The Rockefeller Centre, New York
January 19th 2009 16:07
It was time very much like the present when John D. Rockefeller set about building his ‘city within a city” in the centre of mid-town Manhattan. The New York Stock Market had crashed, the US economy was crumbling, credit was tight and investors were nervous. Rockefeller had two options; either he abandoned the project altogether, or he built it himself. He chose the latter. With his own funds and a line of credit from the Metropolitan Life Assurance Company, he began work on May 17, 1930, on land which he had leased from Columbia University. It was the largest and most ambitious construction project ever undertaken by an individual.
The project was underpinned, not only by Rockefeller’s millions, but also by his deep philanthropic convictions. Firstly, he believed in the supreme worth of individual and in their right, among others, to the pursuit of happiness. Secondly, he believed that public art was a matter of good citizenship. So, by the time Rockefeller drove home the final ceremonial silver rivet on November 1, 1939, his building had sustained over 40,000 people – architects, engineers, tradesmen, labourers, sculptors and artists - through the dark depression years. He had also created a centre point, a community in mid-town Manhattan and begun traditions which survive in New York even today. Finally he had created one of the most significant pieces of architecture and one of the most important collections of public art in America.
Stretching across 22 acres, between 5th and 7th Avenue and 47th and 51st Streets, the Rockefeller Centre’s is a complex of 19 buildings interwoven with gardens, miniature parks, paths, and plazas.
The centerpiece of the complex is the GE, originally the RCA building, which was completed in 1933. Stories of death-defying feats during the construction of the 70 story tower are legion. Breathtaking photographs show workers standing, eating lunch and even snoozing, un-harnessed and without safety helmets, on girders in mid-air. At the top of the tower on the 70th floor is the famous Top of the Rock observation deck. Since it opened, millions of visitors have ascended the rock to drink in its spectacular vistas and to witness historic moments. In 1945, a crowd of 8,000 people watched the American fleet sail home. These days, visitors enjoy a brilliant multimedia exhibition on the history of “the Rock” before soaring skyward in high-speed elevators to enjoy the view. The GE tower has long been the home of broadcasting. The first Today show was recorded here in the 1950s. Today it is the headquarters of NBC. Most of the network's New York studios, including Studio 8H, home of Saturday Night Live, are located here. On the 65th floor, is the famous Rainbow Room restaurant which opened in 1934 with Noel Coward as one of its first patrons. Fittingly, the top floors, between the 65th and the 70th house the Rockefeller family offices.
The other great star in Rockefeller Centre constellation is Radio City Music Hall, on the corner of Avenue of the Americas and 51st Street. A leading light in in its early years was S.L. (Roxy) Rothafel, whose philosophy was “Don’t give the people what they want, give them something better”. When it opened Radio City was the largest and most opulent theatre with the most extravagant shows in the world. All the greats of show business have played there and Radio City spectaculars have delighted generations of New Yorkers and visitors alike. In 1987 Radio City was declared a New York landmark.
The famous Rockefeller Centre traditions began with the building. The first Christmas tree was raised in 1931. In the same year skaters took to the ice in Rockefeller Plaza. The first Autumn Festival took place in 1941. The decorations on the Christmas tree have become more amazing with each passing era. Today, the Rockefeller Christmas tree is one of the world’s most famous. The opening of the ice-rink in the Rockefeller Plaza and the Autumn Festival are both big on the New York calendar and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular is a highlight. The tradition of Public Art which has through regular exhibitions and installations, reached new alighted in the centre.
The Rockefeller Centre was one of the last buildings in the United States to incorporate a program of public art and the works there are among the country’s most impressive and memorable. Contributing artists were both local and international. The friezes above the RCA building and the magnificent statue of Atlas on 5th Avenue are the work of Lee Lawrie. Paul Manship created Prometheus in the Rockefeller Plaza. In 1932 Mexican artist Diego Rivera was commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller, to paint a fresco in the lobby of the RCA building. Unfortunately, his work, Man at the Crossroads, which contained the figure of Lenin at the Moscow Day Parade, was considered unsuitable. Tragically, when Rivera refused to change it, the fresco was destroyed. Rivera was paid off. He was replaced by the Catalan artist Jose Maria Sert whose giant mural, American Progress, wraps around the west wall of the Grand Lobby. It depicts men constructing modern America and contains the figures of Abraham Lincoln and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
John D Rockefeller’s “city within a city” is a place of great beauty and wonder. It is both vibrant and restful. It hums with life, yet, at the same time offers shelter from the busy streets and avenues which surround it. Garden beds and flower boxes brighten its walkways and plazas. Sculptures, frescos, friezes and murals soften its walls. The colourful flags of the United Nations fly overhead.
Although the complex is now owned and controlled by Tischman Speyer, it will always be Rockefeller's Centre, a monument to the great entrepreneur and visionary, his legacy not just to New York, but to the world. What a gift and what an example! Now wouldn’t it be wonderful, if out of the rubble of the present economic crash, some philanthropic entrepreneur were to emerge and employ thousands of jobless to translate his great vision into a magnificent monument of architecture and art ?
