The original design of the Edward Durell Stone building in 2 Columbus Circle.

2 Columbus Circle is a small, trapezoidal lot on the south side of Columbus Circle in Manhattan. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2304x3072, 1208 KB)2 Columbus Circle in New York City by Renate OFlaherty File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2304x3072, 1208 KB)2 Columbus Circle in New York City by Renate OFlaherty File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Edward Durrell Stone (1902 Fayetteville, Arkansas - 1978 New York City), American modernist twentieth century architect. ... Columbus Circle Columbus Circle is a major landmark and point of attraction in New York City. ... The Borough of Manhattan, highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ...

The seven-story Pabst Grand Circle Hotel, designed by William H. Cauvet, stood at this address from 1874 until it was demolished in 1960.

From 1964 to 2005 the site contained a 12 story modernist structure designed by Edward Durell Stone. As Stone designed it, the building was marble-clad with Venetian motifs and a curved façade. It had filigree-like portholes and windows that ran along an upper loggia at its top stories. It originally housed the Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art. This article focuses on the cultural movement labeled modernism or the modern movement. See also: Modernism (Roman Catholicism) or Modernist Christianity; Modernismo for specific art movement(s) in Spain and Catalonia. ... Edward Durrell Stone (1902 Fayetteville, Arkansas - 1978 New York City), American modernist twentieth century architect. ... Villa Godi by Palladio. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Stone's building was often called "The Lollipop Building" in reference to a mocking review by architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable in which she called it a "die-cut Venetian palazzo on lollipops." (However, three decades later she admitted that she got "a little lift, a sense of pleasure" when she walked past it.) Ada Louise Huxtable (b. ...

It was listed as one of the World Monuments Fund's "100 Most Endangered Sites for 2006." In 2004, the National Trust for Historic Preservation called it one of America's "11 Most Endangered Historic Places." It is presently being radically altered by the Museum of Art and Design for their occupation in 2007. The World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic art and architecture worldwide through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training. ... The Museum of Arts & Design, is an institution formerly known as the American Craft Museum. ...

Redesign and landmark controversy

Proposed changes to the building by architect Brad Cloepfil touched off a preservation debate joined by Tom Wolfe (The New York Times; October 12, 2003 and October 13, 2003), Chuck Close, Frank Stella, Robert A. M. Stern, Columbia art history department chairman Barry Bergdoll, New York Times' architecture critics Herbert Muschamp and Nicolai Ouroussoff, urbanist scholar Witold Rybczynski, among others. Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) referred to it as "one of New York's most photographed and readily recognizable buildings." To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. ... October 12 is the 285th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (286th in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 13 is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Chuck Close (born July 5, 1940, Monroe, Washington) is an American photorealistic painter. ... Frank Philip Stella (born May 12, 1936) is an American painter. ... Robert A.M. Stern Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A. M. Stern, (born May 23, 1939) is an American architect and Dean of the [[Yale University School of Architecture. ... Herbert Muschamp is a writer for the New York Times who, in 2004, stepped down as the newspapers architecture critic. ... Nicolai Ouroussoff is the architecture critic for the New York Times, where he replaced Herbert Muschamp in 2004. ... Witold Rybczynski (born in 1943, in Edinburgh, Scotland), is a Canadian architect, professor and writer. ... Carolyn Maloney (born on February 19, 1948) is a politician from the U.S. state of New York. ...

Stone's building was listed as worthy of preservation by organizations, including: the New York/Tri-State Chapter of DOCOMOMO, the Historic Districts Council, the Municipal Art Society, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, the Preservation League of New York State, and the World Monuments Fund. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization which was founded in 1949 to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities. ... The World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic art and architecture worldwide through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training. ...

Despite this, the New York City Landmarks Commission never held a public hearing on its fate. E-mails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act between NYC Landmarks Commission chairman Robert Tierney and Laurie Beckelman, who works for the Museum of Art and Design, suggest that the pair conspired to keep the building from being considered by the landmarks panel. A city permit to allow removal of the existing facade was issued in June 2005.^{[citation needed]} Nearly sixty countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation, which sets rules on governmental secrecy. ...

