Landmark Lectures Summer 2023
Sky-High: A Critique of NYC’s Supertall Towers from Top to Bottom
With Writer Eric P. Nash & Photographer Bruce Katz
Tuesday, July 25th, 6:00 pm
An Online and In-Person Program
The lecture will be followed by a Book-Signing
Writer Eric P. Nash and photographer Bruce Katz will discuss their just published book, Sky-High: A Critique of NYC’s Supertall Towers from Top to Bottom. Part architectural guidebook and part evaluation, the book documents the pencil-thin, supertall towers that are transforming New York City’s skyline as well as its streets.
For in-person registration, please click here
For online registration, please click here
• Heaven on the Hudson: Mansions, Monuments and Marvels of Riverside Park with Stephanie Azzarone on Tuesday, April 18th . Ms. Azzarone will unfold the colorful tale of a singular New York City neighborhood. Told in the uniquely personal voice of a long-time resident, it is the only New York City book that features the history, architecture, and personalities of this often overlooked neighborhood, from the 18th century through the present day.
Please click here for In Person Registration
Please click here for Online Registration
• The Magnificent Bridges of New York City with Dave Frieder on Tuesday April 25th. Mr. Frieder who has climbed and photographed 20 of these great structures will explain how and why he spent 26 years in creating a book on the bridges of New York. He will describe the fine details and history of the bridges.
Please click here for In-Person Registration:
Please click here for Online Registration:
Landmark Lectures Fall 2022
A Block in Time: A New York History at the Corner of Fifth Avenue and Twenty-Third Street with author Christiane Bird on Tuesday December 6th. This will be both an In-Person and Online Lecture. The lecture will be followed by a Book-Signing.
Author Christiane Bird will recount the history of the city by way of a microcosmic block, in a lecture based on her well-received new book, A Block in Time: A New York City History at the Corner of Fifth Avenue and Twenty-Third Street.
This will be a panel discussion of some of New York’s leading architects on a visual and global chronicle of the triumphs, challenges and impact of over 100 women in architecture inspired by the book, The Women Who Changed Architecture. This lecture is both in person and online.
In person:
New York Art Deco: Birds, Beasts & Blooms, Tuesday October 25th at 6pm
With writer Eric P. Nash and photographer Andrew Garn
The definitive book on New York Deco, from the smallest of details to the grandest of buildings.
Eric Nash and Andrew Garn will discuss their recently published book, New York Art Deco: Birds, Beasts & Blooms considered to be one of the definitive books on New York Deco, exploring Art Deco from the smallest of details to the grandest of buildings. During their presentation Mr. Nash and the acclaimed photographer Andrew Garn will share some of the Art Deco images and buildings in New York City. The City is arguably the world’s Art Deco capital, and they will describe some of its striking and still iconic towers that were early expressions of the Art Deco style writ large—most famously the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. This lecture is presented in partnership with The New York Landmarks Conservancy.
This is both an in-person and online talk, registration links below.
The Restoration of Tudor City
With Oswald L. Bertolini, AIA, Principal and Colleagues from Bertolini Architectural Works.
Including: Eric Vonderhyde, Principal; Ryan Hopewell, Associate Principal; and
Carlos Honorio, Jr., AIA,Associate Principal
Presented in Partnership with the New York Landmarks Conservancy
Thursday, September 15th at 6 P.M.
This will be both an In-Person and Online Lecture
For an In-Person reservation, please click here
For an Online reservation please click here
Bertolini Architectural Works have spearheaded many large-scale façade projects in the Tudor City Landmark District. In this presentation Oswald L. Bertolini, AIA, Principal, along with his colleagues, architects Eric Vonderhyde, Ryan Hopewell and Carlos Honorio Jr, AIA will discuss the history of the area that transformed into Tudor City, including prewar construction techniques. Together they will also discuss the conditions of these buildings in the early 1990’s when they were first engaged to specify repairs. In addition, they will discuss the history of the Façade Inspection Safety Program (Local Law 10/80 & Local 11/98), and how these laws have evolved. There will be a discussion of the repairs and how the laws are driving the technology used to make the repairs. The delicate balance between safety, costs, aesthetics, and practical construction issues will also be reviewed. Among other things Bertolini Architectural Works have recently replaced the prominent center cartouche at 5 Tudor City Place from terra cotta to fiberglass and a few gargoyles in terra-cotta.
Landmark Lectures Spring/Summer 2022
Tuesday, June 28th at 6pm – Before Central Park: A Fascinating Account of the History of Central Park (Online)
Sara Cedar Miller, historian emerita of the Central Park Conservancy, will discuss her new book, Before Central Park, the authoritative account of the place that would become Central Park.
