The Metropolis of New York is contemplating granting landmark standing to elements of the Breuer constructing’s inside—together with many of the first ground and the primary staircase—which may have an effect on Sotheby’s renovation plans for its newly acquired Manhattan headquarters.
Town’s Landmarks Preservation Fee (LPC) voted in December so as to add a public listening to on the problem to its calendar, marking step one within the landmarking course of. The listening to has not but been scheduled however is predicted to happen inside the subsequent few months. The outside of the brutalist constructing has been a delegated landmark since 1981 as a part of the Higher East Facet Historic District.
In a press release responding to the LPC’s current transfer, Sotheby’s mentioned: “As a number one vacation spot for artwork and tradition, we deeply respect the architectural significance of the Breuer constructing and stay dedicated to preserving its legacy and dealing collaboratively with all stakeholders concerned.”
The Breuer constructing at 945 Madison Avenue, former dwelling of the Whitney Museum of American Artwork, was designed by the architect Marcel Breuer and accomplished in 1966. After the Whitney moved to its new Renzo Piano-designed constructing in 2014, the Breuer served as a satellite tv for pc of the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork for just a few years and later hosted works from the Frick Assortment whereas the latter’s Beaux Arts mansion underwent main renovations. Sotheby’s finalised its buy of the Breuer in November 2024; the public sale home employed the structure agency Herzog & de Meuron to guide its renovation, which it expects to be accomplished in autumn 2025.
In a press launch saying that the Breuer had formally modified palms, Sotheby’s highlighted Herzog & de Meuron’s historical past of renovating historic buildings like London’s Tate Trendy and the Park Avenue Armory in New York. “The challenge will completely stability innovation and preservation,” the public sale home acknowledged of its plans for the Breuer’s inside, “guaranteeing that Sotheby’s new location continues to be a celebrated architectural masterpiece.”
Charles F. Stewart, Sotheby’s chief govt, additional famous that the Breuer renovation would proceed with “the identical degree of care and respect that we might give to an amazing murals”.
Calls to designate elements of the Breuer’s inside as a landmark started in 2023, after Sotheby’s intent to buy the constructing was first introduced. In December of that yr, Docomomo—a non-profit dedicated to the research and safety of Modernist structure—filed a 45-page doc highlighting the significance of the Breuer’s inside and requesting that the LPC think about granting it landmark standing. A number of extra historic-preservation teams and the local people board subsequently joined the decision.
Landmark designation for the inside of buildings is uncommon, with solely 123 recognised in New York Metropolis—one among which is the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Ought to elements of the inside of the Breuer be declared a landmark, alterations to these sections would should be accepted by the LPC. Components of the constructing nominated for landmark standing embrace a slice of the lower-level occasion house, the primary staircase and the primary ground’s vestibule, foyer and coat test; the higher storeys wouldn’t be affected save for the stairwell. Sotheby’s already promised to protect the artist Charles Simonds’s beloved site-specific stairway installations.
