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{{Short description|Commercial building in Manhattan, New York}}
{{use American English|date=January 2024}}
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{{Infobox building
| name = Modulightor Building
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| image = Modulightor Building 2024.jpg
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| image_caption = The building in 2024, after its additions
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| address = 246 East 58th Street,<br />[[Manhattan]],
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| stop_date = 1994
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| renovation_date = 2007–2016
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| client =
| owner = Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture
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The '''Modulightor Building''' is a commercial building in the [[Midtown East]] neighborhood of [[Manhattan]], New York City, United States. The first four stories, designed by the architect [[Paul Rudolph (architect)|Paul Rudolph]]
The building was constructed for Modulightor, a company that Rudolph co-founded to sell light fixtures
The building is named for the Modulightor lighting company, which Wagner and Rudolph had cofounded in 1976. Rudolph and Wagner acquired the building in February 1989 and Rudolph worked on it over the next four years. The third- and fourth-floor duplex unit originally comprised two apartments, which were rented in 1996 to [[MTV]] founder John Lack and his daughter in 1996. After the Lacks moved out in 1999, Wagner moved into the building in the early 2000s, and Luckenbill subsequently combined the two duplex apartments, which were used by the Paul Rudolph Foundation. Squeo drew up plans for the fifth and sixth stories starting in 2007, and these stories were opened to the public in 2016. After the Paul Rudolph Foundation was evicted in 2014, the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation (later Institute for Modern Architecture) moved into the building, acquiring it in 2023.
▲The building was constructed for Modulightor, a company that Rudolph co-founded to sell light fixtures. It has seen commercial and residential uses, and later housed a gallery on its top floors. The main [[Elevation (architecture)|elevation]] of the facade is to the north, while the rear elevation faces south; both are composed of overlapping, interlocking rectangles made of white I-beams. There is a rooftop deck with gray tiles, in addition to protruding balconies in the rear. The building holds Modulightor's fabrication center in the basement and on the first floor, while the remaining spaces house the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture and two duplexes.
==Site==
The Modulightor Building is at 246 East 58th Street in the [[East Midtown]] neighborhood of [[Manhattan]] in
[[Paul Rudolph (architect)|Paul Rudolph]], the Modulightor Building's developer, had bought the building specifically because of the presence of several design showrooms in the area,<ref name="NYCL pp. 8–9">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2023|ps=.|pp=8–9 }}</ref> which had been unofficially known as the Design District since at least the 1960s.<ref name="NYCL p. 9">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2023|ps=.|p=9 }}</ref><ref name="The New York Times 1967 w770">{{cite web |date=August 27, 1967 |title=Showrooms Grow In Design District |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/08/27/archives/showrooms-grow-in-design-district-a-new-district-for-showrooms.html |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Architecture==
The original section of the building, a mixed-use store and residential building, was constructed from 1989 to 1994 to designs by [[Paul Rudolph (architect)|Paul Rudolph]].<ref name="NYT 2018">{{Cite news |last1=Farago |first1=Jason |date=December 20, 2018 |title=Paul Rudolph at 100: The Mischief Maker in a New Light |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/arts/design/paul-rudolph-beekman-center-for-architecture-modulightor.html |access-date=May 22, 2025 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="6sqft">{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Michelle |date=July 29, 2019 |title=Modernist Must-See: Tour the Upper East
Rudolph experimented with various features in the design of the Modulightor Building, using details popularized by such architects as [[Frank Lloyd Wright]], [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]], or [[Le Corbusier]].<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 12">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2025|ps=.|page=12 }}</ref> Even though Rudolph had completed the building not long before he died, he used it to test out various theories regarding the use and configuration of space.<ref name="nyt-2004-07-08" /><ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 12" /> Rudolph's colleague Ernst Wagner, a Swiss man who had been a longtime resident of the building,<ref name="Devlin 2017 p. 230" /><ref name="NYCL p. 10" /> said that the design reflected the fact that the Modulightor Building was "very much a building Paul built for himself".<ref name="p207655256">{{Cite news |last=Kipling |first=Kay |year=2005 |title=Portrait of an architect |work=Sarasota Magazine |page=152 |volume=27 |issue=3 |id={{ProQuest|207655256}}}}</ref>
=== Exterior ===
==== Facade ====
The main [[Elevation (architecture)|elevation]] of the facade is to the north, along 58th Street.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> Both the main facade and the rear facade are composed of overlapping, interlocking rectangles made of white I-beams.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /><ref name="
[[File:Exterior Front Detail - Modulightor Building Paul Ruldolph.jpg|thumb|Detail of the main entrance]]
The main elevation is about {{convert|3|ft}} deep and includes concrete panels for reinforcement.<ref name="Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture n772">{{cite web |title=Our Office |url=https://www.paulrudolph.institute/our-office |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture |archive-date=January 23, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123122458/https://www.paulrudolph.institute/our-office |url-status=live}}</ref> The I-beams were manufactured