The August 9, 2005 edition of The New York Times reported that members of the Landmarks Preservation Commission took the rare step of public disagreement over this issue, despite City Hall's insistence that the case against the building had been closed for nine years. Roberta Brandes Gratz, a commission member, said in a letter to The New York Times, "Neither I as an individual commissioner nor the current commission as a whole has rendered a 'professional judgment' on whether there should be a hearing or a designation." In addition, telephone interviews conducted by the New York Times suggested that at least some of the other eleven commissioners also favored a public hearing. Yet, the commission's executive director, Ronda Wist, said chairman Tierney "is not inclined to revisit this question." August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Tierney claimed that his principal architectural education occurred when he took an undergraduate course with Vincent Scully, now the Sterling professor emeritus of art history at Yale University. On August 14, 2005, Scully stated in a letter to Tierney: "Something rather wonderful has occurred, by which the building, rarely anyone's favorite in the past, is looking better every day...Its own integrity, its uniqueness, the indomitable determination to make a point that produced it, are coming to the fore and are powerfully affecting the way we see it...It is in fact becoming the icon it never was, one about which the city now cares a great deal." Vincent Joseph Scully, Jr. ... Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. ... August 14 is the 226th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (227th in leap years), with 139 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

2 Columbus Circle under remodeling in March 2006.

The New York City Landmarks Commission's refusal to hold a public hearing on the building was based on a consensus reached in June 1996 by a four-member committee made up of: the Rev. Thomas F. Pike, Charles Sachs, Vicki Match Suna, and Professor Sarah Bradford Landau. However, on August 18, 2005 the New York Times reported that Prof. Landau joined other former commissioners - William E. Davis, Stephen M. Raphael, Mildred F. Schmertz, along with Gene A. Norman, a former chairman, and Beverly Moss Spatt, a former chairwoman - in calling for a hearing. She wrote: "Had there been such a large and broad demand for a public hearing about the building in 1996, I'm not at all sure I would have voted the way I did...It is in the long-term interest of the commission to maintain good rapport with the preservation community. Whether the building merits designation is another issue, and should be decided by the current commission." Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1017x1292, 665 KB) Summary This is a photo of 2 Columbus Circle under renovation in early 2006. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1017x1292, 665 KB) Summary This is a photo of 2 Columbus Circle under renovation in early 2006. ...

On December 25, 2005, New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff wrote: "Recent landmark preservation battles in New York suggest that the civic powers-that-be insist on defending a narrow view of the past and of Modernism in particular. That became apparent during the crusade to preserve Edward Durell Stone's so-called lollipop building at 2 Columbus Circle, a landmark of late Modernism...As a result, the facade is being utterly revamped...This was an atrocious betrayal of the public trust...A similar debate is unfolding in Berlin, where the German government plans to demolish the 1970's Palast der Republik...Both 2 Columbus Circle and the Berlin building represent important moments in their cities collective memories. The pressure to remake or raze them is arguably a form of censorship, a drive to cleanse history of anything but a strictly prescribed view of the past." December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 6 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Palast der Republik in 2003 The Palast der Republik (Palace of the Republic) is a building in Berlin, on the bank of the River Spree, and on Schlossplatz (called Marx-Engels-Platz from 1951 to 1994). ...

History of attempts at preservation

• November 2003 - The Preservation League of New York State listed 2 Columbus Circle among its "Seven to Save" sites, prompting artist Chuck Close to write, "I have always enjoyed this distinctive and delightful building with its opaque white facades and punched out hole windows."

• December 2003 - Then chief New York Times architect Herbert Muschamp cited the failure of the Landmarks Commission to hold a hearing on 2 Columbus Circle one of the architectural "Lows" of 2003, writing, "The refusal of the New York City Landmarks Commission to hold hearings on the future of 2 Columbus Circle is a shocking dereliction of public duty. Unacceptable in itself, this abdication also raises the scary question of what other buildings the commission might choose to overlook in the future."

• May 2004 - The National Trust for Historic Preservation named 2 Columbus Circle as on of America's 11 "most endangered" buildings, stating, "Radically altering 2 Columbus Circle would create a gaping void in the record of design and urbanism in the city, state, nation, and world."

• August 2004 - Former Landmarks Commissioner Anthony M. Tung wrote a letter to Landmarks Commission Chair Robert B. Tierney, stating, "Simply, in the twenty six years of my involvement in preservation matters, beginning with my appointment as a commissioner by Mayor Edward I. Koch in 1979, I have never seen the commission turn its back on such a widely supported and substantive argument for a hearing."

