2 Columbus Circle

2 Columbus Circle (formerly the Gallery of Modern Art and the New York Cultural Center) is a nine-story building on the south side of Columbus Circle in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building fills a small city block bounded by 58th Street, Columbus Circle, Broadway, and Eighth Avenue. It was originally designed by Edward Durell Stone in the modernist style for A&P heir Huntington Hartford. In the 2000s, Brad Cloepfil redesigned 2 Columbus Circle for the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), which has occupied the building since 2008.

The exterior walls are made of reinforced concrete, which double as load-bearing walls that support the concrete floor slabs inside. The original facade largely consisted of white Vermont marble slabs, with small windows only at the corner of the building, as well as loggias at the base and top of the building. The current facade consists of terracotta panels separated by deep grooves, as well as large glass panels at the top. The lower stories of the building contain museum space, while the upper stories contain offices. There were originally several mezzanine levels, though these were removed in the 2000s. The original structure and the redesigned building have been the subject of extensive architectural commentary.

Hartford announced plans for the Gallery of Modern Art on the south side of Columbus Circle in June 1956, although construction did not start until 1960 due to various delays. The museum opened on March 21, 1964, and suffered financially for several years. Fairleigh Dickinson University took over the museum in 1969, renaming it the New York Cultural Center, which operated until 1975. Gulf and Western Industries bought 2 Columbus Circle in 1976 and donated it to the New York City government, but the building remained vacant for four years due to various issues. The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau occupied 2 Columbus Circle from 1980 to 1998, when the city government offered up the building for redevelopment. Following a controversy over the building's proposed renovation in the early 2000s, MAD renovated the building from 2005 to 2008.

Site

2 Columbus Circle is on the southern side of Columbus Circle in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building's land lot is irregular and covers . The lot occupies an entire city block bounded by Broadway to the east, 58th Street to the south, Eighth Avenue to the west, and Columbus Circle to the north. The northern portion of the block is curved due to the curvature of Columbus Circle. The building occupies its entire lot.

The building is near Central Park to the northeast; 240 Central Park South, the Gainsborough Studios, and 220 Central Park South to the east; 5 Columbus Circle and Central Park Tower to the southeast; Central Park Place to the southwest; Deutsche Bank Center (formerly Time Warner Center) to the west; and Trump International Hotel and Tower to the north.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Central Park South was developed as Manhattan's "Gold Coast", with many prestigious hotels and apartment buildings being erected on its route. The seven-story Grand Circle Hotel, designed by William H. Cauvet, stood at this address from 1874. Later called the Boulevard Hotel, it functioned as an office building by the late 1950s, with a Chevrolet advertisement on its roof.

Architecture

Facade

The building was designed by Edward Durell Stone for businessman Huntington Hartford, an heir to the A&P supermarket chain. It was originally a nine-story modernist structure. Its exterior wall is made of reinforced concrete, which was used because it was more flexible to construct than a traditional steel structure. The exterior walls double as load-bearing walls, which support the concrete floor slabs inside.

Original design

thumb|The building's original exterior, photographed in 2005

The facade was largely made of slabs of white Vermont marble, with gray and gold veins; these slabs were originally attached to the concrete wall. Most of the marble panels had no window openings, but there were small circular windows at the corners and top story. each arranged in groups of four. Stone designed the windows to be as small as possible,

The sidewalk around the building was originally made of reddish-brown terrazzo or concrete. Inset into the sidewalk were marble circles measuring across and framed by brass strips; there were also planting pits along the curb. which measured high. Above the ground-level loggia were alternating medallions made of red Italian marble and green Vermont marble. as was the ground-story loggia, one of the key portions of the superstructure. The loggia was enclosed behind a glass wall.

The original openings at the facade's corners were removed. At different times of day, the panels give the impression that they are slightly changing in color. Behind the terracotta panels are horizontal openings, which measure wide and are carved into the outer bearing walls. To reduce deflection, the grooves are spanned by large metal pins. There are one-story-high vertical panels of fritted glass, which connect the grooves on each floor.

