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135-541: Wallace Kirkman Harrison (September 28, 1895 – December 2, 1981) was an American architect. Harrison started his professional career with the firm of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray, participating in the construction of Rockefeller Center . He is best known for executing large public projects in New York City and upstate, many of them a result of his long and fruitful personal relationship with Nelson Rockefeller , for whom he served as an adviser. Harrison's work in

270-406: A "patriot" for jump-starting the city's economy with the construction project. Rockefeller made an effort to form amicable relationships with Rockefeller Center's workers. Even when Rockefeller had to reduce wages for his union workers , he was praised for not reducing wages as severely as did other construction firms, many of which were either struggling or going bankrupt. At the time, the complex

405-451: A 27-year lease for the site from Columbia, with the option for three 21-year renewals, such that the lease could theoretically last until 2015. (The lease was renewed in 1953 and 1973, and Columbia sold the land to Rockefeller Center Inc. in 1985. ) Moreover, Rockefeller could avoid any rent increases for forty-five years, adjusted for inflation. The lease did not include the 100-foot-wide (30 m) strip of land bordering Sixth Avenue on

540-488: A 60-story building in the center block for RCA (the current 30 Rockefeller Plaza ). Todd suggested that this large tower be placed on Sixth Avenue because the Sixth Avenue Elevated would reduce the value of any other properties at the west end of the complex. On Fifth Avenue there would be a short oval-shaped retail building, whose top floors would be occupied by Chase National Bank offices. There would be

675-557: A Metropolitan Opera House on the site persisted. Official plans for a facility to the east of the RKO Roxy were filed in April 1932; the projected 4,042-seat opera facility would contain features such as a second-floor esplanade extending across 50th Street. However, the Met was unable to fund such a move, so the proposed new opera house was relegated to tentative status. In September 1931,

810-584: A brief collaboration again in 1938. Although only four buildings were built by the pair, they contributed significantly to the American modernist movement through their numerous articles published in Architectural Record on urban planning, the modernist aesthetic, and technology. One collaboration was the 1931 Aluminaire House , designed for an exhibition, and later sold to New York architect Wallace K. Harrison for $ 1000. Harrison used it as

945-456: A cost of over $ 3 million per year (equivalent to $ 42.1 million in 2023), thereby allowing all the existing leases on the site to expire by November 1931 so Rockefeller could purchase them. Rockefeller would pay $ 3.6 million per year (equivalent to $ 50.5 million in 2023). In return, he would be entitled to the income from the property, which at the time was about $ 300,000 annually (equivalent to $ 4.2 million in 2023). This consisted of

1080-612: A daughter, Sarah, and lived in Manhattan and Seal Harbor, Maine . Construction of Rockefeller Center The construction of the Rockefeller Center complex in Midtown Manhattan , New York City, was conceived in the late 1920s and led by John D. Rockefeller Jr. . Rockefeller Center is on one of Columbia University 's former campuses and is bounded by Fifth Avenue to the east, Sixth Avenue (Avenue of

1215-590: A group of NBC managers and architects toured Europe to find performers and look at theater designs. However, the group did not find any significant architectural details that they could use in the Radio City theaters. In any case, Roxy's friend Peter B. Clark turned out to have much more innovative designs for the proposed theaters than the Europeans did. The Music Hall was designed by architect Edward Durell Stone and interior designer Donald Deskey in

1350-482: A guest house on his Long Island property for years. Another of their commissions was an office/apartment dual-use building for Kocher's brother, Dr. J. J. Kocher of Palm Springs. This project introduced Frey to the California desert, which was to become his home and the backdrop for most of his subsequent work. From 1935 to 1937, Frey worked with John Porter Clark (1905–1991), a Cornell-educated architect, under

1485-430: A larger one for movies; and another theater, larger still, for vaudeville . Under the plan, the demolition of the site's existing structures would start later in the year, and the complex would be complete by 1933. This plan had not been disclosed to the general public prior to the announcement, and even John Rockefeller Jr. was surprised by the $ 350 million cost estimate (equivalent to $ 5.08 billion in 2023), since

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1620-430: A meeting with Young. The RCA founder was enthusiastic about the project, expressing his vision for a complex that, according to Daniel Okrent, contained "an opera house, a concert hall, a Shakespeare theater—and both broadcast studios and office space for RCA and its affiliated companies". RCA president David Sarnoff would join the negotiations in early 1930. Sarnoff immediately recognized Radio City's potential to affect

1755-469: A noted mythology and symbology professor, was tasked with planning the complex's arts installations. Alexander submitted his plan for the site's artwork in December 1932. As part of the proposal, the complex would have a variety of sculptures, statues, murals, friezes, decorative fountains, and mosaics. Expanding upon Hood's setback-garden plan, Alexander's proposal also included rooftop gardens atop all

1890-619: A number of important Long Island-based projects, including the World's Fairs of 1939 and 1964 in Flushing, Queens , and LaGuardia and Idlewild (now John F. Kennedy ) airports. Harrison's major projects are marked by straightforward planning and sensible functionalism, although his residential side-projects show more experimental flair. In 1931, Harrison established an 11-acre (4.5 ha) summer retreat in West Hills, New York , which

2025-493: A parcel of land in what is now Midtown for $ 5,000, equivalent to $ 92,000 in 2023 dollars. In terms of the present-day street grid, Hosack's land was bounded by 47th Street on the south, 51st Street on the north, and Fifth Avenue on the east, while the western boundary was slightly east of Sixth Avenue (also known as Avenue of the Americas). At the time, the land was sparsely occupied and consisted mostly of forest. Hosack opened

2160-480: A pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair ; parts of Rockefeller Center; and the United Nations headquarters. Léger waited out part of World War II by painting a mural at the bottom of Harrison's swimming pool. Léger also created a large mural for the home's circular living room and sculpted an abstract form to serve as a skylight. Calder's first show is said to have taken place at the home. In 1965, Harrison

2295-529: A plaza between the oval building and RCA's building, and a restaurant atop the former. A transcontinental bus terminal would be built underground to entice tenants who might otherwise rent near Penn Station or Grand Central. Plan H-1 was approved in June 1930. In the middle of the month, The New York Times announced the plans for the "Radio City" project between 48th Street, 51st Street, Fifth Avenue, and Sixth Avenue. Additional details were released: for example,

