Rosario Candela
Encyclopedia
Rosario Candela was an Italian American
architect
who achieved renown through his apartment building designs in New York City
, primarily during the boom years of the 1920s. He is credited with defining the city's characteristic terraced setbacks and signature penthouses. Over time, Candela's buildings have become some of New York's most coveted addresses. As architectural historian Cristopher Gray has written: "Rosario Candela has replaced Stanford White
as the real estate brokers' name-drop of choice. Nowadays, to own a 10- to 20-room apartment in a Candela-designed building is to accede to architectural as well as social cynosure."
, Sicily
in 1890, Candela immigrated to New York in 1906. He returned to Sicily after his arrival to study there and returned to the US in 1909. His father was Michele Candela, a plasterer
, and his mother was Josephine Pizzurro. He gained admission to the Columbia University School of Architecture and graduated in 1915. Keenly aware of his talent, he went so far as to erect a velvet
rope around his drafting table to prevent other students from copying his designs.
-born Italian-American architect, Gaetan Ajello
. After another brief stint with the firm of Frederick Sterner
, Candela set up his own practice in 1920. His first major commission was for an apartment house at West 92nd Street and Broadway
. Shortly thereafter, he received his first commission for an East Side apartment at 1105 Park Avenue. During the next five years, Candela designed a number of residential buildings on the Upper West Side, primarily on West End Avenue and Riverside Drive. During this period, the West side was undergoing an intense transformation from an area of primarily single-family homes to one characterized by the apartment buildings.
Candela's greatest work would occur during the latter half of the 1920s, when he designed numerous apartment buildings on the Upper East Side
, primarily on Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue
, as well as at Sutton Place
and other locations. In 1927 and 1928, Candela designed 19 apartment buildings, including 960 Fifth Avenue (at East 77th Street) and 720 Park Avenue (at East 70th Street). He had more commissions in 1929, but the housing boom had begun to slow prior to the stock market crash
in October. Of 27 designs that year, only 12 were completed. These included 740
, 770, 778 and 834
and 1040 Fifth Avenue
.
The exteriors of his buildings tended to be understated, particularly in view of some of the more exuberant styles popular during the period. However, he was considered a master of design when it came to the interiors. Many apartments were constructed as duplex residences with grand entry foyer
s; curved, freestanding stairways; and dramatic public rooms. Some of the designs, including that of the John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
triplex at 740 Park Avenue
, were palatial by even the considerable standards of the day. That triplex, of more than 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²), "had, depending on who was counting, anywhere from twenty-three to thirty-seven rooms, the discrepancy caused by such questions as whether one included hallways and foyers the size of ballrooms, servants quarters, and the fourteen bathrooms".
During the Great Depression
, work fell off dramatically and Candela received only sporadic commissions. While the quantity declined considerably, the quality of his designs rarely suffered. During this time, he expressed his interest in codes and ciphers, publishing two books on the topic. He continued his practice up until his death in 1953. Chesley Bonestell
, first an architect, and later a noted science fiction
illustrator, painted two pictures for him, one of his home and one of his son.
in 1930 after learning about the accomplishments of the Army Signal Corps
in WWI
. He decrypted messages originally coded in 1898 by Commandant Étienne Bazeries
of the French Army. Commandant Bazeries was “one of the most brilliant cryptologists of” his era, and he developed an encryption method considered unbreakable. Candela wrote a book, The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries, in 1938 detailing how he broke Bazeries' code. Starting in 1941, Candela taught a class on cryptography and cryptanalytics
at Hunter College
in New York. At the time, the course was considered the only one of its kind offered to the public in the United States.
Bibliography=
Outside of New York City:
Twin apartments on Collins Ave. In Mount Vernon
abutting the Fleetwood train station.
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
who achieved renown through his apartment building designs in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, primarily during the boom years of the 1920s. He is credited with defining the city's characteristic terraced setbacks and signature penthouses. Over time, Candela's buildings have become some of New York's most coveted addresses. As architectural historian Cristopher Gray has written: "Rosario Candela has replaced Stanford White
Stanford White
Stanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found...
as the real estate brokers' name-drop of choice. Nowadays, to own a 10- to 20-room apartment in a Candela-designed building is to accede to architectural as well as social cynosure."
Early life and education
Born in MontelepreMontelepre
Montelepre is a town and comune in the province of Palermo, Sicily, Italy. It is known for having been the native city of Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano.-Main sights:*The Church of Maria Santissima del Rosario...
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
in 1890, Candela immigrated to New York in 1906. He returned to Sicily after his arrival to study there and returned to the US in 1909. His father was Michele Candela, a plasterer
Plasterer
A plasterer is a tradesman who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls...