The top stories use the most glass and are illuminated by transparent, translucent, and fritted glass panels. The mezzanines also had smoking lounges, as well as rooms with pipe-organ music.

MAD occupies across ten above-ground floors and two basement levels. The mezzanines were removed when the building was renovated. Each of the main floors was enlarged to , The Gallery of Modern Art had 14 galleries in total. The main gallery on each floor faced Columbus Circle, while the smaller galleries faced Broadway and Eighth Avenue. There were also walls with gray-blue fabric and walnut paneling, as well as floors with French parquetry. The original lighting system was composed of diagonal troffers in the ceiling, which faced the outer walls of each gallery; the troffers surrounded a dropped ceiling at the center of each gallery. The space is large enough to house the museum's permanent collection, which numbered 2,000 objects at the time of the renovation. The space also allowed MAD to host multiple temporary exhibits simultaneously; by contrast, the museum's previous building was so small that it had to be closed every time a temporary exhibition was installed.

Other spaces

In the basement was an auditorium with 154 seats. The auditorium measured deep and contained golden draperies, as well as a red-carpeted floor that extended to the back wall. The auditorium, subsequently named the Mark Goodson Theater, was the only part of the original design to be preserved in the 2000s renovation. The renovation also preserved the bronze doors leading to the auditorium.

The original lobby's floor contained marble circles that had been cut out of the facade's portholes. The space contains 138 seats and can be accessed without entering the museum. It is decorated in an orange, purple, and vermilion color scheme, which in turn is illuminated by orange LED lighting.

History

Development

Planning and disputes

Huntington Hartford announced plans for the 10-story Gallery of Modern Art on the south side of Columbus Circle in June 1956. The building would contain a modern-art collection belonging to Hartford and his wife Marjorie Steele, as well as ground-story retail space and a rooftop garden. Hartford had paid nearly $1 million for the land; he estimated that the gallery would cost $1.5 million to construct and would be completed in 1958. will have been definitely 'lifted'." The New York Herald Tribune said that the planned structure "can be a valuable contribution to New York's architectural scene". Hartford initially collaborated with Hanford Yang, a Chinese-born architecture student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on the design of the museum. Yang's initial proposal called for an 11-story structure with a pair of interlocked concrete cylinders, sheathed in a plastic facade. and Hartford said two months later that the project would begin "within six months to a year". In May 1958, Hartford hired Stone as the architect, since Yang was not registered to practice architecture in New York state. By then, the museum was to cost $3 million and be completed in a year. Stone initially retained Yang as a project manager but soon revised the design drastically. Hartford ultimately was allowed to keep the "Gallery" name. Stone filed plans for the gallery with the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) in April 1959, as the naming dispute was ongoing. Most tenants had left by July 1959, and demolition was supposed to have begun in August, with the gallery being completed in early 1961. The last remaining tenant was a shoe store, whose owner argued that he could only be evicted if an office building was built on the site. Though the New York Supreme Court ruled against the shoe store, the store's owner appealed the decision to the New York Court of Appeals, prompting Hartford to postpone the gallery's opening by one year. The Court of Appeals refused to hear the store's appeal in February 1960, and the shoe store finally vacated the site.

