ROCKEFELLER CENTERROCKEFELLER CENTER

Anna BearzottiSara Cusmà PiccioneFrancesca Medeossi

Natalia Janscak

Rockefeller center Location: in the centre of Midtown, Manhattan, New York City (30

Rockefeller Plaza, bet W50 and W51. West 48th to 51st Streets between 5th and 6th Avenues )

Architects: Raymond Hood ( with Wallace K. Harrison, Harvey W. Corbett, Fouilhoux, Reinhard, Hofmeister,

and MacMurray)

Commission: John D. Rockefeller

Built: 1931-1940

Centerpiece: 30 Rockefeller Plaza,

its tallest structure

Raymond Hood(1881-1934)

Studies: Brown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris

His first major commission, the Chicago Tribune Tower (1922) has a Gothic Style.

Then, he takes distances from the Gothic.

1930: Mc Graw Hill Building

Notes Construction: from 1931 to 1940

Construction of 10 different units: the last (the National Cash Register Company's offices) was completed in 1940

An international symbol of modernist architectural style: the only major private construction project underway in New York during the Depression

A city within a city: all in a single complex (public and private activities)

Pedestrian-friendly: it hosts a sunken garden and the Channel Gardens

Latest technical refinements: elevators, air conditioning

RKO motion picture theater: the first building completed, it opened in 1932

1987: it was declared a National Historic Landmark

Now there are 21 buildings

The original Rockefeller Center buildings are:

1 Rockefeller Plaza (formerly the Time and Life Building)

10 Rockefeller Plaza (formerly the Eastern Airlines Building)

1270 Avenue of the Americas Building (formerly the RKO Building)

The Associated Press Building

The British Empire Building

Channel Gardens (between the British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise.)

The International Building

La Maison Francaise

Palazzo d'Italia

The Simon & Schuster Building (formerly the U.S. Rubber Company Building)

John D. Rockefeller

1928: he leases the area from Columbia University; the area had lost much of its appeal by the 1920s

Original plan: a commercial and civic center with 3 office towers and an opera house, around a plaza

The Opera withdrew from the project: Rockefeller Center was transformed into a massive speculative commercial and entertainment development, first called Radio City

1931: final scheme

Beaux-Arts design, Art Deco Architecture

The project accommodated both business and leisure activities

Murals: Sert and Brangwyn; also Rivera who made a scandal

Prometheus

Rockefeller Plaza

Channel Gardens

probably the city's finest public space

animated fountainheads, surrounded by benches and lush landscaping

GE Building The highlight of the complex

850 feet tall

Radio City Music Hall

one of two theaters originally built

Designer: Donald Deskey

International Building

The Friendship of France and the United States

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Maison Française

British Empire Building