, and his mother was Josephine Pizzurro. He gained admission to the Columbia University School of Architecture and graduated in 1915. Keenly aware of his talent, he went so far as to erect a velvet
Velvet
Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed,with a short dense pile, giving it a distinctive feel.The word 'velvety' is used as an adjective to mean -"smooth like velvet".-Composition:...
rope around his drafting table to prevent other students from copying his designs.
Career
After graduation, Candela worked briefly as a draftsman for the PalermoPalermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
-born Italian-American architect, Gaetan Ajello
Gaetan Ajello
Gaetan Ajello was a New York-based architect. Born in Sicily, Ajello migrated to the United States in 1902.-Styles and design:Gaetan Ajello is best known for his architecturally significant apartment houses located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side...
. After another brief stint with the firm of Frederick Sterner
Frederick Sterner
Frederick Sterner was a British born American architect.Born in London, Sterner moved to the United States with his father Julius. He worked as a draftsman with the Chicago architect Frank E. Edbrooke and had a twenty-year career in Colorado...
, Candela set up his own practice in 1920. His first major commission was for an apartment house at West 92nd Street and Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
. Shortly thereafter, he received his first commission for an East Side apartment at 1105 Park Avenue. During the next five years, Candela designed a number of residential buildings on the Upper West Side, primarily on West End Avenue and Riverside Drive. During this period, the West side was undergoing an intense transformation from an area of primarily single-family homes to one characterized by the apartment buildings.
Candela's greatest work would occur during the latter half of the 1920s, when he designed numerous apartment buildings on the Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
, primarily on Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue
Park Avenue (Manhattan)
Park Avenue is a wide boulevard that carries north and southbound traffic in New York City borough of Manhattan. Through most of its length, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenue to the east....
, as well as at Sutton Place
Sutton Place, Manhattan
Sutton Place is the name given to one of the most affluent streets in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States, situated on the border between the Midtown and Upper East Side neighborhoods...
and other locations. In 1927 and 1928, Candela designed 19 apartment buildings, including 960 Fifth Avenue (at East 77th Street) and 720 Park Avenue (at East 70th Street). He had more commissions in 1929, but the housing boom had begun to slow prior to the stock market crash
Stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors...
in October. Of 27 designs that year, only 12 were completed. These included 740
740 Park Avenue
740 Park Avenue is a luxury apartment building on Park Avenue in Manhattan, which has been the home to many wealthy and famous residents. The building also carries the address 71 East 71st Street.-History:...
, 770, 778 and 834
834 Fifth Avenue
834 Fifth Avenue is a luxury residential housing cooperative in Manhattan, New York City. It is located on Fifth Avenue at the corner of East 64th Street opposite the Central Park Zoo in Central Park...
and 1040 Fifth Avenue
1040 Fifth Avenue
1040 Fifth Avenue is a luxury residential housing cooperative in Manhattan, New York City.Architecture critic Paul Goldberger describes 1040 Fifth Avenue as being one of "the great apartment houses of the 1920s."...
.
The exteriors of his buildings tended to be understated, particularly in view of some of the more exuberant styles popular during the period. However, he was considered a master of design when it came to the interiors. Many apartments were constructed as duplex residences with grand entry foyer
Foyer
A foyer or lobby is a large, vast room or complex of rooms adjacent to the auditorium...
s; curved, freestanding stairways; and dramatic public rooms. Some of the designs, including that of the John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. was a major philanthropist and a pivotal member of the prominent Rockefeller family. He was the sole son among the five children of businessman and Standard Oil industrialist John D. Rockefeller and the father of the five famous Rockefeller brothers...
triplex at 740 Park Avenue
740 Park Avenue
740 Park Avenue is a luxury apartment building on Park Avenue in Manhattan, which has been the home to many wealthy and famous residents. The building also carries the address 71 East 71st Street.-History:...
, were palatial by even the considerable standards of the day. That triplex, of more than 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²), "had, depending on who was counting, anywhere from twenty-three to thirty-seven rooms, the discrepancy caused by such questions as whether one included hallways and foyers the size of ballrooms, servants quarters, and the fourteen bathrooms".
During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, work fell off dramatically and Candela received only sporadic commissions. While the quantity declined considerably, the quality of his designs rarely suffered. During this time, he expressed his interest in codes and ciphers, publishing two books on the topic. He continued his practice up until his death in 1953. Chesley Bonestell
Chesley Bonestell
Chesley Bonestell was an American painter, designer and illustrator. His paintings were a major influence on science fiction art and illustration, and he helped inspire the American space program...
, first an architect, and later a noted science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
illustrator, painted two pictures for him, one of his home and one of his son.
