The tour that we received, as a part of my course Design and Decorative Arts in New York City, by the show’s curator Donald Albrecht revealed that Candela was particularly active in three major neighborhoods, creating the distinctive “prewar” streetscapes of Park and Fifth Avenues, Sutton Place, and Central Park West. This morning, I made my way to the Museum of the City of New York, just hours before its opening of the exhibition ‘ Elegance in the Sky: The Architecture of Rosario Candela.‘ It comes to revisit the setback terraces, the neo-Georgian and the Art Deco ornament of Candela-designed high-rise apartments, to explore the shift in the real estate market, and to illuminate on the classic New York City lifestyle. Called ‘the Bernini of the Upper East Side’ by my friend and colleague David Netto, Candela’s career emerged when the culture of the skyscraper had become the touchstone of New York City’s built fabric and when luxurious living had moved from the mansion to the ‘mansion in the sky.’ With no less than 75 buildings completed within less than a decade until ended by the Great Depression, Rosario Candela has been credited for formulating the high standard of chic urban lifestyle that New York has come to be known for. You cannot understand New York City living without knowing the work of Rosario Candela, the most legendary NY architect of the 20s and the 30s.
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