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  • 304 East 44th Street/Beaux-Arts Institute of Design Building
  • http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1667.pdf
  • ("304 east 44th" or "304 e. 44th" or "304 east forty-fourth" or "304-06 east 44th" or "304-06 e. 44th" or "304-06 east forty-fourth" or "306 east 44th" or "306 e. 44th" or "306 east forty-fourth" or (("Beaux-Arts" "institute" or "Beaux-Arts" "society" or "reeves sound" or "reeves studio" or "reeves studios") and ("forty-fourth" or "44th"))) and ("Manhattan" or "New York") Not ("Classified Ad" or "Display Ad" or "Spare Times")

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304 East 44th Street (originally the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design Building) is a diplomatic mission building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, housing the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations. Located between Second Avenue and First Avenue, the structure was built as the headquarters of the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design.

Site[edit]

304 East 44th Street is on the south side of 44th Street, between Second Avenue and First Avenue, in the East Midtown and Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City.[1] The "L"-shaped land lot covers 5,924 square feet (550.4 m2), with a frontage of 68 feet (21 m) along 44th Street and a depth of 100.42 feet (30.61 m).[2] The structure is adjacent to the southern Beaux-Arts Apartments building at 310 East 44th Street to the east. The building is also near Tudor City and the Ford Foundation Building to the south and the Millennium Hilton New York One UN Plaza hotel and the Church Center for the United Nations to the east.[1][2] In the early 20th century, a large portion of Turtle Bay's population was involved in the arts or architecture. Structures such as the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and the residential Turtle Bay Gardens, Tudor City, and Beekman Tower were constructed for this community.[3]

Architecture[edit]

The firm of Dennison & Hirons designed 304 East 44th Street for the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design.[4] The structure rises five stories; the top story is a penthouse.[5][6] The structure covers most of its land lot and originally measured 50 by 100 feet (15 by 30 m) across and 70 feet (21 m) tall.[5] The building was expanded 18 feet (5.5 m) to the west in 1961.[7] In early plans for the structure, the ground story was considered as the basement.[6] The sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan designed three terracotta spandrel panels for the building, which were made by the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company.[8][9]

Facade[edit]

The facade is mostly made of buff brick with Flemish bond and limestone trim, except for the water table, which is made of light-toned granite. It was originally divided vertically into three bays, but a fourth bay was added to the west during the 1961 expansion.[7] At ground level, the main entrance is through an oversized opening in the second-easternmost bay, which is reached by two granite steps.[5] The doorway is flanked by stepped blue-purple piers with blue-and-orange floral decorations on their capitals.[5][10] The doorway itself contains a glass-and-wood double door, topped by a transom window. The double door and transom window are flanked by sinusoidal iron grilles, with circles overlaid on the grilles. On either side of the center bay is a single rectangular window with a grille and a window sill. To the right of the main entrance, the second-westernmost bay contains a double-door service entrance. Above the first story, a frieze runs horizontally across the facade, with the text "Beaux-Arts Institute of Design" inscribed into it.[5] The westernmost bay has no opening on the ground story.[7]

On the second through fourth stories, triple-height piers separate the three original bays, and there is a multi-light casement window on each story. Each of the windows on the second story contains two window sills and a pedestal.[5] The pedestals were supposed to serve as the bases for sculptures that were never installed.[11] Above the second story are multicolored spandrel panels, which measure 8 feet (2.4 m) wide and are made of terracotta. From left to right,[5] the panels depict the Parthenon, the Beaux-Arts de Paris's courtyard, and St. Peter's Basilica.[12][13] There are egg-and-dart moldings on the third-story window sills. Above the third story are brick spandrels with rectangle and square patterns. There are Ionic stone capitals at the tops of the two middle piers, above the fourth story. A frieze runs above this story, with limestone relief panels at either end, which depict architectural figures. The frieze is topped by a cornice, which is delineated by two horizontal brick courses.[5] The westernmost bay has one simple window on each of the second through fourth stories and is sparsely decorated, without any of the spandrels or cornices of the original building.[7]

The fifth story was originally recessed behind a terrace.[14][15] When the building was expanded westward in 1961, the fifth-story facade was moved forward so that it was nearly flush with the rest of the facade. In addition, the facade was widened to cover the entire frontage. There are casement windows in all bays except for the second-westernmost bay (the original westernmost bay).[16]

Features[edit]