The rear elevation has fewer I-beams than the main elevation, although the windows are larger. The lowest two stories have not been modified since the 1960s.<ref name="NYCL p. 12" /> These stories span the lot's width; there is a skylight above the second floor.<ref name="NYCL pp. 6–7">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2023|ps=.|pp=6–7 }}</ref> The third floor, designed by Rudolph, has a steel-grated wood deck spanning the lot's width, with mechanical equipment on one end and a [[hot tub]] on the opposite end. There is a door at the deck's eastern end, which ascends to a door with a [[transom window]] above it; a [[greenhouse]] is located to the west of this door.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /> The fourth floor of the facade was also designed by Rudolph.<ref name="NYCL p. 12" />
==== Roof ====
There is a rooftop deck with gray tiles, which is surrounded by glass-and-metal [[
=== Interior ===
As designed, the showroom of the Modulightor company was intended to be on the first floor, while the story immediately above was to be Rudolph's office.<ref name="Devlin 2017 p. 230">{{cite book |last=Devlin |first=Polly |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SY8pDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT230 |title=New York Behind Closed Doors |publisher=Gibbs Smith |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4236-4732-4 |page=230 |archive-date=January 16, 2024 |access-date=May 22, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116025406/https://books.google.com/books?id=SY8pDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT230 |url-status=live}}</ref> The third and fourth floors were to contain two [[
{{As of|2024}}, the building holds Modulightor's fabrication center in the basement and on the first floor.<ref name="Cereal d504">{{cite web |last=Gallow |first=Lauren |date=September 25, 2021 |title=The Modulightor Building |url=https://readcereal.com/modulightor/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927161834/https://readcereal.com/modulightor/ |archive-date=September 27, 2021 |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=Cereal Magazine}}</ref> The store sells lighting fixtures, including lamps similar to those
==== Third- and fourth-floor duplex ====
[[File:
The third- and fourth-floor duplex apartment spans about {{Convert|3000|ft2}}.<ref name="NY2000" /> It has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, two balconies between the floors, two living rooms, and a kitchen divided into northern and southern sections.<ref name="NYCL (2025) pp. 6–7">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2025|ps=.|pages=6–7 }}</ref> The duplex is decorated in a white color palette throughout
On the third floor, the northern and southern living rooms are connected by a north–south hallway along the eastern side of the house, which leads to an elevator and the main stairway to the ground. The L-shaped north living room wraps around a bathroom to the east.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 28">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2025|ps=|page=28}}, diagram.</ref> The southern wall of the north living room has a door to the hallway, while the eastern wall has a metal fireplace mantel and wooden cabinets. There are shelves and a sofa on the western wall (adjoining a
[[File:Interior Apartment Staircase - Modulightor Building Paul Ruldolph.jpg|alt=One of the staircases from the third to fourth floors. The stairs appear to float, and there are shelves with objects behind the stairs.|left|thumb|upright|The third and fourth floors are connected by [[cantilevered stairs]], which have treads that appear to float.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 12" />]]
The northern and southern halves of the fourth floor each have two bedrooms and a bathroom; these are connected by a north–south passageway to the east, which lead to the elevator and main stair.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 29">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2025|ps=|page=29}}, diagram.</ref> From north to south, the [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] labels them as north bedroom 1, north bedroom 2, south bedroom 2, and south bedroom 1.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 7" /> There are two [[Light well|light wells]] overlooking the third floor, one adjoining each pair of bedrooms.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 29" /> North bedroom 1 spans the building's width and has a door to a small exterior terrace at its northeast corner, a door to the north bathroom at its southeast corner, and a stair to the northern balcony. Both the north and south number-2 bedrooms are located near the center of the house, with shelves on their western walls. Each bedroom adjoins a stairway, which leads to the light well and balcony on its respective side of the house, and can also be accessed from the passageway.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 7" /> South bedroom 1 spans the building's width and has a door to the south bathroom at its northeast corner, a link directly to the fourth-floor passageway,<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 29" /> and a door at the southeast corner descending to the third-story alcove and the rear garden.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 7" /> Both of the bathrooms can be accessed from either of the number-1 bedrooms or the passageway, and they contain cabinets, a sink, a tub, and a toilet.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 7" />▼
▲The northern and southern halves of the fourth floor each have two bedrooms and a bathroom; these are connected by a north–south passageway to the east, which lead to the elevator and main stair.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 29">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2025|ps=|page=29}}, diagram.</ref>
==History==
The building is named for the Modulightor lighting company, which Wagner and Rudolph had cofounded in 1976
=== Original structure ===
[[File:Modulightor Building 2006.jpg|thumb|The facade seen in 2006]]
The four-story building was constructed for Modulightor. It has seen commercial and residential uses, and later housed a gallery on its top floors.<ref name="NYT 2018" /><ref name="6sqft" /> Originally, Donald Luckenbill oversaw the project between 1989 and 1990;<ref name="NYCL p. 11">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2023|ps=.|p=11 }}</ref> Luckenbill reflected that Rudolph
