Modulightor Building: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox building

| name = Modulightor Building

| logo =

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| image = Modulightor Building 2024.jpg

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| image_caption = The building in 2024, after its additions

| mapframe-marker = building

| coordinates = {{coord|40.760009|-73.965381|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| former_names =

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| architectural_style = [[Modernist architecture|Modernist]]

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| ___location =

| address = 246 East 58th Street,<br />[[Manhattan]], [[New York City]]

| current_tenants =

| namesake =

| groundbreaking_date =

| start_date = 1989

| stop_date = 1994

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| architect = [[Paul Rudolph (architect)|Paul Rudolph]]

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The '''Modulightor Building''' is a commercial building in the [[Midtown East]] neighborhood of [[Manhattan]], New York City. The first four stories, designed by the architect [[Paul Rudolph (architect)|Paul Rudolph]], originally comprised a townhouse that was rebuilt between 1989 and 1993. It was one of the last buildings that Rudolph completed in Manhattan; unlike his other projects, it was not particularly well known, receiving little media coverage until the 2000s. The fifth and sixth floors of the buildingstories were constructed from 2007 to 20152016 in a project led Rudolph's associate Mark Squeo. The building was designated as a landmark by the [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] in 2023, and the interior of the duplex was similarly designated as a landmark in 2025.

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 [[New York City]].<ref name="Architectural Press Limited 2004 p.">{{cite book |last=Menking |first=William |url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/archive/manhattan-masterpiece |title=The Architects' Journal |date=Oct 2004 |publisher=Architectural Press Limited |year= |page= |pages=31-3231–32 |language=en-gb |chapter=Manhattan Masterpiece |issn=0003-8466 |issue=v. 220}}</ref> The rectangular [[land lot]] covers approximately {{convert|2000|ft2}},with a [[frontage]] of {{Convert|20|ft}} on 58th Street and a depth of {{convert|100|ft}}.<ref name="ZoLa">{{Cite web |title=597246 MadisonEast Avenue58th Street, 10022 |url=https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/1331/128#19.79/40.7599785/-73.9652023 |url-status=live |access-date=MarchMay 2022, 20202025 |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]]}}</ref> Immediately outside the building is a sidewalk divided into square panels of gray slate, as well as a planting bed next to the [[curb]].<ref name="NYCL p. 6">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2023|ps=.|p=6}}</ref> The building is one block south of the [[Queensboro Bridge]]'s Manhattan terminal and the [[Roosevelt Island Tramway]] plaza.<ref name="ZoLa" /><ref name="NYCL p. 8">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2023|ps=.|p=8}}</ref> Nearby buildings include [[252 East 57th Street]] one block to the south, as well as [[311 and 313 East 58th Street]] to the east.<ref name="ZoLa" />

[[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> The block had once contained many [[Rowrow house|row houses]]s, which had been developed starting in the mid-19th century and were commonplace along 58th Street and other west-east streets.<ref name="NYCL p. 8" /> These row houses had included an [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]] brownstone at 246 East 58th Street, which was three stories high and dated to the 1850s or 1860s. This rowhouse had been divided into 15 rooms by 1941 and was converted into a commercial building by 1966, with two-story annexes both in the rear and at the front.<ref name="NYCL p. 9" /> Characterized as a "strikingly new and modern building", the structure first housed the Ellsworth & Goldie gallery,<ref name="NYCL p. 9" /><ref name="Gardner 1969 p.">{{cite book |last=Gardner |first=Arron |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=spowAQAAIAAJ |title=Gardner's Guide to Antiques and Art Buying in New York City |publisher=Bobbs-Merrill |year=1969 |page=66}}</ref> then housed fabric retail stores until the 1980s.<ref name="NYCL p. 9" />