As planned, the building was five stories high including its penthouse, but excluding the basement.[14] Within the basement were boiler and machinery rooms, storage space, a kitchen, a dining room, and a place for clay storage.[17] Exhibition spaces were located on the first and second stories.[14][17] Both stories had high ceilings; the first story measured 16 feet (4.9 m) high, while the second story measured 14 feet (4.3 m).[14] A small vestibule was situated just inside the entrance. Behind the vestibule was an exhibition room measuring 65 by 48 feet (20 by 15 m), with a mezzanine-level balcony surrounding it.[17] This mezzanine was converted into a full story in 1952.[18] The rear of the first floor included space for offices, as well as trap doors that allowed drawings to be lifted to the basement. On the second floor was even more space for an exhibition room, as well as a library sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation.[17]

The third and fourth stories both contained workshops and had ceiling heights of 11 feet (3.4 m).[19] The third floor was a loft space used mostly for ornamental sculpture classes, and it also contained an executive secretary's office. The fourth floor was very similar except it hosted life classes and a studio for the executive secretary.[17] The penthouse was on the fifth story and measured 40 to 44 feet (12 to 13 m) across, 9 to 10 feet (2.7 to 3.0 m) tall.[19] There was a terrace and a caretaker's apartment at the front of the fifth floor, as well as a roof garden in the rear.[14][15]

History[edit]

The Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, later the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, had been founded to train architects in the style of the French École des Beaux-Arts.[10] The first headquarters of the society was at 126 East 75th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, which opened in 1914.[6][20] The original building provided classes in architecture and later other subjects such as sculpture, interior design, and murals.[21] After World War I, the group expanded its programs significantly, and the first building had become too small for the institute.[6][20] Furthermore, the 75th Street location was relatively far from the business centers of 42nd Street and 59th Street.[6] The institute's president Kenneth Murchison and his business partner Raymond Hood were tasked with finding a site that was "somewhere nearer the architects' and draftsmen's zone of activity" in Turtle Bay.[22][23] The institute decided on a site at 304–306 East 44th Street, which was within two blocks of both 42nd Street and Grand Central Terminal.[6] The organization sold its 75th Street headquarters for $167,250.[20]

Development[edit]

On November 17, 1927, the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects hosted a brief architectural design competition for its new headquarters, where contestants had to draw up detailed plans within four hours.[20][24] Each contestant was required to draw up plans for a four-to-five story building, with specific dimensions, for the 44th Street site.[14] To encourage members to participate, Murchison asked that members pay $25 to enter the competition or $35 if they wished to sit out the competition;[14][24] the contest attracted 72 participants in total.[19] A jury gave out four prizes, with the first-place winner, Frederic C. Hirons, being invited to design the building's facade.[14][24][a] That month, the institute finalized its sale of the site at 304–306 East 44th Street, on which it planned to build a four-story building, for $125,000.[25][26]

A construction contract for the building was awarded to Mark C. Trennedick & Co.[9] in February 1928,[27] and plans for the clubhouse were filed that month.[27][28] Throughout early 1928, the plans were modified slightly. For instance, the entrance was moved from the side to the center, and the planned marble-and-limestone facade was substituted with brick to save money.[29] Three sculptures would also be added to the second-story windows when there was enough money to add them,[29] although the sculptures were never added.[11] The institute dedicated its new building on November 21, 1928; the structure had cost an estimated $250,000.[30][31]

1930s to 1980s[edit]

After opening the new headquarters at 304 East 44th Street, the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design acquired two adjacent plots to the east[10] and developed the Beaux-Arts Apartments, which opened in 1930, on these sites.[32] The institute's headquarters building hosted such events as exhibitions on drawings[33] and on murals,[34] as well as architectural competitions.[3][35] The competitions were part of the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design's curriculum, which consisted of free courses provided at the institute's headquarters. By 1933, the classes attracted 2,500 architects per year.[3] The institute hosted the merit-based Paris Prize competition at the building every year,[3][36] locking contestants in windowless cubicles on the second or third floor to prevent them from cheating.[37][38] The institute also held the "Corkscrew Ball", an annual costume party, in the building's exhibition hall, the Beaux-Arts Hall.[39][40] Although the building was valued at $138,000 in the 1940s, the institute paid no taxes on the building because it was a tax-exempt institution.[41]