2430-541: A position in the Paris atelier of the noted International Style architect Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret . Frey was one of two full-time employees of the atelier and coworkers included Josep Lluís Sert , Kunio Maekawa , and Charlotte Perriand . During his period of working for Le Corbusier, Frey worked on the Villa Savoye project and other significant projects. In 1928, Frey left the atelier to take up work in

2565-520: A private project of this size was unprecedented. Since Rockefeller had invested large sums of money in the stock market, his wealth declined sharply as a result of the 1929 stock market crash. In September 1930, Rockefeller and Todd started looking for funding to construct the buildings; and by November they secured a tentative funding agreement with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. In March 1931, this agreement

2700-434: A progressive desert mecca for innovative modern architecture during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He produced designs for the spectrum of architectural commissions, from bespoke custom homes to institutional and public buildings, most of which are still in use today. In comparison with his contemporary and fellow European transplant, Richard Neutra , Frey's designs are more integrated into the surrounding landscape and draw from

2835-400: A public "Metropolitan Avenue", which would run from 42nd to 59th streets. The avenue would break up the 920-foot-long (280 m) distance between Fifth and Sixth avenues, which was the longest gap between two numbered avenues in Manhattan. This was not a new proposal, as Mayor William Jay Gaynor had posited a similar avenue from 34th to 59th Streets in 1910, and Wistar himself had proposed

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2970-512: A resort community for a broader segment of the American populace with more leisure time than any previous generation. Frey and Clark were well positioned to capitalize on this, and both the city and their firm benefited from an unprecedented period of construction. Significant buildings by Frey during this period include the following: Frey died in Palm Springs , aged 95, and was buried at Welwood Murray Cemetery. After some consideration,

3105-596: A sense of energy, a sense of purpose", according to architecture expert Alan Balfour . A subsequent change to the zoning resolution in 1931, shortly after the Empire State Building opened, increased the maximum speed of New York City buildings' elevators from 700 feet per minute (210 m/min) to 1,200 feet per minute (370 m/min), ostensibly as a result of lobbying from the Rockefeller family. This allowed Rockefeller Center's designers to reduce

3240-468: A series of architectural partnerships. Harrison participated with the architectural teams involved in the construction of Rockefeller Center in New York City, completed in 1939. His brother-in-law was married to John D. Rockefeller Jr. 's daughter, Abigail and Harrison served as a designer and architectural adviser for Nelson Rockefeller , notably in the years when Rockefeller was governor of New York. In 1941 Harrison joined with Max Abramowitz to form

3375-564: A shopping center at the corner of Sunrise Way and Ramon Road in Palm Springs that bore a Frey-designed façade was demolished and replaced with an entirely new center that incorporates architectural touches in Frey's style. Newly designed structures along Palm Canyon Drive are now being fitted with Frey-styled accents, including butterfly rooflines, glass walls, rock facings and exposed ceilings. Frey's buildings helped establish Palm Springs as

3510-483: A wave of blunt, negative criticism from private citizens; newspapers, such as the New York Herald Tribune ; and architects, including both Frank Lloyd Wright and Ralph Adams Cram , whose styles were diametrically opposed to each other. The New York Times took note of the "universal condemnation" of the proposal, and after the complex's architects changed their plans in response to the criticism,

3645-422: A window, which was the maximum distance that sunlight could directly penetrate the interior of a building at New York City's latitude. At the time, air-conditioned office buildings were rare, and the sunlit offices provided comfortable accommodations, as opposed to offices in many older buildings, which were dark and cramped. During late 1930 and early 1931, the plans were revised and streamlined. March 1931 saw

3780-562: The Art Deco style. Eugene Schoen was selected to design the RKO Roxy. In December 1931, the Rockefeller Center Corporation put forth its expanded plans for the underground pedestrian mall. It would now include a series of people mover tunnels, similar to the U.S. Capitol subway , which would link the complex to locations such as Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station . A smaller, scaled-down version of

3915-616: The Elgin Botanic Garden , the country's first public botanical garden , on the site in 1804. The garden would operate until 1811, when Hosack put the land on sale for $ 100,000 (equivalent to $ 1,831,000 in 2023 ). As no one was willing to buy the land, the New York State Legislature eventually bought the land for $ 75,000 (equivalent to $ 1,373,000 in 2023 ). In 1814, the trustees of Columbia University (then Columbia College) were looking to

4050-476: The Prohibition Era had banned all sales of alcoholic beverages. Although the more tenuous of these speakeasies quickly moved elsewhere at the mere mention of formal eviction proceedings, other tenants, including some of the brothels , were harder to evict. Many tenants only moved on certain conditions; and in one case, the firms acquired a lease from the estate of the late gambler Arnold Rothstein , who

4185-562: The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to create a mass-media complex on the site. A new plan was released in January 1930, and an update to the plan was presented after Rockefeller obtained a lease for the land along Sixth Avenue. Revisions continued until March 1931, when the current site design was unveiled. A late change to the proposal included a complex of internationally themed structures along Fifth Avenue. All structures in

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4320-577: The Times stated, "It is cheering to learn that the architects and builders of Radio City have been stirred by the public criticism of their plans." Despite the controversy over the complex's design, Rockefeller retained the Associated Architects for his project. The oval-shaped retail building on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th streets was criticized for not fitting in with the rest of Fifth Avenue's architecture, with critics referring to

4455-848: The United Nations complex , which was built on slaughter-house property contributed by the Rockefeller family (the Rockefellers owned the Tudor City Apartments across First Avenue). Harrision also developed the design for the Pershing Memorial in Washington, D.C. (today referred to as Pershing Park , and home to the National World War I Memorial. In addition to his architectural work, Harrison served as master planner and supervising architect for

4590-430: The $ 200 million cost projection for the three skyscrapers (equivalent to $ 2.9 billion in 2023 ). To provide space for the plaza, 49th and 50th streets would be covered over, and there would be parking structures both above- and underground, while the streets surrounding the project would be widened to accommodate the heavy traffic. Four theaters would also be built: two small theaters for television, comedy, and drama;

4725-468: The 1960s and 1970s, which was the most recent expansion of Rockefeller Center. The Center Theatre from the original complex was demolished in 1954. In 1686, much of Manhattan, including the future Rockefeller Center site, was established as a "common land" of the city of New York. The land remained in city ownership until 1801, when the physician David Hosack , a member of the New York elite, purchased

4860-553: The Americas) to the west, 48th Street to the south, and 51st Street to the north. The center occupies 22 acres (8.9 ha) in total, with some 17 million square feet (1.6 million square meters) of office space. Columbia University had acquired the site in the early 19th century but had moved to Morningside Heights in Upper Manhattan in the early 1900s. By the 1920s, Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan

4995-428: The Associated Architects. Hood, Corbett, Harrison, Reinhard, and Hofmeister were generally considered to be the principal architects . They mostly communicated with Todd, Robertson and Todd, rather than with Rockefeller himself. Hugh Ferriss and John Wenrich were hired as "architectural renderers", to produce drawings of the proposed buildings based on the Associated Architects' blueprints. Rene Paul Chambellan

5130-471: The Crossroads controversy, Nelson scaled back his involvement with the complex's art, and his father began scrutinizing all of the artworks thereafter commissioned for the center. One of the sculptor Attilio Piccirilli 's works at Rockefeller Center would also be contested, albeit not until after the complex was finished. He had created bas-relief carvings above the entrances of Palazzo d'Italia and

5265-505: The Crossroads .) Nelson issued a written warning to Rivera to replace the offending figure with an anonymous face, but Rivera refused, so in mid-1933, Rivera was paid for his commission and workers covered the mural with paper. The fresco was demolished completely in February 1934, and it was subsequently replaced by Josep Maria Sert 's American Progress mural. As a result of the Man at

5400-616: The Drawings and Archives Department of Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University . Harrison was a member of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1955 to 1959. In 1967, Harrison received the AIA Gold Medal . In 1938, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1948. Harrison married Ellen Hunt Milton (1903–1995) in 1926. They had

5535-634: The International Building North. Piccirilli's relief on the Palazzo d'Italia was removed in 1941 because the panels were seen as an overt celebration of fascism , but his International Building North panels were allowed to remain. During early planning, the development was often referred to as "Radio City". Before the announcement that the development would include a mass media complex, there were also other appellations such as "Rockefeller City" and "Metropolitan Square" (after

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5670-589: The Met would not have any funds until after they sold their existing building by April, Heydt suggested that the Metropolitan Square Corporation buy the leases instead, in case the Met ultimately did not have money to relocate. The Met felt that the cost of the new opera house would far exceed the potential profits. They wanted to sell their existing facility and move into the proposed new opera house by 1931, which meant that all existing leases would need to be resolved by May 1930. Otherwise,

5805-590: The Met's president, had been seeking to erect a new opera house since he assumed the position in 1908. However, the Met did not itself have money to fund the new facility, and Kahn's efforts to solicit funding from R. Fulton Cutting , the wealthy and influential Cooper Union president, were unsuccessful. Cutting did support the 1926 proposal for a new building, as did William Kissam Vanderbilt . By mid-1927, Kahn had hired architect Benjamin Wistar Morris and designer Joseph Urban to come up with designs for

5940-488: The Metropolitan Square Corporation). Ivy Lee suggested changing the name to "Rockefeller Center". John Rockefeller Jr. initially did not want the Rockefeller family name associated with the commercial project, but was persuaded on the grounds that the name would attract far more tenants. The name was formally changed in December 1931. Rockefeller Jr. and The New York Times originally spelled

6075-569: The Museum of Modern Art in 1939, Frey and Marion returned to California to resume his collaboration with Clark, which would continue for nearly twenty more years. Frey and Marion divorced in 1945 and neither remarried. At the end of World War II Palm Springs' population almost tripled, and the city experienced a building boom. Known as an escape for the Hollywood elite and a winter haven for east coast industrialists, Palm Springs emerged post-war as

6210-488: The RCA Building. This suggestion was not considered further because, as with the diagonal-streets plan, it would have involved decommissioning streets. Eventually, all of the plans were streamlined into a more traditional design, with narrow rectangular slabs, set back from the street, on all of the blocks. Hood created a guideline that all of the office space in the complex would be no more than 27 feet (8.2 m) from

6345-540: The Rockefeller Foundation head, placed the figure at 225,000 people, including workers who created materials for the complex elsewhere. When construction started, the city was feeling the full effects of the Depression, with over 750,000 people unemployed and 64% of all construction workers without a job. At the Depression's peak in the mid-1930s, John Rockefeller Jr. was praised as a job creator and

6480-573: The Sixth Avenue parcels, as compared to the $ 6 million (equivalent to $ 87 million in 2023 dollars ) budgeted for the task. The tenants of two Sixth Avenue properties were ultimately allowed to stay. One lessee, who occupied a plot on the southeast corner of Sixth Avenue and 50th Street, never received a sale offer due to a misunderstanding. The owners of the other parcel, on the northeast corner of Sixth Avenue and 49th Street, demanded an exorbitant price for their property. 30 Rockefeller Plaza

6615-528: The Underel Corporation had acquired the land near Sixth Avenue. The leases for the newly acquired land contained specific stipulations on how it was to be used. Under this new proposal, there would be facilities for "television, music, radio, talking pictures and plays". RCA planned to build theaters on the north and south blocks near Sixth Avenue, with office buildings above the theaters' Sixth Avenue sides. The theater entrances would be built to

6750-565: The United States, but continued to maintain a friendship with Le Corbusier for many years. In September 1930, Frey returned to New York from another visit to France. Frey, the first architect in America to have worked directly with Le Corbusier, now began working with the American architect A. Lawrence Kocher who was also the managing editor of Architectural Record . Their collaboration would last until 1935, and they would reunite for

6885-820: The Upper Estate contained four row houses below 49th Street as well as a wooden building across from the cathedral. The surrounding area was underdeveloped, with a potter's field and the railroad lines from Grand Central Depot to the east. Columbia built a new campus near its Upper Estate in 1856, selling a plot at Fifth Avenue and 48th Street to the St. Nicholas Church to pay for construction. Shortly afterward, Columbia implemented height restrictions that prevented any taller buildings, such as apartment blocks or commercial and industrial buildings, from being built on its property. Narrow brownstone houses and expensive "Vanderbilt Colony" mansions were built on nearby streets, and