==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 Side’sSide's Paul Rudolph-Designed Modulightor Building |url=https://www.6sqft.com/modernist-must-see-tour-the-upper-east-sides-paul-rudolph-designed-modulightor-building/ |access-date=May 22, 2025 |work=6sqft}}</ref><ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> The Modulightor Building was one of the last buildings that Rudolph ever completed in Manhattan; unlike his other projects, it was not particularly well known.<ref name="nyt-2004-07-08">{{Cite news |last=Giovannini |first=Joseph |date=July 8, 2004 |title=An Architect's Last Word |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/08/garden/an-architect-s-last-word.html |access-date=May 22, 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Rudolph designed only two other residential structures in Manhattan:<ref>{{cite web |last=Tzeses |first=Jennifer |date=May 20, 2016 |title=Halston’sHalston's Former $28 Million New York Townhouse Is Fashion-Forward Inside and Out |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/halston-former-new-york-townhouse |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=Architectural Digest}}</ref> his own residence at 23 Beekman Place and the Halston townhouse at 101 East 63rd Street.<ref name="Gunts 2023 t131">{{cite web |last=Gunts |first=Edward |date=December 21, 2023 |title=Modernist structures by Paul Rudolph and Ulrich Franzen are now landmarks |url=https://www.archpaper.com/2023/12/modernist-structures-paul-rudolph-ulrich-franzen-new-york-city-newest-landmarks/ |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=The Architect’sArchitect's Newspaper}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Barbanel |first=Josh |date=November 3, 2011 |title=Jet-Setting to a Time Past |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203716204577014081891515716 |access-date=May 22, 2025 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}</ref> Mark Squeo, who had collaborated with Rudolph in the 1990s,<ref name="Ginsburg 2023 e083">{{cite web |last=Ginsburg |first=Aaron |date=October 3, 2023 |title=Paul Rudolph's modernist Modulightor Building may become NYC landmark |url=https://www.6sqft.com/paul-rudolphs-modernist-modulightor-building-may-become-nyc-landmark/ |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=6sqft}}</ref> designed the upper portion of the buildingstories, which waswere built in the 2010s.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /><ref name="Gunts 2023 t131" />

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 and life partner Ernst Wagner, 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={{pq|207655256}}}}</ref>

=== Exterior ===

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==== 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="nyt-2004-07-08" /><ref name="NY2000">{{cite NY2000|pages=938, 940}}</ref> The interlocking nature of the beams gives the facade a quality similar to a [[jigsaw puzzle]],<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> contrasting with the row houses that adjoining it.<ref name="Wainwright v727">{{cite web |last=Wainwright |first=Oliver |date=November 19, 2024 |title=Celebrated, reviled, reborn: Paul Rudolph, the brutalist architect with a party streak |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/nov/19/us-architect-paul-rudolph-exhibition-metropolitan-museum-new-york |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=the Guardian}}</ref> The western facade is a white [[party wall]] with narrow windows on the fifth and sixth stories, while the eastern facade has narrow windows on the fourth floor, fifth floor, and rooftop deck.<ref name="NYCL p. 7">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2023|ps=.|p=7}}</ref>

[[File:Exterior_Front_Detail_Exterior Front Detail -_Modulightor_Building_Paul_Ruldolph 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}}</ref> The I-beams were manufactured to three different widths. The vertical beams are largely {{Convert|4.25|in}} deep, except for those at the far western and eastern edges, which are {{Convert|8.25|in}} deep; the horizontal beams are {{Convert|6.25|in}} deep.<ref name="NYCL p. 12">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2023|ps=.|p=12}}</ref> Though most of the rectangles generally contain glass windows, a small number of thefew openings on the facade are filled with concrete blocks, and other openings contain wooden doors.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> There is an entrance on the left (east) side of the facade, which is screened by a gate with vertical metal bars; the left wall of this entrance has a lattice with plants, while the door itself is topped by a planting box. Another entrance on the right (west) side of the facade leads to a showroom at the ground level, with a recessed glass door and a marble pavement. The center of the first-floor facade has a tripartite display window.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" />

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" /> OnThe thetwo fifthstories and sixth floorsabove, which were built during Squeo's redesign, arecontain four metal balconies of different sizes, which are made of metal.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" />

==== Roof ====

There is a rooftop deck with gray tiles, which is surrounded by glass-and-metal [[Parapet|parapetsparapet]]s to the north and south. The rooftop deck connects with one of the balconies in the rear, and a skylight is raised above the western part of the roof deck. The front portion of the rooftop deck has a a glass-walled elevator foyer with glass doors, which adjoins an enclosed staircase descending to the sixth floor. There is a second, outdoor staircase to the sixth floor at the center of the deck; its balustrade is a metal grid with a handrail, and the [[Stairstair riser|stair risers]]s have gaps between them.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" />

