Content deleted Content added
Epicgenius (talk | contribs) Ce Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit Advanced mobile edit |
Nikkimaria (talk | contribs) ce |
||
Line 24:
| classification =
| ___location =
| address = 246 East 58th Street,<br />[[Manhattan]],
| current_tenants =
| namesake =
Line 106:
}}
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]] and completed in 1993, originally comprised a 19th-century townhouse. The structure was one of the last designed by Rudolph in Manhattan before he died in 1997; unlike his other projects, the Modulightor Building was not particularly well-publicized, receiving little media coverage until the 2000s. The fifth and sixth stories, completed in 2016, were designed by Mark Squeo, an associate of Rudolph's. The building's facade, and the interior of the third- and fourth-story duplex (formerly occupied by Rudolph's partner Ernst Wagner), are [[New York City designated landmark]]s.
The building was constructed for Modulightor, a company that Rudolph co-founded to sell light fixtures. 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 store 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 living 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.
Line 113:
==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=31–32 |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=246 East 58th Street, 10022 |url=https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/1331/128#19.79/40.7599785/-73.9652023 |access-date=May 22, 2025 |publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]] |archive-date=January 23, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123122525/https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/1331/128#19.79/40.7599785/-73.9652023 |url-status=live }}</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 [[row house]]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" />
| |||