In her talk, Ms. Miller will chronicle two and a half centuries of history, from the first Dutch family to settle on the land through the political crusade to create America’s first major urban park. She will tell the stories of Indigenous hunters, enslaved people and enslavers, American patriots and British loyalists, the Black landowners of Seneca Village, Irish pig farmers, tavern owners, Catholic sisters, Jewish protesters, and more.
To register online, please click here
On Tuesday, June 7th: In the Founders’ Footsteps: Landmarks of the American Revolutionwith Adam VanDoren who will provide a tour through the original thirteen colonies in search of historical sites and their stories in America’s founding.
Fall Lectures 2021
- Tuesday, November 16th, 6pm, Iconic Design that Transformed Time Square: TKTS Booth in the Heart of Times Square with Nick Leahy, Perkins Eastman,
Nick Leahy, Perkins Eastman, will discuss the iconic design that transformed Times Square from “the crossroads of the world” into the one of the most visited public gathering spaces on the globe.
An all-glass amphitheater where people enjoy the theater of Times Square, the TKTS Booth at Father Duffy Square is a “window into the city’s soul.” Beneath the glowing red glass structure, a fiberglass orb houses the Theatre Development Fund’s tickets booth, a revered destination for affordable seats at Broadway shows. Inspired by the brilliant competition-winning entry by Choi Ropiha, Perkins Eastman, led by Nick Leahy designed a building with elegance, beguiling simplicity, and precise detailing — now a celebrated landmark and symbol of New York City.
Landmark Lectures Summer 2021
Hidden in Plain Sight – The Cast Stone of The Coignet Building
Mary Jablonski, President and Founder of Jablonski Building Conservation.
This will be an Online Lecture on Tuesday, July 27th at 6 p.m.
Presented in Partnership with The New York Landmarks Conservancy
Buildings can have stories hidden within the products used to construct them. When research is carefully undertaken, interesting stories unfold. One of the most intriguing examples of this is the Coignet Building in Brooklyn. In her talk, Mary Jablonski, President of Jablonski Building Conservation will discuss this unique building and the role her firm played in its conservation.
In 1873, the New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company built offices along the Gowanus Canal to serve as an advertisement for the company’s cast stone products. It is believed to be the earliest cast stone building in the country. The building was a showcase for the firm with its veneer cast stone block surfaces having a variety of finishes; rusticated, smooth, beveled, and ornamented surfaces displaying the possibilities of the new cast stone material. The building miraculously survived and has become a significant element in the story of industrialization of building products and the growing importance of concrete. One hundred and forty years after it was built, the Coignet Building remained standing, barely.
When work began on the restoration of the Coignet Building in 2014, little was known about the cast stone. The first step was to gain a firm understanding of the materials and how they were deteriorating in order to know how to best repair the cast stone. As part of the materials study, petrographic and chemical examinations were performed on cast stone samples. The findings were illuminating. In her talk, Ms. Jablonski will describe what Jablonski Building Conservation discovered and how the building was conserved and restored.
Mary Jablonski is the President and Founder of Jablonski Building Conservation, Inc. and has over 26 years’ experience in historic conservation. She oversees the firm’s projects to ensure a consistent methodology is applied across projects and to maintain quality control. She has special interests in decorative finishes, early 1800s frame buildings, and modern materials including plastics. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation and the Association for Preservation Technology and an adjunct associate professor in the Historic Preservation Program at Columbia University.
For information on Jablonski Building Conservation, please click here.
Suggested donation:
$15 General Admission; $10 General Society Members, New York Landmarks Conservancy Members and Senior Citizens; $5 Students.
Advance registration is required to receive the link to the Zoom Webinar Platform.
Photo credit: Trix Rosen
Suggested donation: $15 General Admission; $10 General Society Members and Senior Citizens; $5 Students. Advance registration is required to receive the link to the Zoom Webinar Platform.
Landmark Lectures Spring 2021
The Landmark Lectures focus on the origin, development, and restoration of New York City’s built environment, and celebrate the art and architecture of the City. Lisa Easton, a partner in the New York City based architecture and historic preservation firm, Easton Architects, curates the series. They are presented in partnership with the New York Landmarks Conservancy. The remaining lectures for this Spring season are:
Tuesday, June 22ndat 6pm – Landmark Lecture – The Impact & Possibilities of Preservation: Lessons from the Neighborhood Preservation Center with Felicia Mayro
Through the lens of her experience at the Neighborhood Preservation Center, Felicia Mayro will talk about some of the projects and people moving preservation forward today and share the goals of the new Neighborhood Preservation Center. To register, please click here.