=== 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}}</ref> The third and fourth floors were to contain two [[Duplexduplex apartment|duplex apartments]]s<ref name="Devlin 2017 p. 230" /> (later combined into one).<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 11">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2025|ps=.|page=11}}</ref><ref name="Kasingsing i153" /> Another apartment was added on the fifth and sixth floors in 2015the 2010s;<ref name="6sqft" /><ref name="Institute o972">{{cite web |date=June 6, 2001 |title=1988.01 Modulightor |url=https://www.paulrudolph.institute/198801-modulightor |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture}}</ref> these were part of Rudolph's original plans but not completed during his lifetime.<ref name="Kasingsing i153" /><ref name="NYCL p. 11" /> The Modulightor shop is connected to the upper floors via a stair in the rear.<ref name="Architectural Press Limited 2004 p." />

{{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 that Rudolph's house on 23 Beekman Place.<ref name="nyt-2007-10-07">{{Cite news |last=Bernstein |first=Fred A. |date=October 7, 2007 |title=Shining Moment |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/t-magazine/design/07shining.html |access-date=May 22, 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The remaining spaces house the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture,<ref name="Cereal d504" /> which hosts events and exhibits at the apartment.<ref name="Wainwright v727" /><ref name="Kasingsing i153"/> The institute gives periodic tours of the duplex,<ref name="Wainwright v727" /><ref name="Kasingsing i153"/> opening it to the public twice monthly.<ref name="Levingston r951">{{cite web |last=Levingston |first=Miranda |date=May 6, 2025 |title=This Upper East Side Duplex Apartment Is NYC's Newest Landmark |url=https://patch.com/new-york/upper-east-side-nyc/duplex-apartment-modulightor-building-gets-landmarked |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=Upper East Side, NY Patch}}</ref> The Rudolph Foundation, which occupied the building until 2014,<ref name="Institute o972" /><ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 14"/> also hosted tours and rented out the space for events.<ref name="nyt-2004-07-08" /> The building's interior is the only Rudolph–designed space in New York City that is ordinarily open to the public.<ref name="Wainwright v727" /><ref name="LPC u503">{{cite web |date=May 6, 2025 |title=LPC Designates Manhattan's Modulightor Building Apartment Duplex as an Interior Landmark |url=https://www.nyc.gov/site/lpc/about/pr2025/lpc-designates-modulightor-interior-20250506.page |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=Welcome to NYC.gov}}</ref>

==== Third- and fourth-floor duplex ====

[[File:MODULIGHTOR_MODULIGHTOR -_Duplex_Apartment Duplex Apartment.jpg|thumb|The duplex's south living room]]

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, with white built-in furniture.<ref name="Cereal d504" /><ref name="p232261825">{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Chad |date=January 26, 2005 |title=Everything emptying into white |work=The Village Voice |page=14 |id={{pq|232261825}}}}</ref><ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 6">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2025|ps=.|page=6}}</ref> The rooms are interconnected spaces that blend into one another,<ref name="Metropolis h651">{{cite web |last=Artemel |first=A.J.P. |date=November 3, 2022 |title=Remembering Paul Rudolph, the Lonely Modernist, at 100 |url=https://metropolismag.com/profiles/paul-rudolph-centenary/ |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=Metropolis}}</ref><ref name="p232261825" /> which according to the [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] (LPC) were intended to make the spaces appear larger than they actually were.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 12" /> They have decorations such as floating house plants,<ref name="Wainwright v727" /> suspended staircases with floating treads,<ref name="Wainwright v727" /><ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 12" /><ref name="Cereal d504" /> banisters, and bookshelves.<ref name="Cereal d504" /><ref name="Metropolis h651" /> The staircases, balconies, and glass walls in these rooms may be inspired by the designs of the [[Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau]] model home and [[Unité d'Habitation of Berlin]], both designed by Le Corbusier.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 12" /> There are also decorations such as metal beams and grated sections of floor,<ref name="NYCL (2025) pp. 6–7" /> in addition to lighting made by Modulightor.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 6" /> When Wagner and Rudolph occupied the building, the duplex was decorated with objects such as African sculptures, Japanese figurines, Turkish machine parts,<ref name="Architectural Press Limited 2004 p." /><ref name="Cereal d504" /> gold chargers, and masks.<ref name="p232261825" />