Cryptography
Candela began studying cryptographyCryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
in 1930 after learning about the accomplishments of the Army Signal Corps
United States Army Signal Corps
The United States Army Signal Corps develops, tests, provides, and manages communications and information systems support for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of United States Army Major Albert J. Myer, and has had an important role from...
in WWI
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He decrypted messages originally coded in 1898 by Commandant Étienne Bazeries
Étienne Bazeries
Étienne Bazeries was a French military cryptanalyst active between 1890 and the First World War. He is best known for developing the "Bazeries Cylinder", an improved version of Thomas Jefferson's cipher cylinder. It was later refined into the US Army M-94 cipher device. Historian David Kahn...
of the French Army. Commandant Bazeries was “one of the most brilliant cryptologists of” his era, and he developed an encryption method considered unbreakable. Candela wrote a book, The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries, in 1938 detailing how he broke Bazeries' code. Starting in 1941, Candela taught a class on cryptography and cryptanalytics
Cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information that is normally required to do so. Typically, this involves knowing how the system works and finding a secret key...
at Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
in New York. At the time, the course was considered the only one of its kind offered to the public in the United States.
Bibliography=
- Alpern, Andrew; Christopher Gray, preface. David Netto, foreword. The New York Apartments Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter. New York: Acanthus Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0926494206
Buildings
All within New York City unless otherwise noted. Source: Rosario Candela listing in Emporis BuildingsEmporis
Emporis GmbH is a real estate data mining company with headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. The company collects and publishes data and photographs of buildings worldwide....
1920s
|
One Sutton Place South One Sutton Place South is a 14-story, 46-unit cooperative apartment house in the Sutton Place neighborhood of New York City, overlooking the East River between 56th and 57th streets... , 1927 - with Cross and Cross Walker & Gillette Walker & Gillette was an architectural firm based in New York City, the partnership of A. Stewart Walker and Leon N. Gillette , active from 1906 through 1945.- Biography :... 47 Plaza Street West 47 Plaza Street West is a 1928 Brooklyn, New York apartment building designed by the noted architect Rosario Candela. The building, located on Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza is in the distinctive flatiron shape.... , Brooklyn, 1928
740 Park Avenue 740 Park Avenue is a luxury apartment building on Park Avenue in Manhattan, which has been the home to many wealthy and famous residents. The building also carries the address 71 East 71st Street.-History:... , 1929 - with Shreve & Lamb Stanhope Hotel 995 Fifth Avenue is a 16-story co-op condominium building at 995 Fifth Avenue and East 81st Street in New York City, across Fifth Avenue from Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was constructed in 1926 as The Stanhope Apartment Hotel and designed by Rosario Candela... , 1929 |
1930s
- 1220 Park Avenue, 1930
- 770 Park Avenue, 1930
- 1040 Fifth Avenue, 1930
- 1021 Park Avenue, 1930
- 834 Fifth Avenue834 Fifth Avenue834 Fifth Avenue is a luxury residential housing cooperative in Manhattan, New York City. It is located on Fifth Avenue at the corner of East 64th Street opposite the Central Park Zoo in Central Park...
, 1930 - 1500 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 1931
- 56 Seventh Avenue, 1931
- 778 Park Avenue, 1931
- 2 Beekman PlaceBeekman Place (Manhattan)Beekman Place is a small street located on the east side of Manhattan, New York City. The street runs from north to south for approximately two blocks and is situated between the eastern end of 51st and 49th streets. Beekman Place is also used to refer to the residential neighborhood that surrounds...
, 1932 - 3 Times Square (Rialto Theatre), 1935 (replaced by Reuters Building, 2001)
- Normandie Theatre (51 East 53rd Street), 1936 (demolished in the 1950s)
- 19 East 72nd Street, with Mott Schmidt, 1936
- Regency Park, 1937
- 955 Fifth Avenue, 1938
Outside of New York City:
- Personal Normandy Style home in Harrison, New YorkHarrison, New YorkHarrison is a village and town in Westchester County, New York, United States, located approximately northeast of Manhattan. The population was 27,472 at the 2010 census.-Establishment:...
1930 - Personal homes of friends in BronxvilleBronxville, New YorkBronxville is an affluent village within the town of Eastchester, New York, in the United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately north of midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County. At the 2010 census, Bronxville had a population of 6,323...
and TarrytownTarrytown, New YorkTarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line...
1940s
- 44 East 67th Street, 1941
- 135 East 54th Street54th Street (Manhattan)54th Street is a two-mile-long, one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan.-West Side Highway:*The route begins at the West Side Highway . Opposite the intersection is the New York Passenger Ship Terminal and the Hudson River...
, 1948 - 1 East 66th Street, 1948
Twin apartments on Collins Ave. In Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It lies on the border of the New York City borough of The Bronx.-Overview:...
abutting the Fleetwood train station.
1950s
- Montclair on the Park, St. Louis, MO, 1951