Upcoming Programs

Henry C. Millman, author of the new book Ornamental Cornices: Manhattan’s Sheet-Metal Masterpieces, continues the Museum’s fall focus on brilliant uses of building materials in the urban environment. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the facades of many residential and commercial buildings in America’s cities were crowned with sheet-metal cornices that blossomed into elaborate and impressive expressions of architectural eclecticism. Of all the cities where these cornices were installed, New York holds the greatest number and variety–particularly in such Manhattan neighborhoods as Chinatown, the Lower East Side, the East Village, and Harlem.

The Museum’s director, Carol Willis, will offer a gallery tour of The Invention of Park Avenue, which examines how the creation of Grand Central and an avenue out of thin air, was the catalytic connection of rail and real estate that gave Park Avenue its extraordinary, evolving New York identity. Curator’s tours are FREE, but you must book a timed ticket at 3pm on Ticketstripe, through the RSVP button.

In his online talk, “The Origin of High-Rise Construction and Why You’ve Never Heard About It,” historian Gregory Dreicer will explore how nineteenth-century builders industrialized the building process. Although this transformation included the development of the long-span beam, truss structures, and high-rise construction, historians have not told us about it. Dreicer explains why, by asking simple questions—“What is a wooden bridge?”—he challenges the narratives that shape the past and future of our designed environments.

On September 27, 1926, the University of Pittsburgh broke ground on the “Cathedral of Learning,” a signature skyscraper that was to be the tallest in the world outside Manhattan. Marking the upcoming centennial of the remarkable academic building, architectural historian and University of Pittsburgh professor Drew Armstrong will present research from his book-in-progress on the planning, design, and realization of this Neo-Gothic skyscraper.