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 staircase to the northern balcony), while the northern wall adjoins a terrace.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 6" /> On the western side of the house, the two sections of the kitchen are separated by a wall with a door.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 28" /> The northern half includes a refrigerator and oven, while the southern half contains a stovetop, fume hood, and sinks; both sections include shelves, cabinets, and white counters.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 6" /> The south living room is also L-shaped, wrapping around a bathroom to the east.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 28" /> Within the south living room, another staircase near the kitchen ascends to the southern balcony. The eastern wall has a metal fireplace mantel and wooden cabinets; the southeast corner has a window and desk; and the western side has a steel beam above two sofas.<ref name="NYCL (2025) pp. 6–7" /> Along the southern wall of the south living room is an alcove, which has a double-height ceiling and a door leading to the rear garden.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 7">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2025|ps=.|page=7}}</ref>

[[File:Interior_Apartment_Staircase_Interior Apartment Staircase -_Modulightor_Building_Paul_Ruldolph 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|The third and fourth floors are connected by 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> The LPC labels them as north bedroom 1, north bedroom 2, south bedroom 2, and south bedroom 1 from north to south.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 7" /> There are two [[Lightlight well|light wells]]s 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" />

==History==

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=== 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 "did hundreds of facade studies for this modest building".<ref name="nyt-2004-07-08" /> Mark Squeo took over the design after 1990.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /> Rudolph frequently added, adjusted, or removed features during the building's construction, which led to persistent shortages.<ref name="p207655256" /><ref name="Wainwright v727" /> The Paul Rudolph Institute's president Kelvin Dickinson described the Modulightor Building as a passion project of Rudolph's, saying: "I think he ran out of money three times."<ref name="Barron 2025" /> Wagner later recalled Rudolph telling him, "Ernst, I remain an architect", despite Wagner's trepidation about Rudolph's persistence.<ref name="p207655256" />

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://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Architecture_of_Paul_Rudolph/MkmPAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%2522modulightor%2522 |title=The Architecture of Paul Rudolph |date=July 10, 2014 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-14939-5 |page=223}}</ref> Rental income from these apartments was used to help pay off the building's mortgage.<ref name="Rohan p. 223" /> The Modulightor store's space was completed in 1996.<ref name="NY2000" />

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}}</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:Kitchen_Dining_Apartment_Kitchen Dining Apartment -_Modulightor_Building_Paul_Ruldolph Modulightor Building Paul Ruldolph.jpg|thumb|The kitchen]]

Wagner began seeking a buyer for Rudolph's other residence at [[23 Beekman Place]] in 1998,<ref name="Institute o972" /><ref name="nyt19981203">{{Cite news|last=Brown|first=Patricia Leigh|date=December 3, 1998|title=Toil and Trouble In Plexi-Land|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/03/garden/toil-and-trouble-in-plexi-land.html|access-date=May 22, 2025|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511165543/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/03/garden/toil-and-trouble-in-plexi-land.html|url-status=live}}</ref> though it would not be sold for two years.<ref name="Institute o972" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Reed|first=Danielle|date=May 4, 2000|title=Witkoff plots plans for Hell's Kitchen|pages=377|work=New York Daily News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77462784/witkoff-plots-plans-for-hells-kitchen/|access-date=May 10, 2021|archive-date=May 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511211948/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77462784/witkoff-plots-plans-for-hells-kitchen/|url-status=live}}</ref> Meanwhile, Lack and his daughter moved out of the Modulightor Building around 1999.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 14"/> After a prolonged disagreement over Rudolph's [[will and testament]], Wagner helped establish the Paul Rudolph Foundation {{Circa|2001}}<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 14"/> or 2002.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /> Wagner moved to the building in either 2000<ref name="nyt-2005-10-09">{{Cite news |last=Fernandez |first=Manny |date=October 9, 2005 |title=Architectural Riches, Usually Hidden, Open for Show |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/09/nyregion/architectural-riches-usually-hidden-open-for-show.html |access-date=May 22, 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> or 2002, and Luckenbill subsequently combined two of the building's apartments.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /> This work involved removing a wall between the northern and southern duplex units,<ref name=":0" /> as well as adding shelves similar to those at 23 Beekman Place, which were used to store Rudolph's work.<ref name="Institute o972" /> The enlarged duplex was completed in 2003,<ref name="nyt-2004-07-08" /> and the structure was known as the Modulightor Building by the next year.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /> The duplex began hosting events as well.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 14" /> For example, Wagner opened his apartment to the public once a month starting in 2005,<ref name="p232261825" /> and [[Open House New York]] began hosting annual events there that year.<ref name="nyt-2005-10-09" /> The Rudolph Foundation also opened the building during the evenings starting in 2007, allowing people to view the lighting designs.<ref name="p229060699">{{Cite news |last=Kaufman |first=David |date=September 7, 2007 |title=Inside intrigues |work=Financial Times |page=1 |id={{pq|229060699}}}}</ref>

