Landmarks Commission calendars former Whitney building and interior for landmark consideration

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on Dec. 17 voted to calendar the former Whitney Museum at 945 Madison Avenue and portions of its interior for future landmark consideration. The research department presented the proposals as LP2685 (the building) and LP2686 (the interior), recommending the commission place both items on its calendar for a later public hearing.

Research department presenter Lisa Buckley summarized the case for designation, saying the building “was home to the Whitney Museum of American Art from its construction in 1966 until 2014” and described it as “a brutalist style inverted ziggurat clad in granite and raw concrete” with characteristic open floor plans, distinctive overhead lights and interconnected public spaces that make it an emblem of modern urban architecture. Buckley noted the museum commissioned Marcel Breuer and Associates, and that the Breuer building was completed in 1966.

Commissioners asked detailed questions about the proposed interior boundary lines, whether floor continuity or later alterations affected the boundary, and the ownership status of an exterior sculpture adjacent to the site. Vice Chair Bland asked why the building should be designated individually even though it lies within the Upper East Side Historic District; Chair Carroll said the report’s existing description is brief and that individual designation would better recognize and guide regulatory treatment of the building going forward.

After discussion the commission proceeded with a motion to calendar the building and the interior. The chair announced the items had been calendared for consideration at a future public hearing and that the commission would notify the public of the date. The research department noted Sotheby’s has recently acquired the building and plans public programming in much of the space.

What’s next: calendaring places the items on the commission’s calendar for a full designation hearing. Staff will prepare a designation report and schedule a public hearing where supporters and opponents may testify and commissioners will take a formal designation vote.