Tuesday, June 29th at 6pm –Forensic Architecture: The Making of the Tenement Museum
with Nick Leahy, Co-CEO and Executive Director, Perkins Eastman and special guest, Dave Favaloro, Senior Director of Curatorial Affairs and Hebrew Technical Institute Research Fellow, Tenement Museum.
To register. please click here.
Presented in Partnership with The New York Landmarks Conservancy
This will be an Online Lecture
The tenement holds a special place in the urban and social history of New York City and, indeed, the story of immigration to America. New York’s City’s Tenement Museum, founded in 1988 as a fledgling museum, has evolved over the years into one of the most popular cultural destinations in the city.
Its survival through the devastating impact of COVID-19 and its recent re-opening are testaments to not only the museum’s staff and the grit and the tenacity of its supporters, but also to the importance of this institution, the stories it tells, and the significance of its work for people across America and the globe. This very human story is captured in the buildings, spaces, and artifacts that have been left behind—evidence to the extraordinary lives of the ordinary people who came to the city to start a new life.
In this talk, Nick Leahy of Perkins Eastman will look at the development of the museum into a unique civic resource that preserves the buildings and stories of the historic Lower East Side neighborhood. Focusing on its expansion from 2006 until 2019, the build-out of 97 Orchard Street, as well as its expansion into 103 Orchard Street, it is an intimate window into the neighborhood that was once the nation’s most active immigrant portal.
This lecture will peel back the literal layers of history that comprise the urban campus of the Tenement Museum. Mr. Leahy, describes the approach to the work at the museum as “forensic architecture,” preserving century-old tenements and revealing the stories of nearly 20,000 residents who lived there from the late 1800s through the 1970s.
Through the lens of his experience working alongside the museum as Principal-in-Charge of the project over the course of more than 14 years, Mr. Leahy will explain the techniques and materials used to construct the buildings and neighborhoods of late 19th-century New York City—and how sensitive, modern interventions can help showcase their lessons. He will tour participants through the history of the Museum’s urban campus─from dilapidated, structurally compromised tenement buildings built in the 1860s into the civic resource it is today.
Along the way, Mr. Leahy will explain the process of creating a museum and how evolving building practices and codes impacted inhabitant health and welfare. He also will reveal the significant challenges of safely reproducing the conditions that retain these buildings’ historic significance, responsive to the Museum’s vision and educational goals.
For more information on Perkins Eastman, please click here. For more information on the Tenement Museum, please click here.
Nick Leahy is Co-CEO and Executive Director at Perkins Eastman, His projects are distinguished by their critical balance of place, program, and craft. Key to his design methodology is to investigate each site’s relationship to its environment, history, and its intended use. His designs for civic buildings, performing arts centers, museums, and institutional facilities can be found across the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. In addition to his work on the Tenement Museum, these projects include the internationally renowned TKTS Booth in the heart of Times Square; the winning international design competition entry for the Shanghai World Expo Public Events Center; the Museum of Natural History Spitzer Hall of Human Origins and Butterfly Conservatory; the Container Globe, a modern interpretation of the famous Globe Theater designed and constructed entirely from shipping containers; and numerous others.
Dave Favaloro is Senior Director of Curatorial Affairs and Hebrew Technical Institute Research Fellow at the Tenement Museum. He is responsible for interpreting the history of the tenements at 97 and 103 Orchard Street, with an emphasis on research and exhibit development. He also oversees the museum’s preservation, conservation, and collections management programs. He holds a Master of Arts in American History and an Advanced Certificate in Public History from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Suggested donation: $15 General Admission; $10 General Society Members and Senior Citizens; $5 Students. Advance registration is required to receive the link to the Zoom Webinar Platform.
Spring and Winter Lectures 2021
· Tuesday, May 25th at 6pm – Landmark Lecture – “It All Began with a Portal: Thoughts on the Preservation of Cultural Heritage” with Norma Barbacci, Principal, Norma Barbacci Preservation Consultants LLC
Norma Barbacci will discuss in broad strokes, the evolution of cultural heritage preservation from a narrow focus on tangible properties to a broader, more complex and more inclusive vision. It will draw parallels from the history and projects of the World Monuments Fund, a private preservation organization, where Ms. Barbacci was Director of Programs for Latin America, Spain and Portugal between 2001 and 2017, as well as recent projects of Norma Barbacci Preservation Consultants. To Register, please click here
Down the Bridle Path: Exploring the Vestiges of Greenwich Village’s Equine Past
With Gregory Dietrich of Gregory Dietrich Preservation Consulting
For centuries New Yorkers relied on horses to transport them uptown, downtown, crosstown, and beyond, often retracing the paths created by the Native Americans on horseback who came before them. However, nearly all of the city’s equine culture has been forgotten, supplanted by a cacophony of cars, trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles. And yet this history is not only present, but especially palpable in Greenwich Village, which still offers vestiges of the City’s equine past through its former horsewalks, stables, and mews. Join architectural historian, Gregory Dietrich, as he takes you down the bridle path of this all but forgotten, yet tangible, legacy of Village horse culture.
