Long Island Modernism 1930 To 1980 Hardcover by Caroline Rob Zaleski

Product Details

• Publisher: WW Norton (2012-09-04)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 336 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780393733150
• Item Weight: 1660.18 grams
• Dimensions: 31.12 x 23.5 x 2.54 cm

Chronicles a rich and little-known array of architecture on the island, a hotbed of modernism from the thirties on.

An essential reference for architecture buffs, historians, and everyone who lives on or visits Long Island today, this unique resource—the first illustrated history of Long Island’s modern architecture—is based on a survey conducted for the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities (SPLIA). It highlights the work within Suffolk and Nassau counties of a roster of twenty-five internationally renowned architects—among them Wallace Harrison, Frank Lloyd Wright, Marcel Breuer, Edward Durell Stone, Richard Neutra, William Lescaze, Gordon Chadwick for George Nelson, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson, Paul Rudolph, and Richard Meier.

Caroline Rob Zaleski’s research on the work of key figures in twentieth-century architecture; the relatively unknown aspects of their production; and their associations with clients, artists, and politicians is complemented by more than three hundred striking archival photographs, specially commissioned new photography, and plans. Zaleski documents the development of exurbia and the rise of visionary structures: residences for commuters and weekenders, public housing, houses of worship, universities, shopping centers, and office complexes. In this part architectural, part social history, she explains why modernism was embraced by Long Island’s civic, cultural, and business leaders—as well as by those who wanted to settle away from the city—during an epoch when open space was prime for development. An inventory of important architects, with their Long Island commissions by date and location, complements the main text.

About the Author

Caroline Rob Zaleski received her Master of Science degree in architectural preservation from Columbia University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and soon after became a leading advocate for the preservation of important modern architecture in New York City and on Long Island. Since 2006 she has been chair of the Preservation League of New York State Seven to Save Endangered Sites program, where she has worked to encourage the inclusion of applications relating to twentieth-century modernism and recent New York State history. A former medical journalist, Zaleski turned to preservation advocacy and the study of architectural history and preservation while she served on the Certificate of Appropriateness Committee for Landmark West! in Manhattan. She is the director of the Modern Long Island Survey for SPLIA. Her proudest “Save” was working with SPLIA to place the Edward Durell Stone–designed Conger Goodyear house in Old Westbury, Long Island, on the State and National Register and World Monuments Watch. She also led a successful campaign to raise awareness of and civic involvement in the preservation and repurposing of Eero Saarinen’s TWA Terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport. When not working on preservation projects or touring the state for Preservation League initiatives, she spends as much time as she can with her family in an unwinterized cottage near Montauk.