The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design sold 304 East 44th Street in March 1945 to Three Hundred Four Corp., which took over two mortgages of $60,000 and $9,000.[42][43] This corporation was headed by Hazard E. Reeves, who operated the Reeves Sound Studios; the studio was to occupy much of the building, but the institute retained a lease on a small office there.[43] Reeves converted the building to recording studios, offices, film editing rooms, and screening rooms.[7] The structure was also used for such activities as FM radio tests.[44] The architect Joseph Lau filed plans in 1952 for $5,000 in modifications to the building;[45] this involved converting the mezzanine above the first floor into a full story.[18] RCA tape-mixing equipment was installed there in 1959.[46] The architect Henry George Greene filed plans or a $100,000 renovation of the building in 1960,[47] and the building was expanded westward the next year.[16]

Reeves Communications continued to use the building as a post-production facility through the 1970s,[48] and 304 East 44th Street was also used as a facility for sound recording and mixing.[49] A Reeves subsidiary, production firm Sound Shop, moved into the building in 1974, using the Reeves studio's facilities.[50] An "audio sweetening" studio was added at the building for the Sound Shop in 1982.[51] Two years later, Reeves bought the building outright for $2.5 million.[52] By 1985, Reeves Communications chairman Marvin H. Green Jr. reported that an undisclosed company had made an offer to buy 304 East 44th Street as well as the Sound Shop.[53] Reeves shuttered its post-production division in June 1986 and sold 304 East 44th Street to a real-estate development group for $5.7 million.[52]

1990s to present[edit]

The building was designated as a New York City designated landmark in 1988.[54] It was rehabilitated from 1989 to 1992.[54][55] Following the renovation, the American Federation of Musicians and the Employers Pension Welfare Fund used the building as office space.[55]