$15 General Admission; $10 General Society Members, and Senior Citizens; $5 Students.
Advance registration is required to receive the link to the zoom webinar platform.
Fall Landmark Lecture 2020
Saving the Battery Maritime Building
Tim Fryatt, Director, Marvel Architects
In partnership with The New York Landmarks Conservancy
This will be an Online Lecture on Tuesday, November 24th 2021 at 6pm
The 1909 Battery Maritime Building (“BMB”) was once the crown jewel of the New York City Waterfront, but over time became vacant, neglected, and was crumbling into the East River. The effort to save the BMB is 18 years in the making, and nearing completion.
In this lecture, Tim Fryatt, Director of Marvel Architects will discuss the project and during his presentation will offer a visual tour of the building through time, highlighting challenges in adaptive reuse along the way. Working with NYC Economic Development Corporation and the developer Midtown Equities, Marvel Architects identified unique needs to satisfy modern safety standards and new building uses, to ensure the buildings historic legacy is preserved. Strategies included techniques in preservation, restoration, and reconstruction, which varied in scale from holistic design approaches to creative technical detailing.
Through a careful process the team has crafted an elegantly modern and historically sensitive redevelopment, a cornerstone to the city’s broad-based goals of transforming Lower Manhattan into a vibrant mixed-use community and revitalizing the waterfront for the 21st century.
Tim Fryatt, AIA is Director at Marvel Architects with 22 years of experience leading complex projects in across a wide range of scales and sectors. Known as a prolific designer and a creative catalyst, he is dedicated to developing meaningful places that leverage latent value, behave naturally, and inspire delight. Presently Mr. Fryatt is lead Architect overseeing over 1 million square feet of development across 3 boroughs of New York City. A registered architect, and a member of the Maplewood NJ Township Planning Board, Tim Fryatt’s work has been widely awarded, published, and exhibited, including in the New York Times and Museum Of Modern Art.
Suggested donation:
$15 General Admission; $10 General Society Members, New York Landmark Conservancy Members and Senior Citizens; $5 Students.
Advance registration is required to receive the link to the zoom webinar platform. Please click here to register
2020 FALL LANDMARK ONLINE LECTURE SERIES
The Landmark Lectures focus on the origin, development, and restoration of New York City’s built environment, and celebrate the art and architecture of the City. Lisa Easton, a partner in the New York City based architecture and historic preservation firm, Easton Architects, curates the series. They are presented in partnership with the New York Landmarks Conservancy.
The 2020 Landmark Lectures (which have been rescheduled from the Spring) are:
- Tuesday, September 29th at 6:00 p.m. – Gregory Dietrich, Gregory Dietrich Preservation Consulting, Finding Their Architectural Roots: Cracking the Mystery of One of Brooklyn’s Most Prolific and Distinguished Architectural Firms
Gregory Dietrich, architectural historian, will describe the work of the Parfitt Brothers, three English brothers who designed some of Brooklyn’s most distinctive buildings from Bensonhurst to Brooklyn Heights. Seeking to unlock the mystery of their past, Mr. Dietrich will talk about his quest to uncover the brothers’ origins, from their humble beginnings in England, to their early years in Brooklyn and the subsequent opening of the practice that led to their renown. The company evolved into one of the borough’s leading architecture firms of its day during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, designing a range of buildings in a wide variety of styles. Advance registration is required to receive the link to the webinar platform. Please click here to register.
- Tuesday, October 13th at 6:00 p.m. – Rachel Miller and Timothy Miller, Co-Owners of Spirit Ironworks, Henry St Settlement – Story of a Loving Restoration
Rachel Miller and Timothy Miller will discuss the ironwork restoration of one of New York City’s most beloved, and historically significant social services agencies, Henry Street Settlement. This talk will explore the processes involved in restoring historic ironwork on three Federal style buildings. The project was a rare opportunity to explore how pre-Civil War ironwork was constructed. They will also describe how the restoration process incorporated many traditional metalworking techniques such as; forging genuine wrought iron, tool and die making and replicating cast iron elements. They will also touch upon some of the partners that made the project possible including: Li/Saltzman Architects, Henry St. Settlement, The New York Landmarks Conservancy, and NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. (Please note this lecture has been rescheduled from Thursday September 17th to Tuesday, October 13th.) Advance registration is required to receive the link to the webinar platform. Please click here to register.
