Urban Legacy: An Upper East Side Landmark

Manhattan House received landmark status in 2007 for its Bunshaft designed, Le Courbusier-inspired architecture, but has been regarded as an Upper East Side monument to modernism for years.

In 1998, the New York Times wrote the following on Manhattan House, in a retrospective on this famous building:

“WHEN completed in 1951, the 582-apartment Manhattan House at 200 East 66th Street was a dreamy white Gibraltar amid a soot-dark sea of dingy tenements. The New York Life Insurance Company, which built the project, protected its pristine island by buying up the surrounding blocks as a low-rise frame for what is often acclaimed as a masterpiece in modern housing.”

Check out the full article, available here.

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Manhattan House Declared a Landmark: NYC.gov

MANHATTAN HOUSE BECOMES A NEW YORK CITY LANDMARK
Upper East Side White-Brick Icon Embraced 20th Century European Modernism and Attracted Many Renowned Tenants, Including Grace Kelly and Benny Goodman

The Landmarks Preservation Commission today granted landmark status to Manhattan House, the
sprawling full block, modernist apartment and retail complex on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Set
between a lush garden, the 21-story, 10-tower structure elevated white brick as a fashionable building
material and popularized balconies in many new residential high rises constructed in New York City after World War II. “Manhattan House set a new standard for apartment construction in New York City and gave modernism a strong foothold here,” said Commission Chairman Robert B. Tierney. “Although Manhattan House inspired many new architectural imitators, very few came close to what it achieved. It joins a growing list of modern landmarks we’ve designated since 2002, such as the Summit Hotel and Socony-Mobil building.”“

The New York Life Insurance Company commissioned the New York office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the Chicago-based firm that was at the forefront of the development of modern architecture in the United States, to design Manhattan House. Completed in 1951 and occupying a block between 65th and 66th streets and Second and Third avenues, the building reflects the theories of Le Corbusier, the renowned 20th century French architect who, among other things, was known for setting enormous, slab-like apartment buildings in open spaces.

The footprint of Manhattan House is shaped like a modified capital letter H, with 10 short wings
projecting from a longer spine, an arrangement that allows for multiple exposures to light and spacious
apartments with a variety of floor plans. The extensive use of glass in the lobby further enhances the
building’s openness, and blurs the distinction between indoors and outdoors.
… For the full article, visit NYC.gov.

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