The Skyscraper Museum is devoted to the study of high-rise building, past, present, and future. The Museum explores tall buildings as objects of design, products of technology, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence. This site will look better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.
PAST EVENTS 2001-2004
January 20 to May 25, 2004
BOOK TALKS
The Skyscraper Museum presents a series of book events exploring the skyline architecture of New York. These programs are free, and no reservations are necessary. All events held at the Center for Architecture at 536 LaGuardia Place, NYC (between Bleecker and West 3rd Street) 212-683-0023.
January 20, 2004, 6:30 - 7:30 PM
Daniel Okrent on GREAT FORTUNE: THE EPIC OF ROCKEFELLER CENTER (Penguin, October 2003)Noted journalist and public editor for The New York Times, Daniel Okrent recounts the story of ambition and daring and the tangle of big business, politics, high society, and deal-making on the grand scale that led to the construction of Rockefeller Center, one of the world's most famous urban complexes.
February 3, 2004, 6:30 - 7:30 PM
Eric Howeler on SKYSCRAPER: VERTICAL NOW (Universe/Rizzoli, December 2003)Architect Eric Howeler talks about his new book Skyscraper: Vertical Now and examines how the skyscraper shapes our urban existence and continues to serve as a symbol of our collective aspirations.
Exploring over 70 skyscraper designs of the recent past and near future, Howeler examines the cultural, technological, and social factors governing skyscrapers, the emergence of the "green skyscraper", the Asian skyscraper and the influence of the international landscape, and major works from the world's leading architects including KPF, Foster, SOM, Calatrava, Koolhaas, Nouvel, and many more.
March 9, 2004, 6:30 - 7:30 PM
Richard Berenholtz, photographer of NEW YORK ARCHITECTURE: A HISTORY (Universe/Rizzoli, December 2003)April 20, 2004, 6:30 - 7:30 PM
Jim Rasenberger on HIGH STEEL: THE DARING MEN WHO BUILT THE WORLD’S GREATEST SKYLINE (Harper Collins, April 2004)May 25, 2004, 6:30 - 7:30 PM
James Traub on THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND: A CENTURY OF PLEASURE AND PROFIT IN TIMES SQUARE (Random House, April 2004)As Times Square turns 100, New York Times Magazine contributing writer James Traub tells the story of how this mercurial district became one of the most famous and exciting places in the world. The Devil’s Playground is classic and colorful American history, from the first years of the twentieth century through the Runyonesque heyday of nightclubs and theaters in the 1920s and ’30s, to the district’s decline in the 1960s and its glittering corporate revival in the 1990s.
June 15, 2004, 6:30 - 7:30 PM
Owen D. Gutfreund on TWENTIETH CENTURY SPRAWL: HIGHWAYS AND THE RESHAPING OF THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE (Oxford University Press, March 2004)Owen Gutfreund's 20th Century Sprawl is a groundbreaking study of how urban sprawl changed the face of America's cities and towns. Gutfruend takes a "follow the money" approach to show how government policies—largely unexamined—from as early as the 1920's subsidized the spread of cities and fueled a chronic nationwide dependence on cars and road building with little regard for expense, efficiency, social justice, or the environment."
July 20, 2004, 6:30 - 7:30 PM
Russell Shorto on THE ISLAND AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD: THE EPIC STORY OF DUTCH MANHATTAN, THE FORGOTTEN COLONY THAT SHAPED AMERICA (Doubleday, March 2004)In a landmark work of history, Russell Shorto presents astonishing information on the founding of our nation and reveals in riveting detail the crucial role of the Dutch in making America what it is today.
August 3, 2004, 6:30 - 7:30 PM
The Skyscraper Museum Team on the Web Project VIVA: VISUAL INDEX TO THE VIRTUAL ARCHIVE (www.skyscraper.org/viva)VIVA is the Visual Index to the Virtual Archive of The Skyscraper Museum, an innovative Web interface that uses an interactive 3D map of Manhattan in 2000 as a gateway to the Museum’s archive of New York City images and views. Over 2,000 historic photographs, postcards, and other images are now available online through VIVA.
Sunday, May 16, 2004
HISTORY AND HERITAGE DOWNTOWN FAMILY FUN DAY
World Financial Center Winter Garden
On May 16th the Skyscraper Museum joined over 15 other Lower Manhattan cultural organizations to celebrate the History and Heritage of Downtown New York City. For its feature presentation The Skyscraper Museum's special guest Steve Havemann demonstrated the historical process of riveting using antique forge, tongs, and pneumatic gun. Jim Rasenberger, author of High Steel, was also present during the demonstration to further illustrate the technologies, techniques and dangers of skyscraper construction.
