Brutalism On the Small Screen
Quick! Name that Building!
That’s right, it’s time for another round of our favorite game. You can probably name the architect, thanks to the ribbons of his signature corduroy concrete, to say nothing of the cantilevered passageways and swooping staircases. So it’s Paul Rudolph. But which of his masterworks? It’s not a famous one, so you’ll probably never guess. Okay, you got it. It’s the Hurley Building of his Government Service Center in Boston. It’s an impressive star turn for an architect whose buildings haven’t faired so well of late. And yet it’s good to know that when those Madison Avenue Fatcats still need a structure to shoot on that screams hip futurism, Rudolph’s the go-to guy. Dude’s still got it. Read More
Crowning 23 Beekman
Paul Rudolph's 23 Beekman Place took the first step toward becoming a landmark today. (Peter Aaron/ESTO)
While the big news out of the LPC today was the approval of 980 Madison, there were quite a few noteworthy developments as well, namely the designation of three new landmarks and the calendering of 23 Beekman Place, better known as the Paul Rudolph house, which is the first step in the designation process. Poking fun at her fellow colleagues who had been skeptical of the Norman Foster designed addition at 980 Madison, which had been approved earlier in the day, commissioner Margery Perlmutter quipped, “Sometimes a rooftop addition does become a landmark.” Rudolph’s quixotic construction was completed in 1977, though he would revise it, like much of his work, until his death two decades later. Read More
Frat Trashes Rudolph’s House
Following a renovation by the fraternity that occupied it, all most all traces of Paul Rudolph have vanished from his New Haven home. (Calgary Leveen/Yale Daily News)
One could make a living chronicling the iniquities visited upon the work of Paul Rudolph (lord knows we certainly have). From modest tract homes to cutting edge office towers, the trail-blazing, highly influential architect’s work has not fared well of late. Of the handful already demolished, as many are on the chopping block, and it has become an ongoing struggle for the Paul Rudolph Foundation to protect what’s left. One of the better projects to come along was the expansion of Rudolph’s Art & Architecture Building at Yale, where he taught for so long. But it now turns out that that was not the only renovation of the great architect’s work going on in New Haven. Read More
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