for the Buffalo Waterfront Housing Project (“Shoreline Apartments”). This drawing shows a sample of the low-to-mid-rise apartments (which were built—and which are under ongoing threat), with adjacent parking. © The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.

The complex has already been partly demolished, and the balance is seriously threatened. This has brought attention to the development—both locally and more broadly—and this focus has begun to produce results…

A SPECIAL EXHIBIT & SYMPOSIUM

Starting next month, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation is partnering with Buffalo’s El Museo to present:

Shoreline: Remembering a Waterfront Vision

a special project that looks into the history of one of Rudolph’s residential designs: Buffalo’s Shoreline Apartments.

EXHIBITION: October 4 -to- November 16, 2019

The project will open with an exhibition of documents, drawings, photographs, and artworks, spanning from the original vision of the Buffalo Waterfront Development in the 1960’s to the eventual destruction of Shoreline in recent years.

SYMPOSIUM: October 25 & 26, 2019

A public symposium will convene architects, urban planners, preservationists, and researchers to discuss:

• Paul Rudolph’s design legacy in Buffalo and New York State

• the social legacy of urban renewal and modernism

• preservation efforts surrounding these sites and structures

Other public programs will be announced.

LOCATIONS:

The events will take place at two cities in the area—both with significant buildings by Paul Rudolph: Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

PUBLICATION

A publication is planned, to be issued later in 2019, which will bring together images, essays, and other findings from the project: it will tell the varied histories of the Shoreline Apartments.

The Shorelines Apartments in 1975, shortly after opening. The large Art Deco skyscraper, at the rear-right, is Buffalo’s City Hall. Image: Courtesy of EPA/Library of Congress

BACKGROUND

Located near Buffalo’s celebrated art-deco skyscraper City Hall, the Shoreline Apartments is a housing complex designed by architect Paul Rudolph and completed in 1974. It was originally part of the Buffalo Waterfront Development, an ambitious, mixed-income urban renewal project commissioned by the New York State Urban Development Corporation in 1969.

Aerial view (taken from the South East) of the Buffalo Waterfront Housing Project (“Shoreline Apartments”). Photo by Donald Luckenbill, © The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.

Rudolph’s scheme featured an arrangement of:

• monumental, terraced high-rises flanking a marina

• a sprawling school and community center

• a series of low- and mid-rise apartment buildings meant to evoke Italian mountain villages

• green spaces woven through the site

Street view of the Buffalo Waterfront Housing Project (“Shoreline Apartments”), taken between 1973 and 1977. © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, photograph by G. E. Kidder Smith

“With few exceptions, Paul Rudolph’s buildings can be recognized by their complexity, their sculptural details, their effects of scale and their texture.”

So wrote Arthur Drexler, the famed director of the Museum of Modern Art’s Architecture and Design Department for the 1970 exhibition, Work in Progress—a show which included Rudolph’s designs for the Buffalo Waterfront Development and Niagara Falls (Brydges) Library.

In the end, only two phases of affordable housing (Shoreline and Pine Harbor Apartments) were built. Today they are among the most unloved buildings in Buffalo, because—like many public housing projects of that era—their inventive, complex forms and admirable social aspirations have been overshadowed by disrepair, crime, and vacancy. In 2013, the site’s owner proposed a phased demolition and replacement of Shoreline with new traditionally styled townhouses. Following failed attempts at landmarking the structures for preservation, the first round of demolitions began in summer 2015.

The ongoing threat to Shoreline Apartments represents not just the loss of an exemplary piece of Buffalo’s Modern architectural legacy, but also the demise of a certain perspective on architecture and the city—and the possibilities of positive government action. It tells a story of the aspirations of mid-century urban planning, the short-lived heroism of Modern and “brutalist” architecture, and the unrealized social visions of the past.

At a time of renewed interest in Moden buildings, this project asks critical questions in architecture and historic preservation:

• Whose buildings are important?

• Whose stories get told?

• What types of structures are considered worthy of maintenance and protection, and what others are left to deteriorate and die?

• Is there room in our cities for inconvenient reminders of a past (and “inconvenient populations”) we would rather forget?

Through the lens of the Shoreline Apartments, this project aims to inspire new conversations that might lead to a better understanding and appreciation of these misunderstood places.

EXHIBIT LOCATION

Museo Francisco Oller y Diego Rivera (“El Museo”)

91 Allen Street (between Delaware Avenue and Franklin Street)

Buffalo, NY 14202

(716) 464.4692

http://www.elmuseobuffalo.org/

info@elmuseobuffalo.org

SPONSORS AND KEY PARTICIPANTS

Shoreline: Remembering a Waterfront Vision is curated by El Museo’s curator, Bryan Lee, and prominent preservation architect Barbara Campagna, and presented in partnership with the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.