The facade panels at the front and rear were being installed by mid-1992, and the beams on the facade were being painted by early 1993.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /> A temporary [[certificate of occupancy]] was granted for the building's first basement, the ground-story retail space, and an office mezzanine in May 1993. In June of the following year, another certificate of occupancy was granted for both basement levels and the four above-ground stories.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /><ref name=":0" /> The temporary certificate of occupancy provided for two duplex apartments on the third and fourth floors—one each on the south and north sides of both floors.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 11" /> By that July, Rudolph had completed plans for the duplexes<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 11" /> and began leasing out these apartments.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /><ref name="Rohan p. 223">{{cite book |last=Rohan |first=Timothy M. |url=https://
Rudolph hosted lectures and meetings with architects in the duplexes after the building was completed.<ref name="Tadepalli i765" /> Rudolph was diagnosed with [[mesothelioma]], or asbestos cancer, toward the end of his life<ref name="Muschamp 1997">{{Cite news |last=Muschamp |first=Herbert |date=August 9, 1997 |title=Paul Rudolph Is Dead at 78; Modernist Architect of the 60's |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/09/arts/paul-rudolph-is-dead-at-78-modernist-architect-of-the-60-s.html |access-date=May 22, 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512084632/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/09/arts/paul-rudolph-is-dead-at-78-modernist-architect-of-the-60-s.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and was seriously ill by 1996.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /> That year, [[MTV]] founder John Lack agreed to rent both duplexes.<ref name="Institute o972" /><ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 14">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2025|ps=.|page=14 }}</ref> Lack agreed to pay $6,000 per month, living in the southern duplex, and his daughter took over the northern duplex.<ref name="Institute o972" /> Rudolph attempted to give his home at 23 Beekman Place to the [[Library of Congress]] so the library could preserve his documents after he died, but the Library of Congress instead sold the Beekman Place apartment.<ref name="Barron 2025" /> Instead, in April 1997,<ref name="Institute o972" /> Rudolph bequeathed a partial ownership stake in the Modulightor Building to Wagner.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /><ref name="Barron 2025" /> Rudolph ultimately died that August.<ref name="Institute o972" /><ref name="Muschamp 1997" />
=== After Rudolph's death ===
[[File:
Wagner began seeking a buyer for Rudolph's other residence at
Mark Squeo designed an expansion of the building after Rudolph's death.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 14" /><ref name="Institute o972" /><ref name="Ginsburg 2024" />
== Reception ==
The interior also received commentary. Giovannini praised the fact that Rudolph had managed to create a complex interior from commercially available materials,<ref name="nyt-2004-07-08" /><ref name=":0" /> while Menking likened the interiors to London's [[Sir John Soane's Museum]], saying the design blurred the traditional boundaries between rooms, much like Frank Lloyd Wright's work.<ref name="Architectural Press Limited 2004 p." /><ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 13">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2025|ps=.|page=13 }}</ref> A [[Village Voice|''Village Voice'']] reporter wrote in 2005 that the interior of the duplex "offers a glimpse of what might have been if we hadn't gotten lazy and gone all reactionary with our houses", noting that its interlocking spaces were not child-friendly.<ref name="p232261825" /> The next year, ''Elements of Living'' magazine described the top floors as "a brilliant orchestration of spatial layers and reflective materials that combine to create a series of magical lighting composition".<ref name="House of Light 20062">{{Cite web |date=Mar 2006 |title=House of Light |url=http://modulightor.com/installations/house-of-light-article/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023181255/http://modulightor.com/installations/house-of-light-article/ |archive-date=October 23, 2020 |access-date=May 22, 2025 |work=Elements of Living |page=1}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' called it a "white-on-white wonder",<ref name="nyt-2005-10-09" /> while ''Metropolis'' likened the interior to a white-clad forest or cave.<ref name="Metropolis h651" /> ''[[Cereal (magazine)|Cereal Magazine]]'' characterized the interior as a "complex arrangement of solid planes and framed, negative spaces".<ref name="Cereal d504" />
== See also ==
* [[List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets]]
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===Citations===
{{
===Sources===
* {{Cite report |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2676.pdf |title=Modulightor Building |date=December 19, 2023 |publisher=[[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] |ref={{harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2023}}}}
* {{Cite report |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2684.pdf |title=Modulightor Building Apartment Duplex |date=May 6, 2025 |publisher=[[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] |ref={{harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2025}}}}
==External links==
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* {{official|http://modulightor.com/about/the-modulightor-building/}}
* [https://www.paulrudolph.institute/ Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture]
** [https://www.paulrudolph.institute/198801-modulightor Entry on the building]
{{Midtown East, Manhattan}}
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[[Category:1990s architecture in the United States]]▼
[[Category:1993 establishments in New York City]]
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[[Category:Midtown Manhattan]]
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▲[[Category:1990s architecture in the United States]]
[[Category:Office buildings in Manhattan]]▼
[[Category:Office buildings completed in 1989]]▼
[[Category:New York City interior landmarks]]
▲[[Category:Office buildings in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Paul Rudolph buildings]]
[[Category:Residential buildings completed in 1993]]
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