It’s a uniquely American irony that the template for early 20th century residential opulence was shaped largely by an undereducated immigrant—an Italian, at that—who arrived in America with a minimal grasp of English. By the standards of his time (and, depressingly, those of today), Rosario Candela would not be considered desirable. Born in Palermo in 1890, he emigrated to the U.S. around 1910. His unflagging drive, industriousness, and sheer talent allowed Candela to graduate from Columbia University’s architecture school in 1915, start his own firm five years later, and reshape urban living by creating some of the country’s most coveted real estate: Fifth Avenue maisonettes overlooking Central Park, elegant duplexes and triplexes in cooperative buildings on Park Avenue, some of the first apartment complexes on Sutton Place.
Elegance in the Sky: The Architecture of Rosario Candela is a compact one-room exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, curated by Donald Albrecht and designed by Peter Pennoyer Architects, that takes viewers inside a handful of those residences. Images of a stately library at 720 Park Avenue, a sun-drenched penthouse terrace with expansive views at 834 Fifth Avenue, and a dome-ceiling dining room at 960 Fifth Avenue sit alongside exterior views of the buildings and floor plans of the units. In all, nearly a dozen projects from the late 1920s through the early 1930s are represented in the exhibition (Candela completed more than 70 buildings—and pivoted to a second career, after the Depression, as an accomplished cryptographer—before his death in 1953), alongside large photographs of other Candela apartments and a display of items including marketing materials and personal objects.
You have 0 complimentary articles remaining.
Unlimited access + premium benefits for as low as $1.99/month.