Anna Bearzotti Sara Cusmà Piccione Francesca Medeossi Natalia Janscak

Rockefeller center Location: in the centre of Midtown, Manhattan, New York City (30 Rockefeller Plaza, bet W50 and W51. West 48 th to 51 st Streets between 5 th and 6 th Avenues ) Architects: Raymond Hood ( with Wallace K. Harrison, Harvey W. Corbett, Fouilhoux, Reinhard, Hofmeister, and MacMurray) Commission: John D. Rockefeller Built: Centerpiece: 30 Rockefeller Plaza, its tallest structure

Raymond Hood( ) Studies: Brown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris His first major commission, the Chicago Tribune Tower (1922) has a Gothic Style. Then, he takes distances from the Gothic. 1930: Mc Graw Hill Building

Notes Construction: from 1931 to 1940 Construction of 10 different units: the last (the National Cash Register Company's offices) was completed in 1940 An international symbol of modernist architectural style: the only major private construction project underway in New York during the Depression A city within a city: all in a single complex (public and private activities) Pedestrian-friendly: it hosts a sunken garden and the Channel Gardens Latest technical refinements: elevators, air conditioning RKO motion picture theater: the first building completed, it opened in : it was declared a National Historic Landmark Now there are 21 buildings

The original Rockefeller Center buildings are: 1 Rockefeller Plaza (formerly the Time and Life Building) 10 Rockefeller Plaza (formerly the Eastern Airlines Building) 1270 Avenue of the Americas Building (formerly the RKO Building) The Associated Press Building The British Empire Building Channel Gardens (between the British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise.) The International Building La Maison Francaise Palazzo d'Italia The Simon & Schuster Building (formerly the U.S. Rubber Company Building)

John D. Rockefeller 1928: he leases the area from Columbia University; the area had lost much of its appeal by the 1920s Original plan: a commercial and civic center with 3 office towers and an opera house, around a plaza The Opera withdrew from the project: Rockefeller Center was transformed into a massive speculative commercial and entertainment development, first called Radio City 1931: final scheme Beaux-Arts design, Art Deco Architecture The project accommodated both business and leisure activities

Murals: Sert and Brangwyn; also Rivera who made a scandal

Prometheus Rockefeller Plaza

Channel Gardens probably the city's finest public space animated fountainheads, surrounded by benches and lush landscaping

GE Building The highlight of the complex 850 feet tall

Radio City Music Hall one of two theaters originally built Designer: Donald Deskey

International Building

The Friendship of France and the United States 0 Maison Française

British Empire Building