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" /> He drew up plans for the fifth and sixth floors of the building starting in October 2007,<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 14" /> using Rudolph's preliminary designs for a six-story building on the site.<ref name="Cereal d504" /><ref name="6sqft" /> Actual construction started {{Circa|2010–2011}}; the modifications largely adhered to Rudolph's drawings, with some modifications such as the removal of a triplex penthouse and the addition of balconies.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /> Wagner evicted the Paul Rudolph Foundation after a disagreement in 2014, and he created a competing organization, the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation (later the Institute for Modern Architecture<ref name="Institute o972" />), which was headquartered at the building.<ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 14" /><ref name="Kasingsing i153">{{cite web | last=Kasingsing | first=Mel Patrick | title=Monument Man: Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture | website=Kanto -– Creative Corners | date=May 4, 2021 | url=https://kanto.ph/spaces/paul-rudolph/ | access-date=May 22, 2025}}</ref> Following the completion of the building's top floors in 2016, they were opened to the public.<ref name="NYCL pp. 11–12">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2023|ps=.|pages=11–12}}</ref> The fashion house [[Bottega Veneta]] hosted a fashion show there in early 2017,<ref>{{cite web |last=Minton |first=Melissa |date=January 5, 2017 |title=Bottega Veneta’sVeneta's Latest Campaign Features Lauren Hutton, Joan Smalls, and an NYC Landmark |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/bottega-venettas-summer-2017-campaign |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=Architectural Digest}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hyland |first=Véronique |date=January 4, 2017 |title=At 73, Lauren Hutton Is the Star of Bottega Veneta’sVeneta's New Campaign |url=https://www.thecut.com/2017/01/lauren-hutton-bottega-veneta-summer-2017-campaign.html |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=The Cut}}</ref> and the upper stories hosted the Archtober festival that October.<ref name="NYCL pp. 11–12" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Wachs |first=Audrey |date=September 28, 2017 |title=AN will bring you a building every day for Archtober 2017 |url=https://www.archpaper.com/2017/09/archtober-2017-building-of-the-day-tours-full-list/ |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=The Architect’sArchitect's Newspaper}}</ref> An exhibition called ''Paul Rudolph: The Personal Laboratory'' was hosted on the upper stories in 2018 to celebrate Rudolph's 100th birthday.<ref name="NYT 2018" /><ref name="Metropolis h651" />

