The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has unanimously designated the former Whitney Museum of American Art building at 945 Madison Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side as both an individual and interior landmark. Designed by Marcel Breuer and Associates and completed in 1966, the Brutalist-style structure served as the Whitney Museum’s home until 2014 and is now set to become Sotheby’s new global headquarters. The building is located at the corner of East 75th Street.
Breuer’s design of the property responded to the site’s compact footprint, which was just 110 by 125 feet, by employing a stepped, inverted pyramid form, where each floor cantilevers over the one below. The building’s masonry exterior contrasts with a transparent glass ground floor, and its interior features cast concrete furnishings and integrated lighting. These elements remain emblematic of Brutalism, a movement Breuer helped define.
Photograph of former Whitney Museum of American Art, courtesy of NYC LPC
Since the Whitney’s departure, the building has temporarily housed exhibitions from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection. Acquired by Sotheby’s in 2023, the structure is undergoing a renovation approved by LPC to adapt it for its new function while preserving its architectural integrity. Interior protections now extend to spaces like the lobby and stairwell, expanding on the building’s 1981 inclusion in the Upper East Side Historic District.
The site is accessible via several nearby subways, including the 6 train at the 77th Street station and the F and Q trains at the Lexington Avenue-63rd Street station.
“The original Whitney Museum building is an iconic, entirely unique piece of the New York City landscape,” said New York City Councilmember Keith Powers.“The building is a cherished part of the history of our city, and its role in housing the great artists of our time is what contributes to its new landmark status. I’m proud to say the Upper East Side has such a stunning new landmark for all to enjoy.”
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Walked by this building daily on my way to and from school. It was like, ‘the Martians had landed’.
Bravo
But it’s really an ugly building
Sinister and so unappealing
It’s definite an acquired taste ….
This iconic building should definitely be saved, including the interior. But as Sotheby’s headquarters, will the public even be able to see the now preserved interior?
Of course, have you never visited Sotheby’s current location on 71st? It’s open to the public so you can view items up for auction in a museum like atmosphere.
I remember when they tore down some very nice small older buildings to put this up. Brutalist architecture never grabbed me.
Well deserved. It’s so easy to hate brutalism. This is a masterpiece in every way, even if most people don’t understand.
Guess I don’t understand. Thankfully, more of the city does not look like this.
as a one off, yes its a landmark and the interior too (if not more)
of course no one wants a city of Brutalism.
question – since De Blasio there has been a huge slowdown in landmarking. What gives ?
Does the left wing find it racist to landmark ? does not fit their social justice agenda.
If I remember my reading of an art history text correctly, the museum’s facades were supposed to have been clad in grey granite panels; for whatever the reason (budgetary constraints, a preference for the penultimate stage rough appearance?) this plan was discarded.
I don’t care much for brutalism, but for me the Whitney’s monumental scale, its deft adaptation of Cubism in architectural form, it’s functional use of space to house fine art, at least in this case (and FLW’s Guggenheim) the beton does not appear so brut.
Definitely ugly piece of architecture. The aquired taste requires decades of almost brain washing proportions and critical reporting that over the years gives it that status for the landmarks to swallow the juice.
So unfit for the Madison Ave corridor.
If you want your fill of brutalist architecture book a flight to Switzerland 🇨🇭