Channel Gardens
Located between La Masion Francaise and The British Empire Building, the ironically named Channel Gardens are one of New York’s best small Privately Owned Public Spaces (or POPS). Consisting of a 200-ft promenade that terminates with the sunken Lower Plaza before 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Channel Gardens are themselves bisected by a cascade of six pools… Continue reading
610 Fifth Avenue, La Maison Francaise
The first of three buildings named after European nations in a bid to attract tenants from those countries, La Masion Francaise at 610 Fifth Avenue features a magnificent relief created by the French artist Alfred Jannoit. Surmounted by a depiction of two goddesses representing the cities of Paris and New York linking hands, the work… Continue reading
Rockefeller Center
A spectacular collection of Art Deco buildings and the largest single construction project in the world when built, Rockefeller Center is one of the glories of American urbanism. Built between 1930 and 1939 with Raymond Hood as the chief architect, the complex was funded by John D. Rockefeller Jr., who had originally planned to incorporate… Continue reading
608 Fifth Avenue, The Goelet Building
A beautifully modulated and detailed Art Deco building, 608 Fifth Avenue, the Goelet Building, was commissioned by the aristocratic family of the same name whose house stood a block south across the street. Designed by Victor Hafner with the engineer Edward Hall Faile, the building has been praised by architectural critic Paul Goldberger as “New… Continue reading
604 Fifth Avenue
Currently almost completely covered by a billboard advertising its availability, 604 Fifth Avenue is one of the few completed works by William Van Alen, the architect of the Chrysler Building. Constructed in 1925 as a location for the Childs restaurant chain, 604 Fifth Avenue featured a sophisticated curved façade that took advantage of light then… Continue reading