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7020-461: The announcement of Plan F-18, which called for an International Music Hall (now Radio City Music Hall ) and its 31-story office building annex to occupy the northernmost of the three blocks, between 50th and 51st streets. The 66-story 831-foot (253 m) RCA Building would be on the central block's western half, between 49th and 50th streets, and would house RCA and NBC offices as well as broadcasting studios. The oval-shaped retail complex would occupy

7155-741: The architect A. J. Arter in Zurich and worked in construction during his school vacations. It was also around this time that Frey became aware of the Dutch De Stijl movement, the German Bauhaus school and movement, and the modernism movement developing in Brussels . All would prove to be significant influences to Frey's later work. From 1924 through 1928, Frey worked on various architectural projects in Belgium . In 1928, Frey secured

7290-513: The area became synonymous with wealth. By 1879, there were brownstones on every one of the 203 plots in the Upper Estate, which were all owned by Columbia. The construction of the Sixth Avenue elevated line in the 1870s made it easy to access commercial and industrial areas elsewhere in Manhattan. However, the line also drastically reduced property values because the elevated structure obstructed views from adjacent properties, and because

7425-438: The as-yet-unconfirmed proposal, and others lambasting the location of the tall skyscrapers around the plaza. Daniel Okrent writes that "almost everyone" hated the updated plans. The renowned architectural scholar Lewis Mumford went into exile in upstate New York specifically because the "weakly conceived, reckless, romantic chaos" of the plans for Rockefeller Center had violated his sense of style. Mumford's commentary provoked

7560-446: The avenue in 1928 or 1929. If built, Metropolitan Avenue would have facilitated traffic through Rockefeller Center, in a manner similar to how Vanderbilt Avenue between Madison and Park Avenues had assisted traffic flow around nearby Grand Central Terminal . Ultimately, only the section between 48th and 51st streets was built; it now comprises Rockefeller Plaza , a pedestrian street. Both Raymond Hood and John Todd believed that

7695-470: The block's eastern half, with a rooftop garden . A RKO-operated sound theater would be in the southernmost block between 48th and 49th streets. In the center of Radio City would be a new three-block-long private street running between Fifth and Sixth avenues, with a concave plaza at the midpoint. The complex would also include space for a future Metropolitan Opera venue on the northernmost block. An underground pedestrian shopping mall , which would be above

7830-497: The blueprints were presented in May of that year. All of the proposals called for rentable space of 4 to 5 million square feet (370,000 to 460,000 m ), but these plans were so eccentric that the board rejected all of them. For the time being, Morris was retained until a more suitable architect could be found. However, by the end of 1928, Morris had been fired without pay. He was eventually paid $ 50,000 for his contributions to

7965-515: The buildings, which would create a " Babylonian garden " when viewed from above. At first, Alexander suggested " Homo faber , Man the Maker" as the complex's overarching theme, representing satisfaction with one's occupation rather than with the wage. However, that theme was not particularly well received by the architects, so Alexander proposed another theme, the "New Frontiers"; this theme dealt with social and scientific innovations and represented

8100-422: The buildings. They worked under the umbrella of "Associated Architects" so that none of the buildings could be attributed to any specific firm. The lead architect and foremost member of the Associated Architects was Raymond Hood , who would become memorable for his creative designs. Hood and Harvey Wiley Corbett were retained as consultants. The team also included Wallace Harrison , who would later become

8235-409: The center needed visual enhancement besides the rooftop gardens. Initially, Todd had only planned to allocate about $ 150,000 toward the building's art program, but Rockefeller wanted artworks that had meaningful purposes rather than purely aesthetic ones. In November 1931, Todd suggested the creation of a program for placing distinctive artworks within each of the buildings. Hartley Burr Alexander ,

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8370-405: The challenges that humanity faced "after the conquest of the physical world". In theory, this was considered a fitting theme, but Alexander had been so specific about the details of the necessary artworks that it limited the creative license for any artists who would execute such works. Alexander had created a 32-page paper that explained exactly what needed to be done for each artwork, with some of

8505-595: The colors of the works inside the buildings, and Léon-Victor Solon did the same job for the exterior pieces. Gaston Lachaise , a renowned painter of female nudes, executed the commission for six uncontroversial bas-reliefs for Rockefeller Center, four at the front of 1230 Avenue of the Americas (RCA Building West) and two at the back of the International Building . The Prometheus , Youth , and Maiden sculptures that Paul Manship had created for

8640-681: The complex as "Rockefeller Centre", which was the British way of spelling "Center" . After consultation with the famed lexicographer Frank H. Vizetelly , "Centre" was changed to "Center". Over time, the appellation of "Radio City" devolved from describing the entire complex to just the complex's western section; and by 1937, only the Radio City Music Hall contained the "Radio City" name. According to Daniel Okrent, most sources estimated that between 40,000 and 60,000 people were hired during construction. One estimate by Raymond Fosdick,

8775-469: The complex diagonally was briefly considered, but it was dropped because it involved decommissioning city streets, which could only be done after lengthy discussions with city officials. Plan G-3 was presented to the Metropolitan Square Corporation's managers in February. At the time, Todd thought that G-3 was the most viable proposal for the complex. Another plan called H-1 was revealed in March 1930, after

8910-480: The complex were prominently situated in the complex's lower plaza. Barry Faulkner had only one commission for the entirety of Rockefeller Center: a mosaic mural above the entrance of 1230 Avenue of the Americas. Alfred Janniot also created a single work for Rockefeller Center, the bronze panel outside La Maison Francaise 's entrance. Lee Lawrie was by far the complex's most prolific artist, with 12 works. Most of Lawrie's commissions were limestone screens above

9045-440: The complex's setbacks below the 16th floor be covered with gardens. Hood thought this was the cheapest way to make the buildings look attractive, with a cost estimate of $ 250,000 to $ 500,000 (about $ 3.6 to $ 7.3 million in 2023 ) that could pay for itself if the gardens were made into botanical gardens. Hood proposed a three-tiered arrangement, inspired by a similar plan of Le Corbusier . The lowest tier would be at ground level;

