“This is probably the
first modern townhouse built in the United States. The architect, originally Swiss, brought his enthusiasm for
the modern from Europe, where it was already a well-established style. This house a startling addition ot the
local scene at the time that it was completed in the ‘30s, introduced some of
the more striking characteristics of modern architecture to New York – the elimination
of familiar ornament and the classic façade divisions in favor of a carefully
but unconventionally proportioned, smooth-surfaced exterior…. Although some of the entrance details
now seem dated – such as the proportion and placement of the small, projecting
marquee – and glass bock has gone out of favor after becoming an abused ‘modernistic’
cliché, the effect of the building is still extraordinarily contemporary…”
- “Four Walking Tours of Modern Architecture in
New York City,” The Museum of Moern Art and the Municipal Art Society of New
York, Prepared by Ada Louise Huxtable; Distributed by Doubleday & Company,
Inc., Third Printing 1966.
Image via gothamist.com.
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