A guide to New York’s unsung Modernist gems

This building was designed for the maritime union and is meant to evoke a ship. But people see lots of different themes in its subdued Googie design. The building was nearly lost when the hospital that acquired owned it received a permit to demolish it to build a tower in this location. But the hospital went bankrupt before that could happen, so it was saved at the last minute.

Tucked away behind the famed Lincoln Center, this forgotten Modernist glass box appears to hover over the street below like a giant lamp.

Tucked away behind the famed Lincoln Center, this forgotten Modernist glass box appears to hover over the street below like a giant lamp.

Reminiscent of a circus tent, but in classic mid-century modern colors that seem timeless. This vibrant church in Harlem is a wonderful testament to the surrounding community.

There are lots of International-style Modernist buildings in Manhattan that get a lot more attention than this one. But I love its stamped aluminum panels, which evoke the sort of breezeblocks you see in a tropical climate, to me.

Tucked underneath the Citigroup Centre building is this cavernous church, which is a quiet sanctuary and welcome respite to the noisy, chaotic city just outside its doors. Unlike most churches, this one is full of light, and feels like something you’d more likely see in Scandinavia.

Morris Lapidus designed some of the biggest icons of Miami Beach (Eden Roc, the Fontainebleau, etc.), and his name became synonymous with glamorous resort luxury. But he also designed a few hotels in more sober locations, such as Washington, DC and here in New York City. The snobbier crowds in these cities panned or ignored his designs there, claiming they were “too far from the beach”. With time, we can now appreciate his elegant design.

Admittedly, the Met Breuer is fairly well known. But still is relatively overlooked by many visitors to New York City.

Italian engineer and architect Pier Luigi Nervi’s first building in the US is this massive bus terminal at the northern tip of Manhattan - a location few tourists ever get to see, but worth the subway ride.

Paul Rudolph started his career as one of the founding members of the Sarasota School of Modernism, designing light, glass and wood post & beam structures made for the tropical climate of Florida’s south central gulf coast. But Rudolph moved to Yale and then New York, and his style changed as he embraced a unique form of Metabolist organic brutalism in his work. These towers, designed for a public housing project in the Bronx, seem like something out of a science fiction movie.

It’s a little known fact that the main campus for New York University was actually in the Bronx. As a way of increasing the profile of that school, the university hired Marcel Breuer to design the master plan and many of the buildings. The idea didn’t work, however, because NYU was forced to sell the campus back to the city and consolidate back in Manhattan shortly thereafter. But the buildings today are now the home of the Bronx Community College.

It’s a little known fact that the main campus for New York University was actually in the Bronx. As a way of increasing the profile of that school, the university hired Marcel Breuer to design the master plan and many of the buildings. The idea didn’t work, however, because NYU was forced to sell the campus back to the city and consolidate back in Manhattan shortly thereafter. But the buildings today are now the home of the Bronx Community College.

It’s a little known fact that the main campus for New York University was actually in the Bronx. As a way of increasing the profile of that school, the university hired Marcel Breuer to design the master plan and many of the buildings. The idea didn’t work, however, because NYU was forced to sell the campus back to the city and consolidate back in Manhattan shortly thereafter. But the buildings today are now the home of the Bronx Community College.

This abandoned structure from the 1964 World’s Fair is reminiscent of a Greek or Roman structure, to me. It’s rare to see Modernist architecture in such a state, but it’s easy to imagine what this must have been like during the Expo, with people milling about and the glass elevators whisking people up to the observation towers.

The closest Frank Lloyd Wright ever got to designing his utopian community is a group of houses in a development in Pleasantville, NY, about a 20 or 30 minute drive outside of the city. Wright himself designed several of the homes in this development, and approved the designs for the rest, from other architects. Nearly all of the homes are in excellent restored condition today.

Designer Russel Wright built his own little hideaway, called “Manitoga” in the Hudson River Valley outside of the city. It’s a wonderful blending of Modernist design and nature, and takes to the extreme the idea of blurring the lines between indoors and out.

Designer Russel Wright built his own little hideaway, called “Manitoga” in the Hudson River Valley outside of the city. It’s a wonderful blending of Modernist design and nature, and takes to the extreme the idea of blurring the lines between indoors and out.

The Orange County Administration Center is a great example of Paul Rudolph’s later metabolist design language. But it was nearly lost as the local government wanted to tear it down in favor of a more conventional-looking building. Parts of it were indeed lost in the renovation, but enough still exists to be worth a visit.  

In the opposite direction from NYC’s Hudson Valley suburbs are the Long Island suburbs. This hospital complex at Stony Brook is another example of architecture emulating science fiction, and appears surreal when seen in person.

The New Jersey suburbs of NYC are full of Modernist bank branches like this now defunct office of the Caldwell Motor Bank. Unfortunately, this and many others are now threatened with demolition.

In the post-war era, many corporations opened up large facilities in bedroom communities outside of NYC. Holmdel, NJ became home to a sprawling facility for Bell Labs, whose rather subdued exterior hides a vast, light-filled atrium.

In the post-war era, many corporations opened up large facilities in bedroom communities outside of NYC. Holmdel, NJ became home to a sprawling facility for Bell Labs, whose rather subdued exterior hides a vast, light-filled atrium.

The Garden State Arts Center was built to accommodate the growing population who was moving into this suburb to work at Bell Labs and other surrounding technology firms. Edward Durell Stone typically embraced a New Formalist version of Modernism, but his design for this structure evokes a spaceship.