Breuer Building: Brutalist Landmark Designation in NYC

The previous Whitney “structure and its one-of-a-kind interior are amazing examples of the Brutalist design of contemporary style and stand for an effective testimony to New york city City’s role as an international facility of ingenious layout,” Sarah Carroll, the chair of the LPC, stated in a statement.

Landmark Status Approved

The ballot to authorize site designation on 20 May will certainly safeguard the building’s lobby, coat check, gift store, cafe and other public-facing locations on the ground and reduced degrees, along with its main stairwell, from changes during the auction house’s restorations, which are being led by the design firm Herzog & de Meuron.

“We would have preferred the galleries were consisted of in the classification,” Liz Waytkus, the executive director of Docomomo United States– the organisation that filed the landmarking request with the LPC– told The New York Times. “But we have actually spoken with Sotheby’s and they have ensured us they are treating all gallery surfaces as if they are marked and using a light hand in their restoration.”

Gallery Inclusion Debated

The Breuer structure was completed in 1966 and has come to be considered a beaming example of Brutalist architecture in the United States. After the Whitney opened its new Renzo Piano structure in the Meatpacking District in 2015, the Breuer structure housed pop-ups of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection.

Herzog & de Meuron is best recognized for its work with the Tate Modern in London and the de Youthful Gallery in San Francisco. The firm is known for its viewpoint of “adaptive reuse”, a technique of transforming existing structures while maintaining their historical features instead of reconstructing and demolishing from the ground-up. The Swiss-based firm is working with PBDW Architects in New York on the Breuer’s layout.

Adaptive Reuse Approach

Much of the ground floor and lower level insides of Marcel Breuer’s previous Whitney Gallery of American Art structure at 945 Madison Opportunity– which Sotheby’s purchased in 2023 for a reported $100m– has actually been designated as a spots by the New york city City Landmarks Preservation Payment (LPC).

The building’s galleries, which are not consisted of in the designation, will certainly involve house Sotheby’s brand-new salesroom along with public exhibit, private viewing and eating spaces. The building’s outside has actually been protected given that 1981, when it was marked a spots as component of the Upper East Side Historic District.

The Swiss-based company is working with PBDW Architects in New York on the Breuer’s layout.

Sotheby’s Support for Designation

“We fully back the site designation, as reflected in our initial prepare for the building,” Steve Wrightson, Sotheby’s worldwide head of property, stated in a declaration. “We look forward to inviting the general public back and honouring the Breuer’s sustaining tradition as we introduce a new phase.”

The Breuer building was completed in 1966 and has come to be taken into consideration a shining example of Brutalist architecture in the United States. After the Whitney opened its brand-new Renzo Piano building in the Meatpacking Area in 2015, the Breuer structure housed pop-ups of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection.