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Gainsborough Studios (Manhattan)

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Coordinates:40°46′02″N73°58′50″W/ 40.767180°N 73.980480°W/40.767180; -73.980480
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This article is about the building in New York City. For the film studios and the replacement apartment block in London, seeGainsborough Pictures.

Gainsborough Studios
Map
Alternative namesThe Gainsborough
General information
TypeResidential
Address222 Central Park South
Town or cityManhattan,New York
CountryUnited States
Coordinates40°46′02″N73°58′50″W/ 40.767180°N 73.980480°W/40.767180; -73.980480
Groundbreaking1907
Opened1908
Height177.21 feet (54 m)
Technical details
Floor count16
Design and construction
Architect(s)Charles W. Buckham
Other information
Number of units34
DesignatedFebruary 15, 1988
Reference no.1423

TheGainsborough Studios,also known as222 Central Park South,is a residential building onCentral Park South,just east ofColumbus Circle,inMidtown Manhattan,New York City. Designed byCharles W. Buckham,the building is 16 stories tall with 34 apartments. Named after English painterThomas Gainsborough,the building is one of several inManhattanthat were built in the early 20th century as both studios and residences for artists.

The Gainsborough Studios' name and design indicated its artistic connotations. The facade contains a bust of Gainsborough above the main entrance; abas-reliefacross the third floor, designed byIsidore Konti;and tile murals byHenry Chapman Mercer'sMoravian Pottery and Tile Worksat the top stories. Some studios have 18-foot (5.5 m) ceilings with double-height spaces, while others are smaller units that occupy part of a single floor. Artists generally rented the studios as a combination residence and working space.

The Gainsborough Studios corporation built the structure between 1907 and 1908 as artists' cooperative housing, although it gradually became a standard residential development. The lobby was restored in the 1950s and in 1981, and a full renovation of the building commenced in 1988. The building was designated a city landmark by theNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commissionin 1988.

Site

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The Gainsborough Studios is in theMidtown Manhattanneighborhood ofNew York City,just east ofColumbus Circle.It is on the southern side ofCentral Park SouthbetweenSeventh AvenueandBroadway,across fromCentral Parkto the north.[1]The Gainsborough Studios occupies a lot measuring 50 feet (15 m) on Central Park South[2][3]and 88 feet (27 m) deep.[2]Nearby buildings include200and220 Central Park Southto the east,240 Central Park Southto the west, and1790 Broadwayand theCentral Park Towerto the south.[1]

Architecture

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The Gainsborough Studios is 177.21 feet (54 m) tall[4]and has 16 stories.[4][5][a]Charles W. Buckhamwas the architect,[2][7]while Wells Bros. Company was the general contractor.[8]The artistAugust Franzen[sv]was the founding president of the Gainsborough Studios corporation, which developed the building.[9]Franzen was a significant figure in the building's planning, and may have influenced the decision to name the building after English painterThomas Gainsborough.[10]The Gainsborough Studios' exterior design reflects both its interior furnishings and its purpose as an artists' studio, with numerous allusions to art in both its name and facade.[7][11]It is one of a few artists'housing cooperativesremaining inManhattan.[12]

Facade

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The first and second floors are faced with limestone.[3]The entrance is set within a square doorway under aporticowith the wordsgainsborough studios,which in turn is supported by a pair of white terracotta and graniteIoniccolumns.[5][3]There is a double-height window to each side of the main entrance, with two stonemullionsand a thick stonemuntinin each window. A staircase to the basement is west of the entrance.[3]Running across the third story is abas-relieffriezebyIsidore KonticalledProcession of the Arts.[5]The frieze depicts various people delivering gifts to an altar representing the arts, and contains two small windows.[13]Aplinthsits atop the entrance portico, supporting a bust of Thomas Gainsborough outside the fourth and fifth stories.[5][3]

Above the second story, the building's facade is split into two verticalbays,flanked by three brickpierswith stone reveals.[6]The facade generally contains double-height windows facing Central Park South, which break up the facade into several double-story sections between the second and fifteenth floors.[11]The lower portion of each double-story section features aquatrefoilpanel and a small pediment at the center, flanked by a glass pane on each side. The upper portion of each double-story section, as well as the fourth floor, contains a large window divided into several sections by narrow mullions. The lower and upper portions of each double-height story are separated by narrowspandrelpanels.[14][15]An arch runs above each bay over the twelfth story.[3]

Above the twelfth story, the piers are ornamented with tile mosaics byHenry Chapman Mercer'sMoravian Pottery and Tile Works.[5][11][14]The mosaics contain geometric patterns in red, yellow, green, and gray hues; the central pier contains more elaborate decoration compared to the outer piers.[15]Atop the building is acorbeltable with shell designs, as well asacroteriaatop each pier.[14][15]