9180-457: The deal. In January, Todd released a new plan called G-3. Like the previous Metropolitan Opera proposal, this plan subdivided the complex into eight blocks with a plaza in the middle of the center block. It was similar to his October 1929 plan for the Met, with one major change: the opera house was replaced with a 50-story building. The 50-story tower was included because its larger floor area would provide large profits, and its central location

9315-511: The development corporation defaulted . Rockefeller covered ongoing expenses through the sale of oil company stock. Other estimates placed Radio City's cost at $ 120 million (equivalent to $ 1.74 billion in 2023 ) based on plan H-16, released in August 1930, or $ 116.3 million (equivalent to $ 1.68 billion in 2023 ) based on plan F-18, released in November 1930. The design of the complex

9450-409: The east, to the plaza and to the RCA Building to the west, with steps leading down to the plaza. The western side of the plaza would lead directly to the underground pedestrian mall. A replica of Niagara Falls ' Horseshoe Falls would also be built above a 100-by-20-foot (30 by 6 m) reflecting pool , while ivy would be planted on the outside of some of the buildings. In a June 1932 revision to

9585-468: The end of the year, Rockefeller hosted a "symposium" of architectural firms so he could solicit plans for the new complex. He invited seven firms, six of which specialized in Beaux-Arts architecture , and asked the noted Beaux-Arts architects John Russell Pope , Cass Gilbert , and Milton B. Medary to judge the proposals. Rockefeller requested that all the plans be submitted by February 1929, and

9720-475: The family name rather than for the Met proposal itself, as Rockefeller never mentioned the details of the proposal in his daily communications with his father, John D. Rockefeller Sr. In mid-1928, the Met and Rockefeller were named as prospective buyers for the Columbia site. A lease was agreed to in late 1928 and signed on December 31 of that year. Columbia leased the parcel to Rockefeller for 87 years at

9855-405: The family's principal architect and adviser to John Rockefeller Jr.'s son Nelson . Hood, Morris, and Corbett were the consultants on "architectural style and grouping", although Morris was in the process of being fired. Todd also hired L. Andrew Reinhard and Henry Hofmeister as rental or tenant architects, to design the floor plans for the complex, and who were known as the most pragmatic of

9990-528: The firm name of Van Pelt and Lind Architects as both were unlicensed in California. In 1937, Frey briefly returned to the east coast to work on the Museum of Modern Art in New York. While in New York, Frey married Marion Cook, a writer he had met in Palm Springs. In 1938, Frey and his wife went to France and returned to America on the Normandie , a floating art deco masterpiece. Upon completion of his work on

10125-821: The firm of Harrison & Abramowitz . In partnership with Abramovitz, Harrison designed scores of university and corporate buildings, including the Time & Life (1959) and Socony-Mobil (1956), both designated New York City landmarks. Among Harrison's most noted projects are the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Empire State Plaza in Albany; he also served as Director of Planning on

10260-454: The fledgling television and radio industries. By May, RCA and its affiliates had made an agreement with Rockefeller Center managers. RCA would lease 1 million square feet (93,000 m ) of studio space; get naming rights to the development's largest tower; and develop four theaters, at a cost of $ 4.25 million per year (equivalent to $ 61.7 million in 2023 ). NBC was assured exclusive broadcasting rights at Rockefeller Center as part of

10395-442: The formation of the Underel Corporation. The negotiations for the Sixth Avenue properties were conducted by different brokers and law firms so as to conceal the Rockefeller family's involvement in the Underel Corporation's acquisitions. Even so, there were several tenants along Sixth Avenue who initially refused to give up their buildings. In total, Charles Heydt spent $ 10 million (equivalent to $ 150 million in 2023 ) on acquiring

10530-415: The four theaters included in plan H-1 , of March 1930, the city only approved the construction of two; and thus, only these two theaters were constructed. Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel , a successful theater operator who was renowned for his dominance of the city's theater industry, joined the center's advisory board in 1930. He offered to build two theaters: a large, vaudeville "International Music Hall", on

10665-452: The key themes underlined in all caps, giving the paper "a tone more Martian than human", according to Okrent. In March 1932, Alexander was fired and replaced with a panel of five artists. The panel agreed on the current theme, "The March of Civilization", but by that point some of the art of previous themes had already been commissioned, including the works that Alexander had proposed. The process of commissioning art for Rockefeller Center

10800-428: The land as "an attractive or helpful gift", so the college let the gardens deteriorate. The area would not become developed until the 1830s, and the land's value did not increase to any meaningful amount until the late 1850s, when St. Patrick's Cathedral was built nearby, spurring a wave of development in the area. Ironically, the cathedral was built in that location because it faced the Upper Estate gardens. By 1860,

10935-564: The land in question was under the Sixth Avenue Elevated. By October 1929, Todd announced a new proposal that differed greatly from Morris's original plan. Todd suggested that the site's three blocks be further subdivided into eight lots, with an "Opera Plaza" in the middle of the center block. The complex would contain the Metropolitan Opera facility; a retail area with two 25-story buildings; department stores; two apartment buildings; and two hotels, with one rising 37 stories and

11070-471: The local surroundings for color and metaphor. In contrast to Neutra, Frey's designs are more commercial and less philosophically dogmatic, and hence more accessible. By embracing the American idiom while incorporating the modernist philosophy influenced by Le Corbusier, Frey produced a new regional vernacular. In 1996, he was awarded the Neutra Award for Professional Excellence . A Golden Palm Star on

11205-689: The main entrances of buildings, but he had also created two of Rockefeller Center's best-known artworks: the Atlas statue in the International Building's courtyard, and the 37-foot-tall (11 m) Wisdom screen above the RCA Building's main entrance. Ezra Winter , who created the "Quest for the Fountains of Eternal Youth" mural in Radio City Music Hall 's lobby, largely adhered to Alexander's original specifications for

11340-404: The mall via a wide concourse under the RCA Building. The complex-wide vehicular tunnels were not built; instead, a truck ramp from ground level to the underground delivery rooms was built at 50th Street. An unfulfilled revision to the plan was submitted in May 1931, when Benjamin Wistar Morris, the architect of the original Opera proposal, proposed enhancing the complex's private passageway into