December 8, 2003, 6:30 - 7:30 PM
NEAL BASCOMB on HIGHER: A HISTORIC RACE TO THE SKY AND THE MAKING OF A CITY (Doubleday, October 2003)
CENTER FOR ARCHITECTURE, NYC
In 1929, as downtown and midtown skylines soared, two towers vied for the title of world’s tallest building. Author Neal Bascomb recounts the race between the Manhattan Company Building at 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building, evoking the colorful characters of an architectural drama.
June 11, 2003, 10 AM
CONSTRUCTION KICK-OFF
At the site of the Museum's new home at 39 Battery Place, three blocks west of Bowling Green (4 / 5 Trains). A celebration to launch the construction of our permanent home in Battery Park City.
For more information about the event, click here.
May 5, 2003
HONG KONG ~ NEW YORK
SKYSCRAPERS IN THE GLOBAL CITY
Lighthouse International, Ames Auditorium, 111 E. 59th St., between Lexington and Park Avenues
Cesar Pelli and William Pedersen, Architects of the world's tallest buildings, discuss skyscrapers in the global city:
In Hong Kong, architects Cesar Pelli and William Pedersen of KPF have designed supertallskyscrapers and commercial centers—one completed, the otherin construction—that rise over train stations and mass transit hubs. These towers and others that are now, or will be, the world’s tallest buildings pose possible models for downtown New York.On the evening of Monday, May 5, The Skyscraper Museum will sponsor a symposium featuring William Pedersen of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Cesar Pelli of Cesar Pelli & Associates. The architects will present their supertall towers in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and other global cities and reflect on their experiences with mega-developments in relation to rebuildingm in Lower Manhattan. A discussion with Alex Garvin, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Vice President for Planning, Design & Development, follows the architects’ talks.
As design principals of their internationally renowned firms, Pelli and Pedersen are responsible for buildings that are now, or are projected to be, the world¹s tallest towers. The current record holders, the twin Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, designed by Mr. Pelli, measure 450m (1483 ft.) to the top of their stainless steel spires. The World Financial Center in Shanghai, designed by Mr. Pedersen, scheduled for completion in 2007, will rise to 492m (1614 ft.).
November 4, 2002
BOOK SIGNING AND RECEPTION
Talk at 6:30 pm, book signing and reception at 7:15 pm, Institute of Fine Arts, 1 East 78th Street at Fifth Ave.
The Skyscraper Museum presents a talk by Donald Friedman on his new book After 9-11: An Engineer's Work at the World Trade Center (Xlibris, September 2002).Co-sponsored by the New York Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians.
November 13, 2002
BOOK SIGNING AND RECEPTION
Talk at 6:30 pm, book signing and reception at 7:15 pm, Institute of Fine Arts, 1 East 78th Street at Fifth Ave.
The Skyscraper Museum presents an illustrated talk and book reception to celebrate the reissue of The Lower Manhattan Plan of 1966, published by Princeton Architectural Press in Association with The Skyscraper Museum.Carol Willis, Director of The Skyscraper Museum and editor of the reprint will link past and future plans for Lower Manhattan and introduce two of the original team architects, Paul Willen and James Rossant to reflect on the bold proposals for reinventing downtown in the 1960s.
Co-sponsored by the New York Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians.
October 22, 2002
LOWER MANHATTAN: FIVE DECADES OF THE FUTURE
What: A symposium with Eight Chairs of the NYC Planning Commission on Downtown, Past and Post 9/11
Where: 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza, Auditorium, Lower Level
The Skyscraper Museum sponsored a symposium on the future of Lower Manhattan that brought together, for the first time, seven past Chairs of the New York City Planning Commission and the current Chair, Amanda M. Burden, to discuss how downtown was envisioned by the NYC Department of City Planning under five mayoral administrations, from Lindsay to Bloomberg.
In addition to Ms. Burden the panel included all the heads of the Commission since 1966: Donald H. Elliott (1966-1973); John Zuccotti (1973-1975); Victor Marerro (1976-1977); Herb Sturz (1980-1986); Sylvia Deutsch (1987-1989); Richard L. Schaffer (1990-1993); and Joseph B. Rose (1994-2002). (The missing years, 1978-1980, represent the term of Robert F. Wagner, Jr., deceased.]
Spanning five decades, the plans and policies of these administrations addressed the changing problems and fortunes of Lower Manhattan through several cycles of boom and recession, significant shifts in technology, and new social and sectoral trends that changed downtown's mix of businesses, workers, and residents. These issues arise today in new ways.
Carol Willis, Director of the Skyscraper Museum introduced the panel. Ms. Willis is the editor of the reprint of The Lower Manhattan Plan: The 1966 Vision for Downtown New York (Princeton Architectural Press). This month marks the reprint of this rare, and once again relevant planning document that is in part the inspiration for the evening's discussion.