Features

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A typical double-story floor plan

The Gainsborough Studios contains 34 units, which were marketed to artists as a studio that could be used as living space. The building has a shared kitchen, laundry, and dining room, although individual units contain reception areas for clients.[16]When completed, the building contained 14duplexapartments and 25 single-floor apartments, for a total of 39 units.[14]

The Gainsborough Studios was legally classified as a hotel to circumvent zoning restrictions that prevented new apartment buildings from being taller than 150 percent of the width of the adjacent street.[11]As a result, there was a communal kitchen area at ground level, while individual apartments lacked full kitchens.[11][17]There are two elevators and an emergency stair, flanking enclosure at the center of the building. As designed, the elevator at the northern end of the hall was the main passenger elevator, and the elevator at the southern end was used for freight.[17][14]

Only the northern facade had natural light overlooking Central Park. Accordingly, the units on the building's northern side were equipped with 18-foot (5.5 m) ceilings and double-height windows, and thus contained the duplex suites.[11][16]The other apartments were single-story units. On each floor pairing, there was two double-height duplex units on the north side and four single-story units on the south side, arranged around a central hallway with a fire staircase and two elevators. The duplex units contain a mezzanine overlooking the double-height studios along Central Park South.[11][17][14]The second and third floors are irregular, in that the front sections of these floors contain duplex apartments, while the rear had restaurant space.[14]

History

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Cooperative apartment housing in New York City became popular in the late 19th century because of overcrowded housing conditions in the city's dense urban areas.[18][19]By the beginning of the 20th century, there were some co-ops in the city that catered specifically to artists, including at130and140 West 57th Street,as well as on67th Streetnear Central Park.[20][21]However, these were almost always fully occupied. Some of the artists' co-ops contained features such as double-height ceilings, while others like Gainsborough Studios contained large working areas illuminated by light from the north.[20]

In 1907, businessmanBarron Collierand artistsColin Campbell Cooper,Elliott Daingerfield,and August Franzen formed the Gainsborough Studios corporation, headquartered at 307 Fifth Avenue. The corporation would plan and develop an artists' cooperative apartment on Central Park South.[2][10]The corporation bought tenements at 222 and 224 Central Park South in April 1907.[22]Buckham was hired as architect,[23]and that May, he filed plans with theNew York City Department of Buildingsfor an eight-story fireproof artists' studio on the site, to cost $300,000.[2]Wells Bros. Company was awarded the general construction contract in August 1907.[8]Work started on November 3, 1907, after the existing building had been demolished. The new building officially opened on October 31, 1908.[24]

At various points in the building's history, residents included artistMontague Flagg,sculptorWilliam Ordway Partridge,and travel writerThomas Allibone Janvier,[5]as well as artistEnrico Donati.[25]One resident of the Gainsborough Studios in the 1910s, John Hemming Fry, became a vice president of the Gainsborough Studios corporation and subsequently developed the nearbyRodin Studiosusing his experience from the Gainsborough Studios.[26]During the 1950s, another resident,Donald Deskey,led a renovation of the building's lobby. As part of the project, the ornate iron doors from the original design were replaced with aluminum doors.[5]

In 1981, the Gainsborough Studios Corporation spent $100,000 on renovating the lobby to its original condition, using historical photographs to create replicas of the original doors.[5]The terracotta and tile facade degraded over time, and starting in 1988, the building was renovated for $1 million. The colored ceramic tiles were reproduced by hand, the terracotta was partially replaced, and the frieze was recast in concrete.[27]TheNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commissionalso made the building an official city landmark in 1988,[28][29]after the renovation had commenced.[27]By 2004, the Gainsborough Studios had almost entirely become a standard residential suite, and Donati was the last artist remaining in the building.[30]In the early 21st century, philanthropistBlaine Trumpmoved into the building as well.[31]

Critical reception

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Upon its completion, the Gainsborough Studios' design was described as "a credit to the ingenuity of the designer".[11][14]In 1977, architectural writerPaul Goldbergerwrote forThe New York Timesthat the facade of the Gainsborough Studios was "far more interesting than anything on 67th Street", praising the Ionic columns at the base and the mosaics at the top.[32]Christopher Graywrote for the same paper in 2013 that the building "constitute[d] the first recognition I have seen that the vista north to 110th Street was beginning to be considered special", reflecting on the development boom along Central Park South when the building was completed.[33]

See also

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References

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Notes

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  1. ^TheNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commissionclassifies the building as having eight double stories. The upper story of each two-story section is treated as a mezzanine.[6]

