Breuer Building (Former Whitney) Request for Evaluation
Letter to New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
Date: November 19, 2024
Sarah Carroll, Chair
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
1 Centre Street, 9th floor
New York, NY 10007
Dear Chair Carroll,
The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) supports the Request for Evaluation (RFE) for an Interior Landmark Designation for the former Whitney Museum at 945 Madison Avenue. We support the RFE originally submitted by Docomomo US and Docomomo US New York/Tri-State and are proud to stand with our colleagues the Historic Districts Council, FRIENDS of the Upper East Side, Preservation League of New York State, and Society of Architectural Historians in calling for this designation.
The former Whitney Museum of Art is an icon of brutalist and modernist architecture, designed by Marcel Breuer and exemplifying his training at and the ideology of the Bauhaus. While the building is a contributing historic resource to the Upper East Side Historic District, MAS believes its interior also deserves recognition and protection under the Landmarks Law. The modern interior of the former Whitney Museum is of national and international significance and has historically been publicly accessible since 1966. Nearly unaltered since its opening, the structure’s well-preserved interiors are critical to Breuer’s overall design. The interior spaces of the building were carefully restored in 2016.
Download TestimonyWith the recent sale of the building to Sotheby’s, MAS affirms that an Interior Landmark Designation is urgently needed for protection to these interiors and requests that the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) evaluate the RFE and safeguard this monumental architectural work.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Goldstein
Former President, Municipal Art Society of New York