11475-612: The mid-twentieth century comprised large, modernist public projects and office buildings. As a young man, Harrison took classes in engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and in architecture at the Boston Architectural Club ; he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in the early 1920s and won the Rotch Taveling Scholarship in 1922. He worked for McKim, Mead & White and Bertram Grovesnor Goodhue from 1916 to 1923, and later formed

11610-486: The middle tier would be atop the retail buildings' low-lying roofs and the skyscrapers' setbacks; and the highest tier would be at the tops of the skyscrapers. A March 1932 update to the rooftop garden proposal also included two ornately decorated bridges that would connect the complex's three blocks, though the bridge plan was later dismissed due to its high cost. Ultimately, only seven disconnected gardens would be built. Since American tenants were reluctant to rent in

11745-447: The mural. One of the center's more controversial works was created by Diego Rivera , whom Nelson Rockefeller had hired to create a color fresco for the 1,071-square-foot (99 m ) wall in the RCA Building's lobby. His painting, Man at the Crossroads , became controversial, as it contained Moscow May Day scenes and a clear portrait of Lenin , which had not been apparent in initial sketches (see Rockefeller Center § Man at

11880-519: The new opera house could not be mortgaged, and Columbia would regain possession of the land, which would be a disadvantage for both the Met and Rockefeller. In August 1929, Rockefeller created a holding company to purchase the strip of land on Sixth Avenue that he did not already lease, so he could construct a larger building on the site and maximize his profits. The company was called the Underel Holding Corporation because

12015-464: The new opera house. By early 1928, Morris had created blueprints for an opera house and a surrounding retail complex at the Upper Estate. However, the new building was too expensive for the Met to fund by itself, and it needed an endowment . On May 21, 1928, Morris presented the project during a dinner for potential investors, at which the Rockefeller family 's public relations adviser Ivy Lee

12150-441: The northernmost block, with more than 6,200 seats; and the smaller, 3,500-seat "RKO Roxy" movie theater on the southernmost block. The idea for these theaters was inspired by Roxy's failed expansion of the 5,920-seat Roxy Theatre on 50th Street, one-and-a-half blocks away. Roxy also envisioned an elevated promenade between the two theaters, but this was never published in any of the official blueprints. Meanwhile, proposals for

12285-546: The number of elevators in the complex's buildings, especially the RCA Building. Originally, the elevators were supposed to be installed by the Otis Elevator Company , but Westinghouse Electric Corporation got the contract after agreeing to move into the RCA Building. This turned out to be a financially sound decision for Rockefeller Center, since Westinghouse's elevators functioned better than Otis's. Hood and Corbett suggested some plans that were eccentric by

12420-491: The opera house. They created three designs, all of which the Met rejected. Kahn wanted the opera house to be on a relatively cheap piece of land near a busy theater and retail area, with access to transportation. In January 1928, Tonnele approached Cutting to propose the Upper Estate as a possible location for the Met. Cutting told of Tonnele's idea to Morris, who thought that the Columbia grounds in Midtown were ideal for

12555-529: The original complex were designed in the Art Deco architectural style. Excavation of the site started in April 1931, and construction began that September on the first buildings. The first edifice was opened in September 1932, and most of the complex was completed by 1935. The final three buildings were built between 1936 and 1940, although Rockefeller Center was officially completed by November 2, 1939. The construction project employed more than 40,000 people and

12690-487: The other being 35 stories. The Met's opera house would have been on the center block between 49th and 50th Streets east of Sixth Avenue. The retail center would be built around or to the west of the opera building. According to one New York Times account, the shops in the Metropolitan Opera development would be laid out in a way similar to that of the retail center in the English city of Chester . The main hurdle to

12825-425: The oval building, and proposed a new 40-story tower for a nearby site. These buildings not only would provide retail space but also would fit in with Fifth Avenue's architecture. In the new plan, an oval-shaped central plaza would be recessed below ground level, with plantings surrounding a large central fountain. A wide, planted esplanade , between 50th and 51st streets, would lead pedestrians from Fifth Avenue, on

12960-578: The parcel. Albert Frey (architect) Born in Zurich, Switzerland , Frey received his architecture diploma in 1924 from the Technikum engineering school in Winterthur , Switzerland. There, Frey trained in traditional building construction and received technical instruction rather than design instruction in the then popular Beaux-Arts style . Prior to receiving his diploma, Frey apprenticed with

13095-580: The plan was submitted to the New York City Board of Estimate in October 1933. The plan included two vehicular tunnels to carry 49th and 50th streets underneath the entire complex, as well as a subterranean pedestrian mall connecting the buildings in the complex. Additionally, a 0.75-mile (1.21 km) system of pedestrian passages would be 34 feet (10 m) underground, and a 125-by-96-foot (38 by 29 m) sunken lower plaza would connect to

13230-414: The plan was the Met's reluctance to commit to the development by buying leases from existing tenants and handing the leases over to Columbia. Rockefeller stood to lose $ 100,000 per year (equivalent to $ 1.4 million in 2023) if he leased the new opera house. Todd had objected that the opera house would be a blight rather than a benefit for the neighborhood, as it would be closed most of the time. After

13365-408: The plan, the proposed plaza's shape was changed to a rectangle, and the fountain was moved to the western side of the plaza. The sculptor Paul Manship was then hired to create a sculpture to place on top of the fountain; his bronze Prometheus statue was installed on the site in 1934. As a concession for the loss of the rooftop gardens planned for the oval building, Hood suggested that all of

13500-450: The project's viability, with one of the firm's partners, John R. Todd , to serve as the principal builder and managing agent for the project. Todd submitted a plan for the opera house site in September 1928, in which he proposed constructing office buildings, department stores, apartment buildings, and hotels around the new opera house. In June 1928, Charles O. Heydt , one of Rockefeller's business associates, met with Kahn to discuss

13635-415: The project, and many of his ideas were included in the final design. Rockefeller retained Todd, Robertson and Todd as the developers of the proposed opera house site; and, as a result, Todd stepped down from the Metropolitan Square Corporation's board of directors. In October 1929, Todd appointed Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray ; Hood, Godley & Fouilhoux ; and Reinhard & Hofmeister to design