Construction

Hartford procured numerous works of art for the new museum, including a large mural by Salvador Dalí entitled The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. After his divorce from Steele in 1960, he bought five of his ex-wife's paintings for the museum. In total, the museum was to contain at least 30 sculptures and 75 paintings from Hartford's personal art collection. Margaret Potter was hired as the museum's curator. In late 1963, Weinhardt selected the museum's first temporary exhibition, a showcase of surrealist paintings by Pavel Tchelitchew. At the time, the museum's staff had already moved into the building. Prior to the official opening, the museum had several preview events with guests such as Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky and Prince Aschwin of Lippe-Biesterfeld. The Gallery of Modern Art opened to the public on March 21, 1964, with 3,358 visitors on its first day. At the time, the museum had 25 staff members and 45 guards; its operating costs were estimated at $600,000 per year. The museum's early exhibits included retrospectives of the work of artists Jean Hélion, Reginald Marsh, and Salvador Dalí, as well as a set of paintings depicting New York City over a 50-year period. The museum also hosted short recitals by contemporary musicians. The Gallery of Modern Art began screening rare and classic films three times daily in April 1965, and the photography gallery opened the next month. Grace Glueck of The New York Times wrote that Hartford's art "did not exactly draw rave notices from the critics". Hartford also asked officials at Columbia University and New York University if they were willing to help fund the museum, though neither university was interested in doing so. Over the following year, 750 people signed up as patrons of the museum, each paying $15 to $500 a year. The museum opened a section "for the perpetuation and viewing of the best works of television" in late 1965. Weinhardt resigned as the museum's director that November, leaving the museum without a director for the next five years. and a showcase of ancient Egyptian objects.

The museum continued to operate with a $580,000 annual deficit, and the museum had to spend $320,000 a year on paying off its mortgage. Hartford started selling off objects in his collection, raising $200,000 by April 1966. He planned to sell or lease 2 Columbus Circle, although a large art company had already declined an offer to lease the building because it was too large. Fordham planned to move its communication-arts program in the building. The museum still hosted exhibitions and events over the next two years. Among its offerings in 1967 and 1968 were a painting collection loaned by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, a set of paintings by former president Dwight D. Eisenhower, a showcase of 19th-century Russian antiques, and a selection of sports films.

New York Cultural Center

Peter Sammartino, the chancellor of Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, expressed interest in the Gallery of Modern Art's exhibits in the late 1960s. As part of the agreement, Hartford would give at least $5 million to the university if it operated the New York Cultural Center for five years. Hartford also donated $1 million to the museum's operations, and Fairleigh S. Dickinson gave $2.5 million to help pay off the mortgage. In addition, both men agreed to cover a portion of the museum's deficit. The university hired Raymond Rohauer as the cultural center's film curator and director, though Rohauer resigned after less than a year.

The center appointed its first director, Donald H. Karshan, in January 1970. That month, John Canaday wrote for The New York Times: "Since the change of name, the center has seemed to be willing to exhibit just about anything in order to keep the walls covered..." The Cultural Center hosted 150 shows in its five years of operation. photographs of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and architectural drawings by Adolf Hitler. During 1972 and 1973, the Cultural Center's exhibits included a collection loaned by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, a set of paintings by 19th-century Italian artists, an exhibition of paintings by prisoners, and a selection of over 100 drawings by sculptors.

--> The auditorium also hosted musical performances and film retrospectives. Mario Amaya was hired as the Cultural Center's director in early 1972. Under Amaya's leadership, daily attendance tripled from December 1971 to December 1972, with 130,000 annual visitors in that period. The basement auditorium hosted its first legitimate theatrical shows in mid-1972. Amaya planned to exhibit objects from obscure New York City museums, and he wished to expand the Cultural Center's film and musical offerings. The Wall Street Journal wrote that the auditorium hosted film screenings, organ recitals, and experimental theater performances.

In October 1974, Fairleigh Dickinson University indicated it would no longer operate the Cultural Center, citing increasing expenses, waning public support, and the expiration of its agreement with Hartford. The New York Cultural Center's trustees began seeking a buyer for the property, considering bids only from organizations that could take "full responsibility, including purchase", of 2 Columbus Circle. The trustees first put the building for sale in March 1975 for $6 million but subsequently lowered that price. The museum closed on September 14, 1975, and a cocktail party commemorating the museum was hosted the following week. Art critic Hilton Kramer wrote that the museum's closure, "while very far from being in any way central or catastrophic to New York art life, is nonetheless saddening".

New York City government use

thumb|Eastward view of Columbus Circle from the Deutsche Bank Center. Seen from left to right are [[240 Central Park South, 220 Central Park South (under construction), One57 (in the background), and 2 Columbus Circle.]]