This project is funded by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

Paul Rudolph’s overall site plan of the Buffalo Waterfront Housing Project (“Shoreline Apartments”). The higher-end housing (which was not constructed), surrounded the marina, occupies the right side of he drawing. The complex of mid-to-low-rise apartments is on the left side of the drawing—and the left-most quarter of that section is what was actually built. © The Estate of Paul Rudolph, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.

Note: We thank El Museo, from whose web page Shoreline: Remembering a Waterfront Vision the above text was adapted.

Paul Rudolph Centennial Exhibit Catalogs Selected for the Library of Congress Collection

THE NATION’S LIBRARY

It’s a special place—and an immense resource. Let’s have its head—the “Librarian of Congress” herself, Carla Hayden—describe it succinctly:

                The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections. The Library is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office.

                The Library preserves and provides access to a rich, diverse and enduring source of knowledge to inform, inspire and engage you in your intellectual and creative endeavors. Whether you are new to the Library of Congress or an experienced researcher, we have a world-class staff ready to assist you online and in person.

THE LIBRARY AND PAUL RUDOLPH

The Library of Congress’ Prints and Photographs Division holds the world’s largest collection of Paul Rudolph papers: their Paul Marvin Rudolph archive is comprised of hundreds-of-thousands of Rudolph drawings & documents. It is an indispensable source for anyone doing serious research on Rudolph. The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation has been greatly benefited by the Library’s gracious help—particularly from the head of their Prints and Photographs Division, Ms. Mari Nakahara. Our recent exhibit, Paul Rudolph: The Personal Laboratory, was meaningfully enriched by being able to utilize images from the Library of Congress’ collection—and we continue to do research there, hoping to help share this immense source of Rudolph-ian creativity and knowledge.

OUR CONTRIBUTION

2018 was Paul Rudolph’s centenary year, and—to celebrate that—“Paul Rudolph: The Personal Laboratory” and “Paul Rudolph: The Hong Kong Journey” were exhibits mounted by the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation. The Library of Congress helped greatly in making our exhibition program a success—and we have now made a contribution back— We send them a set of our exhibit catalogs:

The “Personal Laboratory” and the “Hong Kong Journey” catalogs were produced in association with the two corresponding exhibits that were mounted by the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation. The set is available through Amazon.

Photo: The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

We’re happy to announce that we’ve just received an official response from the head of the Library of Congress’ Monographs Section: the catalogs have been “selected for addition” to the library’s collection. We are glad to have these publications be a part of the nation’s greatest library!

Rudolph Centennial Exhibit Catalogs: Now Available Through Amazon

This pair of catalogs was produced in association with the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation’s two exhibits, celebrating Rudolph’s 100th centenary year, 2018. They are available as a set—and now: easily purchased through Amazon.

Photo: Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

CELEBRATING A MAGNIFICENTLY CREATIVE ARCHITECT’S 100TH BIRTHDAY

Paul Rudolph (1918-1997) would have been 100 in 2018, and—to recognize & celebrate that—the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation mounted two exhibits: Paul Rudolph: The Personal Laboratory and Paul Rudolph: The Hong Kong Journey.

This pair of exhibits (and Rudolph’s increasing recognition) were praised in an article in The New York Times. The bad news is that both exhibits have closed—but the good news is that the pair of catalogs—well illustrated records of the exhibit, supplemented by additional fascinating material—have been published by the PRHF.

“The Personal Laboratory” exhibit focused on the homes and workspaces that Rudolph crated for himself, wherever he settled. It’s catalog is richly illustrated, containing much of that material—as well as fascinating documents & memoirs of people who knew and worked for Rudolph.

Photo: Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

“The Hong Kong Journey” exhibit focused on work that Paul Rudolph did in Hong Kong. In the last decade-and-a-half of his career, Rudolph was called upon by clients in Asia: Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Singapore—and he built large and significant in that part of the world. In Hong Kong you can see the pair of remarkable skyscrapers he designed: the Bond Centre (a.k.a. the Lippo Centre). They, and several other very intriguing projects were the focus of the exhibit, which also includes interesting essays by Rudolph’s Hong Kong associate, Nora Leung; as well as an introduction by Robert de Alba.

Photo: Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

NOW MORE EASILY AVAILABLE

The catalogs are sold as a set—and have been available through the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation’s website’s “Shop” page—and continue to be.

But now they are now also easily orderable through AMAZON—at this page:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1792304218/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=Paul+Rudolph+personal+laboratory&qid=1554318008&s=books&sr=1-1-fkmrnull

Many people prefer the ease of shopping though Amazon—and we are pleased to the catalogs available by this method too.