The [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] (LPC) designated the Modulightor Building's exterior as a New York City landmark in December 2023.<ref name="Senzamici 2023 m840">{{cite web |last=Senzamici |first=Peter |date=December 20, 2023 |title=This Sutton Place Building Is Now A Mid-Century Modern Landmark |url=https://patch.com/new-york/upper-east-side-nyc/sutton-place-building-now-mid-century-modern-landmark |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=Upper East Side, NY Patch}}</ref><ref name="Ginsburg 2023 h465">{{cite web |last=Ginsburg |first=Aaron |date=December 19, 2023 |title=Paul Rudolph's Modulightor Building is now an NYC landmark |url=https://www.6sqft.com/paul-rudolphs-modulightor-building-is-now-an-nyc-landmark/ |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=6sqft}}</ref> The same year, Wagner gave the building to the Paul Rudolph Institute,<ref name="Institute o972" /> which at the time wanted to convert it to a study center and [[historic house museum]].<ref name="Kasingsing i153"/> The [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] displayed a [[Scale model|model]] of the building in a 2024 exhibition about Rudolph's work.<ref name="Wainwright v727" /> In December 2024, the third- and fourth-floor duplex was nominated for interior landmark status.<ref>{{cite web | last=Levingston | first=Miranda | title=The Inside Of This UES Apartment Could Be NYC's Next Landmark | website=Upper East Side, NY Patch | date=December 12, 2024 | url=https://patch.com/new-york/upper-east-side-nyc/inside-ues-apartment-could-be-nycs-next-landmark | access-date=May 22, 2025}}</ref><ref name="Ginsburg 2024">{{cite web | last=Ginsburg | first=Aaron | title=The duplex apartment in Paul Rudolph's Modulightor Building may be landmarked | website=6sqft | date=December 12, 2024 | url=https://www.6sqft.com/the-duplex-apartment-in-paul-rudolphs-modulightor-building-may-be-landmarked/ | access-date=May 22, 2025}}</ref> The duplex had not been eligible for landmark designation before then, as New York City designated landmarks were required to be at least 30 years old.<ref name="Ginsburg 2024" /> On May 6, 2025, the LPC designated the duplex as an interior landmark.<ref name="Levingston r951" /><ref name="Barron 2025">{{cite web | last=Barron | first=James | title=A Landmark Celebrates an Architect Many Have Forgotten | website=The New York Times | date=May 7, 2025 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/nyregion/landmark-paul-rudolph-architect.html | access-date=May 22, 2025}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web | last=Ginsburg | first=Aaron | title=City landmarks duplex apartment in Paul Rudolph's Modulightor Building | website=6sqft | date=May 6, 2025 | url=https://www.6sqft.com/city-landmarks-duplex-apartment-in-paul-rudolphs-modulightor-building/ | access-date=May 22, 2025}}</ref>

== Reception ==

The Modulightor Building initially received little notice from either the news media or architectural critics, who did not begin seriously reporting on the building until the 2000s.<ref name="NYCL p. 12" /> [[Joseph Giovannini]] of ''The New York Times'' wrote in 2004, "Like Italian architects carving Renaissance and Baroque facades to be revealed in Mediterranean light, Rudolph succeeded in suggesting depth within shallow dimensions."<ref name="nyt-2004-07-08" /> William Menking of the [[Architects' Journal|''Architects' Journal'']], writing the same year, regarded it as a "superb Modernist storefront" that dwarfed contemporary structures such as the [[Lescaze House]], the [[Rockefeller Guest House]], or even 23 Beekman Place in quality.<ref name="Architectural Press Limited 2004 p." /> ''[[Metropolis (architecture magazine)|Metropolis Magazine]]'' described the building's exterior as "an incredible lattice of mullions and frames",<ref name="Metropolis h651" /> while a critic for ''[[The Guardian]]'' characterized it as "a plexiglass and plasterboard palace that feels as if it might reconfigure itself at any moment".<ref name="Wainwright v727" /> Another writer described the Modulightor Building as "a light-filled jewel of a house, an artificial geode, so conceptually integrated that when you're inside the outside world seems ready to invade".<ref name="Devlin 2017 p. 230" />

The interior also received critical commentary. Giovannini wrote that "the triumph of the design is that Rudolph pulled off the kaleidoscopic complexity with wallboard and off-the-rack metal studs and joists",<ref name="nyt-2004-07-08" /><ref name=":0" /> while Menking said that the interiors were "a New York version of [[Sir John Soane's Museum]]" and that 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 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" /> Conversely, Martin Filler of ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'' described the design as a symptom of Rudolph's "incorrigible urge to overcomplicate things" in his later career, despite liking the architect's early work.<ref>{{cite web |last=Filler |first=Martin |date=July 22, 2020 |title=Martin Filler |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/02/05/hard-case-paul-rudolph/ |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=The New York Review of Books}}</ref><ref name="NYCL (2025) p. 17">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2025|ps=.|page=17}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets]]

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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]

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