The building was converted into offices for the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations in 2008.[56] The structure continues to serve as the Egyptian mission to the UN as of 2023.[57]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The runners-up respectively were Harry Sternfeld, William Van Alen, and A. D. Seymour.[19]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
  2. ^ a b "304 East 44 Street, 10017". New York City Department of City Planning. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 2.
  4. ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 5.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 8.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Goodwin 1928, p. 497.
  7. ^ a b c d e Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 9.
  8. ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 7.
  9. ^ a b Atlantic Terra Cotta. Atlantic Terra Cotta Company. 1927. pp. 7–9.
  10. ^ a b c Robins 2017, p. 80.
  11. ^ a b Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 10.
  12. ^ "Beaux Arts Home; Artistic Terra Cotta Panels for New Building". The New York Times. August 26, 1928. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  13. ^ "Beaux Arts Soon To Be Housed in New Home". New York Herald Tribune. August 12, 1928. p. D1. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1113482239.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, pp. 3–4.
  15. ^ a b Goodwin 1928, pp. 498, 503.
  16. ^ a b Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, pp. 8–9.
  17. ^ a b c d e Goodwin 1928, p. 498.
  18. ^ a b Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 11.
  19. ^ a b c d Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 4.
  20. ^ a b c d Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, p. 3.
  21. ^ Robins 2017, p. 79.
  22. ^ Stern, Robert A. M.; Gilmartin, Patrick; Mellins, Thomas (1987). New York 1930: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Two World Wars. New York: Rizzoli. p. 398. ISBN 978-0-8478-3096-1. OCLC 13860977.
  23. ^ Murchison, Kenneth (1930). "Designed, Financed and Built by Architects" (PDF). American Architect. Vol. 130. p. 22.
  24. ^ a b c "Beaux Arts Architects Award Building Plan Prizes". The New York Times. November 27, 1927. p. RE2. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 104068846.
  25. ^ "Beaux-Arts Architects Buy Site for New Home". New York Herald Tribune. November 25, 1927. p. 34. ProQuest 1133012510.
  26. ^ "Beaux-Arts Architects Buy Site for a $125,000 Home". The New York Times. November 25, 1927. p. 34. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 1133012510.
  27. ^ a b "New Clubhouse for Beaux Arts Institute of Design". New York Herald Tribune. February 4, 1928. p. 24. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1113513018.
  28. ^ "Beaux Arts Club Plans Filed". The New York Times. February 4, 1928. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  29. ^ a b Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988, pp. 5–6.
  30. ^ "New Institute Is Dedicated By Architects: Dinner Precedes Humorous Program by Members in Forty-fourth St. Building". New York Herald Tribune. November 22, 1928. p. 23. ProQuest 1113401956.
  31. ^ "Beaux Art Building Opens; Housewarming Held at New Home of Institute of Design in East 44th St". The New York Times. November 22, 1928. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  32. ^ "Twin Apartments Ready.: Beaux-arts Buildings in East 44th Street Completed" (PDF). The New York Times. January 12, 1930. p. 154. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  33. ^ "Beaux Arts Design Exhibit Today". The New York Times. April 12, 1931. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  34. ^ Jewell, Edward Alden (April 4, 1932). "Many Mural Artists Hold Show at the Beaux Arts Institute of Design". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  35. ^ "R. H. Granelli Gets Architects' Prize of $4,050: Draftsman Who Studied at Night for Eight Years Gets Beaux Arts Award". New York Herald Tribune. June 24, 1932. p. 15. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1114821101.
  36. ^ "Architecture Discussed At Beaux-Arts Forum: Design 'Institute Also Exhibits Students' Works". New York Herald Tribune. February 9, 1939. p. 19. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1257386524.
  37. ^ "Four Architects 'Jailed' 36 Hrs. During Contest: Paris Prize Finalists in Cells at Beaux Arts Institute Not Allowed to Whisper Guard Prevents Cheating Problem Must Be Solved by 10 O'clock Tonight". New York Herald Tribune. May 26, 1935. p. 8. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1221747896.
  38. ^ "3 End 36-hour Test in Beaux Arts Prize; Young Architects Competing for $3,600 Go Without Sleep While Designing Camp". The New York Times. May 25, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  39. ^ "Architects Hold Corkscrew Ball in- Beaux-Arts Hall: Replace Elaborate Party of Other Years With Cotillion, Lively, Colorful Fete". New York Herald Tribune. February 1, 1941. p. 15. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1320094469.
  40. ^ Randolph, Nancy (January 12, 1941). "Society". Daily News. p. 305. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  41. ^ Warren, Carl (February 7, 1940). "City Tax Woe Laid to Albany". Daily News. p. 130. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  42. ^ "Manhattan Transfers". The New York Times. March 27, 1945. p. 36. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 107293960.
  43. ^ a b "Syndicate Buys 9-Story House In East 49th St: Midtown Suites Conveyed After Long Ownership; Jewelers Buy Building". New York Herald Tribune. March 28, 1945. p. 28. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1269898185.
  44. ^ "2 Programs Sent on FM Transmitter; One Riding 'Piggy-Back' Can Be Heard Only With Adapter at Demonstration Here". The New York Times. September 14, 1950. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  45. ^ "Building Plans Filed". The New York Times. September 24, 1952. p. 57. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 112399807.
  46. ^ Adams, Val (July 31, 1959). "Three TV Dramas on Mafia Listed; C.B.S. Plans Two and N.B.C. Will Do One -- Merger of Directors Guilds Sought". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  47. ^ "Building Plans Filed". The New York Times. October 25, 1960. p. 57. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 115081523.
  48. ^ Murges, Annette (November 18, 1977). "Whatever Happened to Reeves Teletape?". Back Stage. Vol. 18, no. 46. p. 14. ProQuest 963019246.
  49. ^ "Programing: ABC firms $3-million pact to buy facilities". Broadcasting. Vol. 78, no. 14. April 6, 1970. p. 104. ProQuest 1014529263.
  50. ^ "Sound Shop Moves To Reeves Studio". Back Stage. Vol. 15, no. 16. April 19, 1974. p. 1. ProQuest 963050736.
  51. ^ "Videotape Biz Up At Reeves' Sound Shop". Back Stage. Vol. 23, no. 20. May 14, 1982. p. 54. ProQuest 962799927.
  52. ^ a b Kaplan, Deeny (January 24, 1986). "Reeves Teletape Exits Post Prod'n Business, Sells Facilities To National Video". Back Stage. Vol. 27, no. 4. pp. 1, 37. ProQuest 964123265.
  53. ^ "Reeves Sells Its Uptown Studio". Back Stage. Vol. 26, no. 5. February 1, 1985. pp. 1, 62. ProQuest 1014544847.
  54. ^ a b New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1.
  55. ^ a b U.S. Mission to the United Nations, 799 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017: Environmental Impact Statement. 2001. p. 3-PA58. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  56. ^ Bryan, Babak (March 14, 2011). "Look Up: The Egyptian Mission to the United Nations". Complex. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  57. ^ "Permanent Missions to the United Nations" (PDF). United Nations. Retrieved August 4, 2023.

Sources[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beaux-Arts Institute of Design Building (1928).
  • [[Category:1928 establishments in New York City]] [[Category:New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan]] [[Category:Egypt–United States relations]] [[Category:Diplomatic missions in Manhattan]] [[Category:Diplomatic missions of Egypt]] [[Category:Commercial buildings in Manhattan]] [[Category:Commercial buildings completed in 1928]] [[Category:Turtle Bay, Manhattan]]
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