The architecture firm of McKim, Mead and White designed Penn Station. Like many of the larger train terminals of this period, the building was modeled partly on the Roman bath complex. Baths were one of the few structures from the ancient world that accommodated large flows of people, an obvious requirement of the modern train terminal. There is almost nothing left of the original structure.
Louis Sullivan’s Carson Pirie Scott is one of the first department stores to be built using steel frame construction. The new technology allowed for more open and more light-filled retail spaces. Sullivan’s signature detailing of geometric and botanical forms in cast iron covers the display windows at sidewalk level.
The original MOMA was a Deco Moderne building by architects Philip Goodwin and Edward Stone. Philip Johnson designed an addition with a black steel façade and created the sculpture garden in the 1960s. Recently all the interiors have been gutted and the exhibition space doubled in a much acclaimed remodeling of the complex by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi.
The Auditorium Building is one or two structures on the list of the public’s 150 favorites by renowned American architect Louis Sullivan. (The other is Carson Pirie Scott.) It was this commission that established his international reputation and that of his partner Dankmar Adler. Originally an arts and commercial complex, the granite and limestone building is considered an important precursor to the Modern movement.
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photo: Carol M. Highsmith
Eero Saarinen designed Yale University’s Ingalls Ice Arena in the late 1950s. Saarinen was an alumnus of Yale and had a great patron in then-university president A. Whitney Griswold. Critical reception of the building was initially negative. The press dubbed it the “Yale Whale,” a moniker that is now generally used affectionately.
In 1885, the trade journal American Architect & Building News polled architects to determine the best buildings in the United States. Here is what they found:
H. H. Richardson held five of the top ten spots in 1885. He holds six of the top hundred spots in the current survey. Richard Upjohn (founding president of the American Institute of Architects) had two buildings in the top ten in 1885. He has no buildings in today's survey.
The people have spoken. The poll is closed. Now it’s your turn to react. Use this space to comment on America's Favorite Architecture. What has the public missed? Where did they surprise you? And what do you think was on their minds? Also feel free to add comments on individual choices—each has its own blog. We want to make sure we give every one of our top 150 landmarks the recognition they deserve. Make a point, share some facts, or start a discussion. We value your input.