Image: Amazon.com

'Paul Rudolph: A Way of Working' greeted by full house at the Center for Architecture

Speakers Rocco Leonardis, R.D. Chin, Jeremy Moser, Nora Leung and moderator Roberto de Alba. Photo: Kelvin Dickinson, Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

On Friday December 14 The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation joined the Center for Architecture for a special presentation, ‘Paul Rudolph: A Way of Working’. The program was presented in coordination with the exhibition ‘Paul Rudolph: The Hong Kong Years’ on display in the gallery adjacent to the event.

The night began with an introduction about the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation by President Kelvin Dickinson. Roberto de Alba, author of the book ‘Paul Rudolph - the Late Years’, introduced keynote speaker Nora Leung who spoke about her experience working with Mr. Rudolph on several projects in Hong Kong.

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The program concluded with a panel discussion featuring several past employees speaking about what it was like to work with Mr. Rudolph.

The event was part of the Paul Rudolph Centennial which features two exhibitions about his work. For more information about the two exhibits celebrating Mr. Rudolph’s life and work for his centennial please follow this link.

Upcoming lecture: 'Paul Rudolph: Influences & Opportunities' at the Center for Architecture

Paul Rudolph asking concrete what it wants to be. Photo: Library of Congress

Please join the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation
for a special program for Paul Rudolph: The Hong Kong Journey.
 

PAUL RUDOLPH:
INFLUENCES & OPPORTUNITIES

Wednesday, December 19 2018
6pm-8pm

At the Center For Architecture
536 LaGuardia Place, New York, NY 10012

For reservations, go to the Center for Architecture’s site here.

Paul Rudolph considered an allowance for growth in his architecture and once said his buildings “took on a life of their own” after they were designed.  The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation in association with the Center for Architecture present a panel speakers influenced by the richness of Paul Rudolph’s architectural legacy. The program will present stories by those who have had the the opportunity to adapt his work to present-day needs.

Introduction:
Kelvin Dickinson, President, Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

Speakers:
Kate Wagner, Founder, McMansionHell
Eric Wolff, Owner, the Fullam Residence
John Wolstenholme, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, Wolstenholme Associates LLC
Andrew Bernheimer, FAIA, Principal, Bernheimer Architecture
Robert Miklos, FAIA, Founding Principal, designLAB architects
Ben Youtz, AIA, designLAB architects
Kelly Haigh, AIA IIDA, design LAB architects
 

For more information about the event go to our website here.
For speaker bios follow the link here.

Remembering Paul Rudolph with Metropolis Magazine

Photography by Annie Schlecter, courtesy the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

Paul Rudolph’s Centenary and the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation’s exhibitions ‘Paul Rudolph: The Personal Laboratory’ and ‘Paul Rudolph: The Hong Kong Journey’ are covered in an online article in Metropolis by A.J.P. Artemel.

Writes Artemel,

There was a time when Paul Rudolph was the most famous architect, if not in the world, then at least in the United States. As the leading emissary of “heroic” Modernism, he was responsible for some of the most innovative and audacious concrete buildings of the 1960s. Current stars Richard Rogers and Norman Foster went to Yale to learn from him. But after the devastating, epoch-ending fire at Rudolph’s Art and Architecture Building at Yale and multiple broadsides penned by Postmodern critics, Rudolph’s stream of projects, as well as his American following, seemed to evaporate overnight. Though much of Rudolph’s work from his early period in Sarasota, Florida, and from the height of his career in the ’60s has been rehabilitated and rediscovered by new audiences, his later work—roughly defined, those buildings completed between 1970 and his death in 1997—remains relatively unknown.

Two exhibitions organized by the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation to mark the architect’s centenary aim to address this blind spot.

It is indeed an exciting time to examine this material, not only in light of the anniversary but because of what this collection of buildings and designs may come to illustrate: a daring and often lonely effort to continue the Modernist project.

For more information about the current exhibition ‘Paul Rudolph: The Personal Laboratory’ at the Modulightor building, and the upcoming ‘Paul Rudolph: The Hong Kong Journey’ go to the Centennial page here.

Paul Rudolph: The Personal Laboratory Opens at Modulightor

Thank you everyone for making the Opening Reception of our exhibition 'Paul Rudolph: The Personal Laboratory' a great success! For more information about the exhibition, follow this link: https://www.paulrudolphheritagefoundation.org/centennial-exhibition/

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Rudolph replica rises in Palm Springs

Photo: Peter Blackburn

A full-scale replica of Paul Rudolph's iconic Walker Guest House is being constructed in Palm Springs California as a special project of Palm Springs Modern Committee in partnership with Sarasota Architectural Foundation.

Photo: Peter Blackburn

Thank you to Peter Blackburn for giving us permission to share his photos while he is directing the installation!

For more information, visit the Palm Springs Modern Committee's website here: https://psmodcom.org/walker-guest-house-replica/