13770-449: The property exceeding $ 7 billion (equivalent to $ 102 billion in 2023 ). Rockefeller achieved this by buying existing leases from the tenants. In January 1929, William A. White & Sons was hired to conduct the eviction proceedings. They worked with the law firm of Murray, Aldrich & Webb to give checks to tenants in exchange for property, sometimes for over $ 1 million. The area was mostly occupied by illegal speakeasy bars, as

13905-484: The property in 1931, Harrison and his wife bought the Aluminaire House , an iconic, compact, ready-to-assemble steel-and-aluminum structure designed by Swiss architect Albert Frey and then editor of Architectural Record, A. Lawrence Kocher . Harrison collected works by Calder and Léger and commissioned new ones for buildings that he designed, including his Long Island country house in West Hills, New York ;

14040-405: The proposed building as an "oilcan". The original plan had been for two retail buildings, but was changed to one in response to Chase National Bank's request for a single building. However, the oval building was scrapped in early 1931, after Chase could not win exclusive banking rights at the building's location. An updated plan, F-19, restored two smaller 6-story retail buildings to the site of

14175-415: The proposed opera house. After the meeting, Heydt purchased land just north of the proposed opera house site as per Rockefeller's request, but for a different reason: Rockefeller was afraid that many of the landmarks of his childhood, in the area, were going to be demolished by the 1920s wave of development. The writer Daniel Okrent states that Rockefeller's acquisition of the land might have been more for

14310-457: The retail buildings, Rockefeller Center's manager Hugh Robertson, formerly of Todd, Robertson and Todd, suggested foreign tenants for the buildings. They held talks with prospective Czech, German, Italian, and Swedish lessees who could potentially occupy the six-story internationally themed buildings on Fifth Avenue, although it was reported that Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian tenancies were also considered. The first themed building that

14445-472: The site's southeast corner. He hired Todd, Robertson, and Todd as design consultants and selected the architectural firms of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray , Hood, Godley & Fouilhoux, and Reinhard & Hofmeister for the opera complex. However, the Met was unsure about moving there, and the Wall Street Crash of 1929 put an end to the plans. Rockefeller instead entered into negotiations with

14580-438: The standards of the time. One plan entailed the construction of a massive pyramid spanning all three blocks; this was later downsized to a small retail pyramid, which evolved into the oval retail building. Another plan included a system of vehicular ramps and bridges across the complex. In July 1930, Hood and Corbett briefly discussed the possibility of constructing the entire complex as a superblock with promenades leading from

14715-468: The state legislature for funds when the legislature unexpectedly gave Hosack's former land to the college instead. The gardens became part of Columbia's "Upper Estate" (as opposed to the "Lower Estate" in Lower Manhattan ), on the condition that the college move its entire campus to the Upper Estate by 1827. Although the relocation requirement was repealed in 1819, Columbia's trustees did not see

14850-449: The stock market crash of 1929 , these concerns were mooted: the opera could no longer afford to move. The Met instead suggested that Rockefeller finance their relocation by purchasing a half-interest in the old opera house and the land under it, an offer that he refused. On December 6, 1929, the plans for the new opera house were abandoned completely. With the lease still in effect, Rockefeller had to quickly devise new plans so that

14985-449: The three-block Columbia site could become profitable. Hood came up with the idea to negotiate with the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and its subsidiaries, National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) , to build a mass media entertainment complex on the site. This was achievable because Wallace Harrison was good friends with Julian Street , a Chicago Tribune reporter whose wife's great-uncle Edward Harden

15120-491: The trains on the structure caused noise pollution. Columbia sold the southernmost block of its Midtown property in 1904, using the $ 3 million from the sale (equivalent to $ 79.6 million in 2023 ) to pay for newly acquired land in Morningside Heights even further uptown, to replace its Lower Estate. Simultaneously, the low-lying houses along Fifth Avenue were being replaced with taller commercial developments, and

15255-505: The twin buildings, between 50th and 51st streets, with the department store portion facing Fifth Avenue. A "final" layout change to that block occurred in June, when the department store was replaced by the tower's two retail wings, which would be nearly identical to the twin retail buildings to their south. The two new retail buildings, connected to each other, and to the main tower, with a galleria , were proposed to serve Italian, and possibly also German, interests upon completion. Out of

15390-577: The two Rockefeller Center parcels. The company allowed Robert Walton Goelet to keep the neighboring lot at 2–6 West 49th Street because the company considered his "interest and concern" to be a "large concern". However, he could not develop the land because Cromwell controlled an easement over part of Goelet's land, and the lots at 2–6 West 49th Street would be developed in 1932 as a commercial building called 608 Fifth Avenue . The St. Nicholas Church, on 48th Street behind Goelet's lot, also refused to sell its property despite an offer of up to $ 7 million for

15525-422: The underground bus terminal, was also added in this plan. The complex would include 28,000 windows and more than 125,000 short tons (112,000 long tons) of structural steel, according to the builders. It would cost $ 250 million. For the first time, a scale rendering of the proposed complex was presented to the public. The rendering was much criticized, with some taking issue with details or general dimensions of

15660-471: The university's real estate adviser John Tonnele was tasked with finding suitable tenants, who could net the university more profit than what the row houses' occupants were currently paying. In 1926, the Metropolitan Opera (Met) started looking for locations to build a new opera house to replace its existing building at 39th Street and Broadway. This was not a new effort, as Otto Kahn ,

15795-399: The west along Sixth Avenue, and the auditoriums would be to the east, since the city's building code prohibited the erection of structures over the auditoriums of theaters. The delivery lane was eliminated in this plan, as it was perceived as unnecessary: the theaters would only see occasional deliveries. The complex would also contain three tall buildings in the center of each block, including

15930-492: The west side of the parcel, as well as St. Nicholas Church's property on Fifth Avenue between 48th and 49th Streets, and so these were excluded from the plans. Simultaneous with the signing of the lease, the Metropolitan Square Corporation was created to oversee construction. In October 1928, before the lease had been finalized, Rockefeller started asking for recommendations for architects. By