- Tuesday, October 20th at 6:00 p.m.– Patrick W. Ciccone, Preservationist & Co-Author of Bricks & Brownstone: The New York Row House
Patrick W. Ciccone, a New York City-based preservationist who has led major historic rehabilitation projects in Manhattan, Brooklyn, upstate New York, and Pennsylvania will discuss the book he co-authored, Bricks & Brownstone: The New York Row House. This newly revised edition is considered to be the gold standard reference on brownstone architecture and interiors, and one of the few truly classic histories of New York’s urbanism. Advance registration is required to receive the link to the webinar platform. Please click here to register.
1.0 AIA LU credit is available for qualifying participants
Suggested donation: $15 General Admission; $10 General Society Members and New York Landmarks Conservancy Members and Senior Citizens; $5 Students.
Advance registration is required to receive the link to the zoom webinar platform.
Landmark Lectures Winter/Spring 2020
The only Landmark Lecture of Winter/Spring 2020 was held on February 18th, and featured Anthony W. Robins, an acclaimed historian and writer who discussed, Grand Central Terminal: 100 Years of a New York Landmark where he outlined the history of Grand Central and its central role in the formation of midtown Manhattan. His engaging and informative lecture was enthusiastically received.
LANDMARK LECTURES 2019
The Landmarks lectures focus on the origin, development, and restoration of New York City’s built environment, and celebrate the art and architecture of the City. Lisa Easton, a partner in the New York City based architecture and historic preservation firm, Easton Architects, curates the series. The Landmark lectures are presented in partnership with The New York Landmarks Conservancy.
- Tuesday, March 19th at 6.30 p.m. – Janet W. Foster, Architectural Historian and Historic Preservation Consultant,Pattern Books and 19thCentury American Building
During her lecture, Architectural Historian & Preservation Consultant, Janet W. Fosterwill discuss how published books of designs, or pattern books, had a significant role in changing the appearance of buildings, and the techniques of their construction, in 19thcentury America. The role of pattern books in shaping the developing suburban landscape, their impact on a changing construction labor market, and the rise of several New York City publishing houses that promoted these books of architectural design all combine to tell both a very New York story and a broader look at national trends in building. Advance Registration is required, to reserve your place, please click here.
- Tuesday April 16th at 6:30 p.m.– Michael Devonshire, Director of Conservation, Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Through the Glass: The Evolution of the Window in Historic Buildings
Michael Devonshire, Principal and Director of Conservation, JHPA, Inc. at is an architectural conservator with forty year’s experience in the field of historic preservation. For his presentation he will describe a history of windows, the perception of windows in art, and examine how windows have functioned in history. Mr. Devonshire will review the stylistic and technological changes to the window as an architectural element, as it evolved from hand-made components to machine-made. He will detail how windows are essential and character-defining components of historic buildings. Advance Registration is required, please click here to reserve your place.
- Tuesday, May 21stat 6:30 p.m.– Jean-Francois D. Furieri, Founder of Iconoplast,The Restoration, Preservation, and Conservation of Architectural Ornamental Plaster
Jean-Francois D. Furieri, a third generation master plasterer, founded Iconoplast one of the few companies still specializing in restoration, preservation and conservation of architectural ornamental plaster. The company’s studious techniques and generations-old skills are integrated with modern technologies to create a hands-on approach to this traditional craft. During his talk, Mr. Furieri will outline the history of plaster, new technologies in plaster, and describe a theatre restoration on 42nd street, recently completed by Iconoplast. Advance Registration is required, please click here to reserve your place.
- Tuesday, June 18th at 6:30 p.m. – Christopher P. Pinto, Associate Principal, Thornton Tomasetti, The Preservation of Cast Iron Construction
Christopher Pinto, Associate Principal, Thornton Tomasetti, has considerable experience in structural analysis and design with a specialization in investigative projects and the restoration of historic structures. His notable projects include the recently completed rehabilitation of the cast iron dome of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. At his lecture, he will discuss cast iron detailing and construction with an emphasis on methods of repair, including a discussion of repair detailing at the Capitol Dome and at the Harlem Fire Watchtower. Advance Registration is required, please click here to reserve your place.
The Lectures start at 6:30 pm in The General Society Library, 20 West 44th Street, New York City. Reception to follow. Advance registration is required. $15 General admission; $10 General Society members, NY Landmarks Conservancy Members & Senior Citizens; $5 Students. To register please email: karin.taylor@generalsociety.org.
1.0 AIA LU credit is available for qualifying participants.