Citations

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  1. ^ab"NYCityMap".NYC.gov.New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications.Archivedfrom the original on February 19, 2021.RetrievedMarch 20,2020.
  2. ^abcde"Estimates Receivable".The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide.Vol. 79, no. 2045. May 25, 1907. p. 1019.Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2020.RetrievedOctober 27,2020– viacolumbia.edu.
  3. ^abcdefLandmarks Preservation Commission 1988,p. 8.
  4. ^ab"The Gainsborough, New York City".Emporis. Archived fromthe originalon October 30, 2020.RetrievedOctober 26,2020.
  5. ^abcdefghGray, Christopher (July 10, 1988)."Streetscapes: Gainsborough Studios; The Restoration of an 1881 Co-op".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2020.RetrievedOctober 26,2020.
  6. ^abLandmarks Preservation Commission 1988,pp. 8–9.
  7. ^abDolkart, Andrew (2008).Guide to New York City Landmarks.John Wiley & Sons. p. 128.ISBN978-0470289631.
  8. ^ab"Three Great Contracts".The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide.Vol. 80, no. 2056. August 10, 1907. p. 214.Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2020.RetrievedOctober 27,2020– viacolumbia.edu.
  9. ^"August R. Franzen; Portrait Painter Was Head of the Gainsborough Studios".The New York Times.September 8, 1938.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2020.RetrievedOctober 26,2020.
  10. ^abLandmarks Preservation Commission 1988,p. 4.
  11. ^abcdefghLandmarks Preservation Commission 1988,p. 6.
  12. ^Philip Habib & Associates (June 16, 2017)."220 Central Park South Garage Environmental Assessment Statement"(PDF).New York City Department of City Planning.p. B10.Archived(PDF)from the original on December 5, 2020.RetrievedOctober 26,2020.
  13. ^Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988,p. 7.
  14. ^abcdefghArchitects' and Builders' Magazine 1909,p. 232.
  15. ^abcLandmarks Preservation Commission 1988,p. 9.
  16. ^abZimmer, Lori."Gainsborough Studios".art-nerd.Art Nerd New York.Archivedfrom the original on February 21, 2018.RetrievedFebruary 21,2018.
  17. ^abcJanes, Elisha Harris (July 1912)."The Development of Duplex Apartments.-II. Studio Type".The Brickbuilder.Vol. 21. p. 185.Archivedfrom the original on December 5, 2020.RetrievedOctober 27,2020.
  18. ^Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988,pp. 1–2.
  19. ^Benson, Allan L. (July 25, 1909)."The Spread of the" Own-your-own-apartment "Idea; Twenty Years Ago New York Saw Its First" Canned Residences "and to-day the Demand for These Homes Has Given Rise to the Building of" Co-operative Apartment Houses "".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2020.RetrievedOctober 26,2020.
  20. ^abLandmarks Preservation Commission 1988,pp. 3–4.
  21. ^"Artists Who Pay No Rent".Brooklyn Daily Eagle.July 7, 1907. p. 18.Archivedfrom the original on October 9, 2021.RetrievedDecember 1,2020– via newspapersOpen access icon.
  22. ^"Three Great Contracts".The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide.Vol. 79, no. 2038. April 6, 1907. p. 693.Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2020.RetrievedOctober 27,2020– viacolumbia.edu.
  23. ^"Apartments".The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide.Vol. 79, no. 2046. June 1, 1907. p. 1062.Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2020.RetrievedOctober 27,2020– viacolumbia.edu.
  24. ^Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988,p. 5.
  25. ^Kahn, Eve M. (May 6, 2010)."Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont as Impulse Buyer".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on October 29, 2020.RetrievedOctober 26,2020.
  26. ^"Rodin Studios"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.February 16, 1988. p. 3.Archived(PDF)from the original on December 26, 2016.RetrievedNovember 14,2020.
  27. ^abStephens, Suzanne (September 15, 1988)."Currents; The Old Is Made New Again".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on October 29, 2020.RetrievedOctober 26,2020.
  28. ^Landmarks Preservation Commission 1988,p. 1.
  29. ^"New landmarks".New York Daily News.February 24, 1988. p. 159.RetrievedDecember 1,2020– via newspapersOpen access icon.
  30. ^Jackson, Nancy Beth (August 29, 2004)."Living On/59th Street; Putting Out the Gold-Plated Welcome Mats".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on October 31, 2020.RetrievedOctober 28,2020.
  31. ^Goldfarb, Brad (November 2014)."New York Socialite Blaine Trump's Restored Manhattan Pied-À-Terre".Architectural Digest.Archivedfrom the original on September 28, 2020.RetrievedOctober 27,2020.
  32. ^Goldberger, Paul (December 9, 1977)."Metropolitan Baedeker".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2020.RetrievedOctober 26,2020.
  33. ^Gray, Christopher (August 15, 2013)."Central Park South, the View That Sneaked Up on the City".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2020.RetrievedOctober 26,2020.

Sources

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