16065-412: The widening of the avenue between 1909 and 1914 contributed to this transition. Columbia also stopped enforcing its height restriction, which Okrent describes as a tactical mistake for the college because the wave of development along Fifth Avenue caused the Upper Estate to become available for such redevelopment. Since the leases on the Upper Estate row houses were being allowed to expire without renewal,

16200-511: Was a guest. Lee later informed his boss, John D. Rockefeller Jr. , about the proposal, in which the latter showed interest. Rockefeller wished to give the site serious consideration before he invested, and he did not want to fund the entire project on his own. As a result, in August 1928, Rockefeller contacted several firms for advice. Rockefeller ended up hiring the Todd, Robertson and Todd Engineering Corporation as design consultants to determine

16335-430: Was a prime site for development. Around that time, the Metropolitan Opera (Met) was looking for a new site for their opera house, and architect Benjamin Wistar Morris decided on the former Columbia site. Rockefeller eventually became involved in the project and leased the Columbia site in 1928 for 87 years. The lease excluded land along the east side of Sixth Avenue to the west of the Rockefeller property, as well as at

16470-798: Was a very early example and workshop for the International Style in the United States, and a social and intellectual center of architecture, art, and politics. The home includes a 32-foot (9.8 m) circular living room that is rumored to have been the prototype for the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center . Two other circular rooms complete the center of Harrison's design. Frequent visitors and guests included Nelson Rockefeller, Robert Moses , Marc Chagall , Le Corbusier , Alexander Calder , and Fernand Léger . Harrison's expansive country property also exhibited his relationships with contemporary architects. For example, shortly after purchasing

16605-471: Was affected greatly by the 1916 Zoning Resolution , which restricted the height that street-side exterior walls of New York City buildings could rise before they needed to incorporate setbacks that recessed the buildings' exterior walls from the streets. Although the 66-story RCA Building was so far from the street that it could have simply risen as a slab without any setbacks, Hood decided to include setbacks anyway because they represented "a sense of future,

16740-543: Was agreed on was the British Empire Building, the more southerly of the two buildings, which would host governmental and commercial ventures of the United Kingdom. In February 1932, French tenants agreed to occupy the British Empire Building's twin to the north, La Maison Française . A department store and 30-story building (later changed to 45 stories) were planned for the block to the north of

16875-518: Was already in the process of developing a new building on Lexington Avenue . Rockefeller later stated, "It was clear that there were only two courses open to me. One was to abandon the entire development. The other to go forward with it in the definite knowledge that I myself would have to build it and finance it alone." In January 1930, Rockefeller tasked Raymond Fosdick , the Rockefeller Foundation 's future head, with scheduling

17010-684: Was appointed to a commission to choose modern art works for the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection in Albany, NY. Between 1941 and 1943, Harrison designed and built the Clinton Hill Coops, a 12-building coop complex split between two "campuses" along Clinton Ave. in Brooklyn, New York, to house the Brooklyn Navy Yards workers. Harrison's architectural drawings and archives are held by

17145-412: Was chosen because Todd believed that the center of the complex was too valuable to waste on low-rise buildings. Plans for a new Metropolitan Opera building on the site were still being devised, including one proposal to place an office building over the opera facility. However, this was seen as increasingly unlikely due to the Met's reluctance to move to the complex. A proposal to create roads that crossed

17280-407: Was commissioned to sculpt the models of the buildings, and he would later also create some of the art for the center. The Metropolitan Opera was reluctant to commit to the development, and they refused to take up the site's existing leases until they were certain that they had enough money to do so. In January 1929, Cutting unsuccessfully asked Rockefeller for assistance in buying the leases. Since

17415-429: Was complicated. Each building's architects would suggest some artwork. Todd would eliminate all of the unconventional proposals, and Rockefeller had the final say on many of the works. There were many locations that needed art commissioned, which prevented any specific artistic style from dominating the complex. Specialists from around the world were retained for the art program: for instance, Edward Trumbull coordinated

17550-404: Was considered the largest private construction project at the time. It had cost the equivalent of $ 1.7 billion in 2023 dollars to construct. Since then, there have been several modifications to the complex. An additional building at 75 Rockefeller Plaza was constructed in 1947, while another at 600 Fifth Avenue was constructed in 1952. Four towers were built along the west side of Sixth Avenue in

17685-503: Was made official, with Metropolitan Life agreeing to lend $ 65 million (equivalent to $ 940 million in 2023) to the Rockefeller Center Development Corporation. Metropolitan Life's president Frederick H. Ecker granted the money on two conditions: that no other entity would grant a loan to the complex, and that Rockefeller co-sign the loan so that he would be responsible for paying it off if

17820-415: Was murdered two months before he was set to be forcefully evicted from his Upper Estate building in January 1929. Demolition of the structures started in early 1930, and all of the buildings' leases had been bought by August 1931. The center's managers then set to acquire the remaining lots along Sixth Avenue, and at the southeast corner of the site, so that they could create a larger complex, which led to

17955-456: Was part of the RCA board of directors. At Hood's request, Harrison made a lunch date to tell Street about the mass-media complex proposal. Harden, in turn, described the idea to RCA's founder Owen D. Young , who was amenable to the suggestion. It turned out that Young, a longtime friend of Rockefeller's, had been thinking of constructing a "Radio City" for RCA for several years, even as the company

18090-474: Was the largest private building project ever undertaken. Carol Herselle Krinsky , in her 1978 book, describes the center as "the only large private permanent construction project planned and executed between the start of the Depression and the end of the Second World War". For the project, 228 buildings on the site were razed and some 4,000 tenants relocated, with the estimated aggregate worth of

18225-783: Was ultimately built around both parcels. On the southeast corner of the site, several property owners also refused to sell. Columbia University was willing to give Rockefeller Center Inc. control of all leases in the former Upper Estate that were no longer held by a third party. However, William Nelson Cromwell , a prominent lawyer and Columbia alumnus, who owned three adjacent row houses at 10–14 West 49th Street, would not move out of his house when his lease expired in 1927. The disagreement continued until 1936, during which time Cromwell refused to pay rent on 14 West 49th Street, while Rockefeller Center Inc. withheld $ 400,000 of Cromwell's rent payments to Columbia. Rockefeller Center Inc. would later buy 8 West 49th, thus boxing Cromwell's land in between

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