"Linking the past and future of New York City is central to the mission of The Skyscraper Museum and is essential to the identity of Lower Manhattan in the post-9/11 world," notes Willis. Downtown is the birthplace of New York, and it has been reinvented continuously for more than three hundred years. Most of the change was driven by competitive capitalism, but equally significant from the mid-twentieth century, has been the role of planning and public policy. The panel reflected on those tensions and conflicts from their considerable experience.
February 5 - May 5, 2002
WTC: Monument
An exhibition by The Skyscraper Museum at The New-York Historical Society
This tribute to the Twin Towers examines the history of the complex in its conception, design, and construction from the 1960s through the mid-1970s -- and its destruction on the morning of 9/11.
Curated by Carol Willis, the director of The Skyscraper Museum, the exhibition WTC emphasized the monumental scale of the Twin Towers and explored their place in the postwar transformations of Lower Manhattan where an aggressive policy of urban renewal was directed at modernizing physical conditions and reinforcing the evolution of the economy from port to paperwork. New York in the 1960s was a city on the rise, and no project symbolized the confidence in "bigger is better" than did the World Trade Center. On their completion in 1971 and 1973, the Twin Towers were both the tallest and the largest highrise buildings in the world. Innovative engineering carried the structures to 110 stories, multiplying floors of nearly an acre into more than four million square feet of office space in each tower. Little loved by architecture critics of the day, the great silver pylons were more appreciated for their brilliant engineering than for their minimalist design or the austerity of their windswept stone plazas. Over three decades, though, their tremendous power and presence anchored the skyline in a way that makes it difficult to think of New York without them.
Highlights of the exhibition included: an eighteen-minute film titled "Building the World Trade Center" made by the Port Authority in 1983, and the only extant architectural model by Minoru Yamasaki, with twin towers that stand seven feet tall. The Historical Society's collections enrich the exhibition, which makes use of numerous photographs from the Thomas Airviews collection, and a rare scale model of lower Manhattan circa 1970. The exhibition was accompanied by four public programs on the Trade Center's history originally planned by The Skyscraper Museum for October 2001 to be held at Windows on the World.
WTC: Monument was supported by The Bodman Foundation and The Henry Luce Foundation. The exhibitions and programs of The Skyscraper Museum are supported by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.
February - April 2002
THE WORLD TRADE CENTER II HISTORY
A series of programs organized by The Skyscraper Museum at the New-York Historical Society
New York in the 1960s was a city on the rise, and no project symbolized the confidence in "bigger is better" than did the World Trade Center. In conjunction with the exhibition "WTC," this series of four programs examined the planning, design, construction, and operation of the complex with talks by many of the original team who created and managed the Twin Towers.
April 10, 6:30
PAST AND FUTURE: DOWNTOWN NEW YORK
A panel of historians, planners, architects, and developers discussed the relevance of past plans for reshaping and revitalizing Lower Manhattan and the challenges facing downtown in the future.Hon. Amanda Burden, Chair, NYC Planning Commission
Hon. Sherida Paulsen, Chair, NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
Carl Weisbrod, President, Alliance for Downtown New York
Philip E. Aarons, Principal & Founding Partner, Millennium Partners
Robert Selsam, Senior Vice President, Boston Properties, Inc.
Marilyn Jordan Taylor, Chair, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Philip R. Pitruzzello, V.P. for Real Estate Projects, AOL Time Warner, Inc.
Moderator: Carol Willis, The Skyscraper MuseumMarch 20, 6:30
MANAGING MILLIONS
Planned, designed, and operated by the bi-state agency The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the World Trade Center was a true "city within a city" with a population of some 50,000 tenants, and up to 80,000 visitors daily. The autonomy that characterized the creation of the complex and the engineers' culture of the PANYNJ is explored in this evening's panel which focuses on the operation of the complex over three decades.Angus Gillespie, Professor of American Studies at Rutgers; author of Twin Towers: The Life of New York City's World Trade Center
Charles Maikish, former Director, World Trade Department, 1991-1996
Robert DiChiara, former Asst. Director, World Trade Department, 1991-1997
Alan Reiss, Director, World Trade Department through 2001March 13, 6:30
THE WORLD'S BIGGEST BUILDINGS
Though they were only briefly the tallest buildings, the Twin Towers constituted the largest office complex in the world. Leslie E. Robertson, structural engineer of the towers, and builder John Tishman, who headed the construction management of the project, described the innovative design and unprecedented challenges of erecting the great skyscrapers.Leslie E. Robertson, Principal, Leslie E. Robertson Associates, RLLP
John L. Tishman, Chairman, Tishman Realty & Construction Corporation Co., Inc.