Atlas, on Fifth Avenue
The project was underpinned, not only by Rockefeller’s millions, but also by his deep philanthropic convictions. Firstly, he believed in the supreme worth of individual and in their right, among others, to the pursuit of happiness. Secondly, he believed that public art was a matter of good citizenship. So, by the time Rockefeller drove home the final ceremonial silver rivet on November 1, 1939, his building had sustained over 40,000 people – architects, engineers, tradesmen, labourers, sculptors and artists - through the dark depression years. He had also created a centre point, a community in mid-town Manhattan and begun traditions which survive in New York even today. Finally he had created one of the most significant pieces of architecture and one of the most important collections of public art in America.
Gardens in the Rockefeller Centre
Stretching across 22 acres, between 5th and 7th Avenue and 47th and 51st Streets, the Rockefeller Centre’s is a complex of 19 buildings interwoven with gardens, miniature parks, paths, and plazas.
The GE/RCA building
The centerpiece of the complex is the GE, originally the RCA building, which was completed in 1933. Stories of death-defying feats during the construction of the 70 story tower are legion. Breathtaking photographs show workers standing, eating lunch and even snoozing, un-harnessed and without safety helmets, on girders in mid-air. At the top of the tower on the 70th floor is the famous Top of the Rock observation deck. Since it opened, millions of visitors have ascended the rock to drink in its spectacular vistas and to witness historic moments. In 1945, a crowd of 8,000 people watched the American fleet sail home. These days, visitors enjoy a brilliant multimedia exhibition on the history of “the Rock” before soaring skyward in high-speed elevators to enjoy the view. The GE tower has long been the home of broadcasting. The first Today show was recorded here in the 1950s. Today it is the headquarters of NBC. Most of the network's New York studios, including Studio 8H, home of Saturday Night Live, are located here. On the 65th floor, is the famous Rainbow Room restaurant which opened in 1934 with Noel Coward as one of its first patrons. Fittingly, the top floors, between the 65th and the 70th house the Rockefeller family offices.
View from the Top of the Rock by night
The other great star in Rockefeller Centre constellation is Radio City Music Hall, on the corner of Avenue of the Americas and 51st Street. A leading light in in its early years was S.L. (Roxy) Rothafel, whose philosophy was “Don’t give the people what they want, give them something better”. When it opened Radio City was the largest and most opulent theatre with the most extravagant shows in the world. All the greats of show business have played there and Radio City spectaculars have delighted generations of New Yorkers and visitors alike. In 1987 Radio City was declared a New York landmark.
Radio City
The famous Rockefeller Centre traditions began with the building. The first Christmas tree was raised in 1931. In the same year skaters took to the ice in Rockefeller Plaza. The first Autumn Festival took place in 1941. The decorations on the Christmas tree have become more amazing with each passing era. Today, the Rockefeller Christmas tree is one of the world’s most famous. The opening of the ice-rink in the Rockefeller Plaza and the Autumn Festival are both big on the New York calendar and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular is a highlight. The tradition of Public Art which has through regular exhibitions and installations, reached new alighted in the centre.
Frescos in the concourse of the GE building
The Rockefeller Centre was one of the last buildings in the United States to incorporate a program of public art and the works there are among the country’s most impressive and memorable. Contributing artists were both local and international. The friezes above the RCA building and the magnificent statue of Atlas on 5th Avenue are the work of Lee Lawrie. Paul Manship created Prometheus in the Rockefeller Plaza. In 1932 Mexican artist Diego Rivera was commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller, to paint a fresco in the lobby of the RCA building. Unfortunately, his work, Man at the Crossroads, which contained the figure of Lenin at the Moscow Day Parade, was considered unsuitable. Tragically, when Rivera refused to change it, the fresco was destroyed. Rivera was paid off. He was replaced by the Catalan artist Jose Maria Sert whose giant mural, American Progress, wraps around the west wall of the Grand Lobby. It depicts men constructing modern America and contains the figures of Abraham Lincoln and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Flags at the Rockefeller Centre
John D Rockefeller’s “city within a city” is a place of great beauty and wonder. It is both vibrant and restful. It hums with life, yet, at the same time offers shelter from the busy streets and avenues which surround it. Garden beds and flower boxes brighten its walkways and plazas. Sculptures, frescos, friezes and murals soften its walls. The colourful flags of the United Nations fly overhead.
Rockefeller Plaza
Although the complex is now owned and controlled by Tischman Speyer, it will always be Rockefeller's Centre, a monument to the great entrepreneur and visionary, his legacy not just to New York, but to the world. What a gift and what an example! Now wouldn’t it be wonderful, if out of the rubble of the present economic crash, some philanthropic entrepreneur were to emerge and employ thousands of jobless to translate his great vision into a magnificent monument of architecture and art ?
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