• September 2004 - Former Landmarks Commission Chair Beverly Moss Spatt wrote in a letter to current Chair Tierney that "...a public hearing on 2 Columbus Circle is necessary to afford space and opportunity to hear from all sides whether it is not or is worthy of designation....Good government is that government in which all people have a part."

• March 2005 - An article entitled, "In Preservation Wars, A Focus on Midcentury," featured quotes from Robert A. M. Stern ("The commission ought to hear the arguments and let them be debated in a public forum -- that's democracy.") Modern Architecture Working Group co-chair John Jurayj ("Modern preservation is in a major crisis in our city, a crisis that is shortly going to get worse unless the Landmarks Preservation Commission starts to act more aggressively.") and Landmarks West! Executive Director Kate Wood ("If the Landmarks Commission held a public hearing for 2 Columbus Circle, literally hundreds of people would attend and testify -- both for and against designation. The question is, what more will it take?")

• May 2005 - The New York Times reported: "Not to preserve [2 Columbus Circle] is shocking, but not to hear it is criminal," said architect and Yale Dean Robert A. M. Stern to fellow panelist Robert B. Tierney, Chair of the New York's Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), at the 92nd Street Y. And when the question "Is it time for the preservation of modernism?" was asked in an online poll, 75% of readers gave the resounding answer YES.

• May 2005 - Crain's New York Business reported: "The battle between preservationists and the city over 2 Columbus Circle is about to get noisy again" -- Landmarks West! hired The Advance Group, the consultants behind the successful "Save the Plaza Hotel" campaign, to help convince the Bloomberg Administration to hold a landmark designation hearing on 2 Columbus Circle.

• May 2005 - At a May 16 City Council oversight hearing on the Landmarks Preservation Commission (only the third in the forty-year history of the agency), former Landmarks Commission Chair Gene A. Norman called on current Chair Tierney to hold a hearing on 2 Columbus Circle, arguing that "if people are preventing things from moving in a forward direction, they should be replaced."

• May 2005 - Nicolai Ouroussoff, chief architecture critic of the New York Times wrote, "Representing a pivotal moment in architecture's eventual turn from mainstream Modernism, the Stone building's modest scale and concave facade are a gentle counterpoint to the new Time Warner Center's bland gigantism. Even so, the [Landmark's Preservation] commission declines to debate whether it deserves landmark status.

• May 2005 - "Architecture Lovers Rally to Save 2 Columbus Circle" is the headline of a NY1 news report following a May 31 demonstration in front of the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD, formerly the American Craft Museum).

• May 2005 - LANDMARK WEST! files Article 78 lawsuit against LPC Chair Robert B. Tierney, MAD and its affiliates Laurie Beckelman, Holly Hotchner, and Jerome Chazen for "conspiracy to obstruct and subvert the lawful functioning of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission."

• June 2005 - Supporters of a public hearing for Edward Durell Stone's iconic 1964 design join hands in a "circle of support" all the way around the building's famous "lollipop" base at a rally on June 23.

• June 2005 - The World Monuments Fund (WMF) included 2 Columbus Circle on its 2006 "Watch List" of the 100 Most Endangered Sites on earth. WMF's website (www.wmf.org) states, "The listing of 2 Columbus Circle highlights the widespread failure of public authorities to recognize the architectural merit of postwar buildings and sites as part of our collective cultural heritage."

• July 2005 - The New York Times, New York magazine, and the Architect's Newspaper report on "chummy" e-mail exchanges between NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission chair Robert Tierney and Laurie Beckelman, a representative from the Museum of Arts and Design. Their relationship is described as a "conflict of interest" and "easily lead one to think that Tierney...is in cahoots with MAD." In one e-mail, Tierney tells Beckelman, "Let me know how I can help on the trouble ahead". The e-mails were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Landmarks West!

• July 2005 - The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, announced in a letter to Landmarks West! that 2 Columbus Circle "does appear to meet the eligibility criteria for listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places." The State is reviewing the building's eligibility under criterion "C" for sites that "embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values..."

• July 2005 - New York City's Law Department, committing to a NY Supreme Court justice that the City "will neither close on the sale [of 2 Columbus Circle] nor authorize work under any existing building permits prior to either September 7, 2005" or the date of a court decision in the matter of LANDMARK WEST! et. al. v. City of New York (one of three still-pending lawsuits brought by LW! and other citizens to prevent the defacement of 2 Columbus Circle without due process).

• August 2005 - The New York Times reports in an article titled “Unanimity on a Building Is a Façade, Insiders Say": “The debate over whether 2 Columbus Circle merits consideration as an official landmark is playing out on the Landmarks Preservation Commission itself. A letter from Landmarks Commissioner Roberta Brandes Gratz to the editor of the Times “suggested that at least some of the 11 commissioners favor a public hearing, as did telephone interviews yesterday with several members.”

2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Chuck Close (born July 5, 1940, Monroe, Washington) is an American photorealistic painter. ... Herbert Muschamp is a writer for the New York Times who, in 2004, stepped down as the newspapers architecture critic. ... It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in... The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization which was founded in 1949 to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Robert A.M. Stern Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A. M. Stern, (born May 23, 1939) is an American architect and Dean of the [[Yale University School of Architecture. ... Robert A.M. Stern Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A. M. Stern, (born May 23, 1939) is an American architect and Dean of the [[Yale University School of Architecture. ... The Plaza Hotel as seen from the corner of 5th Avenue and 59th Street in Manhattan The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 19-story hotel on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Central Park South in Manhattan, currently closed and undergoing renovations. ... Nicolai Ouroussoff is the architecture critic for the New York Times, where he replaced Herbert Muschamp in 2004. ... The World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic art and architecture worldwide through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training. ...

A history of the site

• 1874 - John D. Voorhis, a carriage maker, builds the seven-story Pabst Grand Circle Hotel on this irregular plot. Designed by William H. Cauvet, the hotel was made of brownstone with a mansard roof.

• 1913 - One hundred and twelve stage performers gather at the site and vote to form a union, the Actors' Equity Association.

• 1964 - The building at Two Columbus Circle, designed by Edward Durell Stone, opens as the Gallery of Modern Art. It displays the collection of Huntington Hartford, heir to the founder of A&P Supermarkets.

• 1969 - The Gallery of Modern Art closes. Fairleigh Dickinson University receives 2 Columbus Circle as a gift from Hartford and operates it as the New York Cultural Center. Art exhibitions are sometimes hosted there.

• 1975 - Gulf and Western Industries purchases 2 Columbus Circle, and the building is unused until 1980.

• 1980 - Gulf and Western presents 2 Columbus Circle to the City of New York as a gift. The City of New York accepts 2 Columbus Circle and installs the headquarters for the Department of Cultural Affairs. The New York Convention and Visitors Bureau will also be housed in 2 Columbus Circle.

• 1996 - Jennifer Raab, Chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, reviews with the Designation Committee of the Commission the possibility of recommending a hearing on 2 Columbus Circle.

• 1998 - The Department of Cultural Affairs and the Convention and Visitors Bureau vacate 2 Columbus Circle.

• 2002 - Under Landmarks Preservation Commission Chairman Sherida Paulsen, the Designation Committee reviews the request to hold a hearing and again votes not to.

• June 2002 - Museum of Arts & Design (MAD) is designated as the site developer of 2 Columbus Circle by the NYC Economic Development Corporation.

• June 2005 - The NYC Department of Buildings approves the permit for the Museum of Arts and Design to begin removing 2 Columbus Circle's facade.

1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1913 (MCMXIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The Actors Equity Association (commonly simply Equity) is the trade union of American theatrical performers and stage managers. ... For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university founded in 1942, the largest private university in New Jersey. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ...

Sources

• Chicago Tribune June 22, 2005. Abstract of Discussion on the 2006 list of the world's 100 most endangered artistic, historical and cultural sites.
• Wmf.org - 2 Columbus Circle

External links

• 2006 World Monuments, 100 Most Endangered Sites
• live webcam of work on the Bldg
• Images
• Essay: Modernism Endangered
• Article by Tom Wolfe
• Report by NY1 of a rally
• Recent Past Preservation Network
• The Architect's Newspaper
• LANDMARK WEST! website
• Eyesore or Icon?
• Petition to Save 2 Columbus Circle
• The Rape of 2 Columbus Circle