Moderator: Carol Willis, The Skyscraper MuseumFebruary 20, 6:30
NEW YORK IN THE 1960s
Lower Manhattan was transformed in the 1960s and 70s by an aggressive policy of urban renewal that sought to address the postwar realities of obsolete piers, aging buildings, and an exodus of corporations to midtown and beyond. The first program brought together the chief planner of the World Trade Center for the Port Authority, Guy Tozzoli, and Donald H. Elliott, Chairman of the New York City Planning Commission under Mayor Lindsay to look back at the last time government guided the reshaping of downtown New York.Guy Tozzoli, former Director of the World Trade Department, PANYNJ; currently, President, World Trade Centers Association
Donald H. Elliott, former Chairman of the New York City Planning Commission, 1966-1973; currently, Hollyer, Brady, Smith & Hines, LLP
Moderator: Carol Willis, Director, The Skyscraper Museum
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
REMEMBERING THE TWIN TOWERS
Author Tony Hiss Moderates a Panel Discussion
The Municipal Art Society, 457 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022. Website: www.mas.org
Tony Hiss, the author of "Experience of Place", lead a panel featuring Carol Willis, director, The Skyscraper Museum; John Kriskiewicz, architectural historian; and Anthony Robins, historian and author of "The World Trade Center". The discussion centered on how the events of September 11, which took an unimaginable toll on human life, also erased what was perhaps the most powerful and defining element of Manhattan's urban landscape. The World Trade Center was a subject of debate within the architectural community, and captured the imagination of the public, from the moment its first steel girders rose into the sky. Why was it built and what were the design and engineering innovations that made it possible? What did the structures, and their use, mean to us as a society?
October 29, 2001 | 6-8:30 pm
THE "NEW" NEW YORK SKYLINE
CUNY Auditorium 365 Fifth Avenue, between 34th and 35th Streets. Website: www.gothamcenter.org
New York City museums and civic organizations presented a forum featuring prominent architects, developers, educators, journalists, and historians who reflected on the New York City skyline -- past, present, and future -- in light of the tragic events of September 11th. Moderator: Mike Wallace, Director, The Gotham Center. Speakers include: Ralph Appelbaum, President, Ralph Appelbaum Associates; Paul Goldberger, Architecture Critic, The New Yorker; Ric Burns, Director of "New York: A Documentary Film", Steeplechase Films; David Childs, FAIA, Partner, SOM; Jean Gardner, Senior Faculty, Department of Architecture, Parsons School of Design; Hugh Hardy, FAIA, Founding Partner, HHPA; Billie Tsien, AIA, Architect, TWBTA; Camilo José Vergara, Photographer and Author of "American Ruins"; Carl Weisbrod, President, Alliance for Downtown New York; Tod Williams, FAIA, Architect, TWBTA; Carol Willis, Director, The Skyscraper Museum.
Spring 2001
SPRING LECTURES
THE URBAN OFFICE: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
A discussion with Donald Albrecht and James S. Russell
Thursday, May 10 at the Institute of Fine Arts, 1 East 78th Street
Co-sponsored by the Society of Architectural Historians New York Chapter.
Two observers of office-design culture considered architectural evolution and cultural shifts in the white-collar workplace. Donald Albrecht, curator of "On the Job: Design and the American Office" (on view at the National Building Museum, Washington), and James S. Russell, editor-at-large of "Architectural Record", looked back over the century and asked, what's next?
WALL STREET: THE PREQUEL
Tuesday, April 10
The Skyscraper Museum, 110 Maiden Lane
Carol Willis, director and founder of the Museum, looked back on the high-rise history of Wall Street before the days of the "Skyscraper Rivals" (see below). Her talk previewed material to be published by the Museum and W.W. Norton in the book "At the Corner of Capital".
TERRIFIC TERRA-COTTA TOWERS
Wednesday, April 25
Co-sponsored with the New York Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians
Institute of Fine Arts, 1 East 78th Street
Susan Tunick, president of "Friends of Terra Cotta" and author of "Terra-Cotta Skyline", lectured on architectural terra cotta, its use, history, and manufacture. The story behind this extraordinary material was presented within the context of the changing technology in architecture that led to the development of the skyscraper.
SKYSCRAPER RIVALS
LECTURE & BOOK PARTY
Tuesday, March 20
Co-sponsored with Princeton Architectural Press
Daniel Abramson narrated the stories of some of the great Art Deco towers of Lower Manhattan in a richly illustrated lecture on their architecture, interiors, the people who built them, and who kept them running. Copies of his recently published book, "Skyscraper Rivals", were available for purchase and signing at a book party following the lecture.