In December 1976, Gulf and Western Industries announced that it would purchase 2 Columbus Circle and donate the building to the government of New York City, as part of an agreement with outgoing mayor Abraham Beame. The structure would be converted into offices for the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) and the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau. As part of the acquisition, the property title would first be transferred to Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance, which held a $1 million first mortgage on the building. Gulf and Western would then pay off the first mortgage, acquire the building, and deed it to the city government. At the time, Gulf and Western was housed at 15 Columbus Circle, immediately to the north. The delay was in part because Gulf and Western had to negotiate with both mayoral administrations over maintenance costs. Additionally, though the building was being renovated at the time, the Koch administration would not commit to the project in the wake of the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis. Other organizations expressed interest in 2 Columbus Circle, including the Parsons School of Design. Gulf and Western ultimately agreed to spend $900,000 on maintenance over four years. Cultural Affairs commissioner Henry Geldzahler and his partner Christopher Scott oversaw the renovation, which left the building's materials and open spaces largely intact. This stipulation was part of a "reversionary interest" clause that ran for thirty years; if the city government did not use the building for cultural purposes during that period, Gulf and Western could take back ownership. Koch dedicated the DCLA's offices at 2 Columbus Circle in November 1980. The DCLA occupied four stories and rented out the restaurant and auditorium, and the Visitors Bureau had an information booth in the lobby and offices on three other floors. Among the City Gallery's exhibits were artwork by New Yorkers, paintings by elderly citizens, and a showcase of works from the city's Percent for art program. The Visitors Bureau had 250,000 annual visitors. The building's small size continued to pose a hindrance for its occupants, at least from the public's point of view. In 1991, Paul Goldberger wrote in the Times that the city government offices fit "no better into its awkward, cramped galleries than Mr. Hartford's pictures did." Viacom, which had acquired Gulf and Western in the 1990s, inherited the building's reversionary interest. As part of a $15 million tax-incentive agreement with Viacom in 1994, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) acquired the reversionary interest in 2 Columbus Circle. Consequently, the city government was no longer obligated to use the building solely for cultural purposes. The government had yet to find new space for the DCLA and the Visitors Bureau. That year, Robert A. M. Stern cited 2 Columbus Circle as one of 35 modern-style buildings that he thought should be designated as city landmarks. Since it was more than thirty years old, the building was technically old enough to be designated as a city landmark. A four-member committee of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) had declined to consider designating the building as a landmark in June 1996. Although architecture critic Herbert Muschamp believed there was little chance of 2 Columbus Circle's survival, the building received a high amount of attention from preservationists. Among those interested in the building were the Dahesh Museum of Art, as well as developer Donald Trump, who was renovating the nearby Gulf and Western Building. Trump, who had spoken negatively of 2 Columbus Circle, The Giuliani administration claimed that, because the EDC owned 2 Columbus Circle's reversionary interest, the building did not have to undergo public review, which typically was required as part of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. the city selected a developer for the Coliseum project, which became Time Warner Center, in July 1998. That October, the Alexander Calder Foundation proposed renovating 2 Columbus Circle's facade. which had received considerable support from the public. The project remained stalled through the end of the 1990s. This time, the city government sought to replace the building entirely, with the EDC describing 2 Columbus Circle as a "prime location for residential apartments". Preservationists continued advocating for the building to be designated as a city landmark. Even though the LPC had indicated that it would not hold landmark hearings for the building, At the end of Giuliani's tenure as mayor in December 2001, there were rumors that Giuliani had selected Trump as the site's developer, but the EDC denied the allegations. Trump claimed in 2002 that Giuliani had promised to designate him as the site's developer. The museum had not been one of the original bidders. The American Craft Museum planned to spend at least $30 million on renovations, including replacement of the deteriorating facade. and eleven firms expressed interest. In mid-2002, the American Craft Museum selected four finalists