Modulightor Building: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:38, 26 May 2025

Revision as of 01:09, 27 May 2025

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{{Infobox building

| name = Modulightor Building

| logo =

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| image = Modulightor Building 2024.jpg

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| image_alt = <!-- or |alt= -->

| 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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| relocated_date =

| renovation_date = 2007–2016

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| client =

| owner = Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

| landlord = <!-- or |management= or |operator= or |governing_body= -->

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

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| website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->

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| embedded = {{Infobox historic site

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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 between 1989 and 1993 by the architect [[Paul Rudolph (architect)|Paul Rudolph]], originally comprised a 19th-century townhouse, thatwhile wasthe rebuiltfifth betweenand 1989sixth andstories 1993were designed by Mark Squeo. ItThe structure was one of the last buildingsdesigned thatby Rudolph completed in Manhattan before he died in 1997; unlike his other projects, itthe Modulightor Building was not particularly well known, receiving little media coverage until the 2000s. The fifth and sixth stories were constructed from 2007 to 2016 in a project led by Rudolph's associate Mark Squeo. The building was designated as a landmark by the [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] inhas designated the building's 2023facade, and the interior of the third- and fourth-story duplex was(formerly similarlyoccupied designatedby inRudolph's partner Ernst Wagner), as city 2025landmarks.

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 elevations 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. The third story of the Wagner duplex includes a kitchen and two duplexesliving rooms, while the fourth story has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The duplex's interconnected rooms are decorated in a white color palette, with design details such as floating house plants, suspended staircases, banisters, and bookshelves.

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 moved into the building, acquiring it in 2023.

==Site==

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=== After Rudolph's death ===

[[File:Kitchen Dining Apartment - 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 two 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'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'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'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" /><ref name="Bernstein v596">{{cite web |last=Bernstein |first=Fred A. |date=October 15, 2018 |title=Paul Rudolph’s Legacy Lives on Through His Outstanding Buildings |url=http://galeriemagazine.com/paul-rudolph-architect-100-birthday/ |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=Galerie Magazine}}</ref>