Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Building (New York City, New York)
USA /
New Jersey /
West New York /
New York City, New York
World
/ USA
/ New Jersey
/ West New York
World / United States / New York
interesting place, movie / film / TV location, 1934_construction, Beaux-Arts (architecture)
Built in 1934 as the new main entrance to the museum, The Roosevelt Memorial Building (also known as Building 12) was designed by John Russell Pope with Trowbridge & Livingston. Its style is a departure from the Romanesque-revival facades of the earlier building additions to the south, instead clad in a light-grey granite in an Academic Classical style. The landmarked interior was designed by William Andrew Mackay.
This monumental entrance section dominates the Central Park West facade and projects forward from the main line of the building. A broad flight of stairs leads up to the triumphal arch. The steps extends far to the north and south, partly overlapping the adjoining buildings on either side. At these north and south ends, they reach a terrace area enclosed by a stone wall decorated with wreaths and inscribed words describing Roosevelt. Deeply recessed within the arch is the impressive entrance doorway with enfrarned bronze doors, ornate frieze and a large expanse of window grille above them. On each side of the arch two free-standing Ionic columns, each with its own broken entablature and sharply defined dentiled cornice, are surmounted by sculptured figures silhouetted against a high attic wall inscribed with a dedication to the president. The figures are Daniel Boone, John James Audubon, William Clark, and Meriwether Lewis. The surface of the pedestals, supporting the columns, and a low wall carried forward on either side of them are decorated with superbly carved bas reliefs of animals. In front of the arch, on a wide platform, a high pedestal bears an imposing equestrian statue of President Roosevelt by James E. Fraser. The horseback Roosevelt is accompanies on foot by figures of an American Indian and an African tribesman. The keystone at the top of the grand arch features an eagle, and there is a medallion between the columns in the flanking bays.
The entrance opens into the Memorial Hall and Rotunda, behind which is the North American Mammals exhibit. Other floors contain the Koch Dinosaur Wing. The Memorial Hall, which is 67 feet wide and 120 feet long , is spanned by a barrel vaulted ceiling, with octagonal coffering, rising 100 feet above the floor. At both ends of the vault, large segmental arched windows protected by grilles light the hall. The entrance vestibule, as well as the recesses opposite it and at the ends of the hall, are monumentalized by a giant order of Corinthian columns 48 feet high. The columns are of red Alacanti and Verone marble, rising from bases of Bottocino marble. The main walls are overlaid with Renfrew marble wainscoting to a height of nine feet and are of limestone above. They are inscribed with quotations from Roosevelt's writings under the headings of "Nature," "Manhood," "Youth," and "The State. These walls are in turn surmounted by a marble paneled band of classical design, and the entire room is encompassed by a fully Corinthian entablature sup-porting the barrel vault.
The exterior was used as a filming location for "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006) as the site of a gala. The interior and exterior were also used for S1E2 of the Starz Network original series "Power" and S5E8 of the USA Network original series "White Collar".
usmodernist.org/TARCH/ARCH-04.pdf
onthesetofnewyork.com/thedevilwearsprada.html
This monumental entrance section dominates the Central Park West facade and projects forward from the main line of the building. A broad flight of stairs leads up to the triumphal arch. The steps extends far to the north and south, partly overlapping the adjoining buildings on either side. At these north and south ends, they reach a terrace area enclosed by a stone wall decorated with wreaths and inscribed words describing Roosevelt. Deeply recessed within the arch is the impressive entrance doorway with enfrarned bronze doors, ornate frieze and a large expanse of window grille above them. On each side of the arch two free-standing Ionic columns, each with its own broken entablature and sharply defined dentiled cornice, are surmounted by sculptured figures silhouetted against a high attic wall inscribed with a dedication to the president. The figures are Daniel Boone, John James Audubon, William Clark, and Meriwether Lewis. The surface of the pedestals, supporting the columns, and a low wall carried forward on either side of them are decorated with superbly carved bas reliefs of animals. In front of the arch, on a wide platform, a high pedestal bears an imposing equestrian statue of President Roosevelt by James E. Fraser. The horseback Roosevelt is accompanies on foot by figures of an American Indian and an African tribesman. The keystone at the top of the grand arch features an eagle, and there is a medallion between the columns in the flanking bays.
The entrance opens into the Memorial Hall and Rotunda, behind which is the North American Mammals exhibit. Other floors contain the Koch Dinosaur Wing. The Memorial Hall, which is 67 feet wide and 120 feet long , is spanned by a barrel vaulted ceiling, with octagonal coffering, rising 100 feet above the floor. At both ends of the vault, large segmental arched windows protected by grilles light the hall. The entrance vestibule, as well as the recesses opposite it and at the ends of the hall, are monumentalized by a giant order of Corinthian columns 48 feet high. The columns are of red Alacanti and Verone marble, rising from bases of Bottocino marble. The main walls are overlaid with Renfrew marble wainscoting to a height of nine feet and are of limestone above. They are inscribed with quotations from Roosevelt's writings under the headings of "Nature," "Manhood," "Youth," and "The State. These walls are in turn surmounted by a marble paneled band of classical design, and the entire room is encompassed by a fully Corinthian entablature sup-porting the barrel vault.
The exterior was used as a filming location for "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006) as the site of a gala. The interior and exterior were also used for S1E2 of the Starz Network original series "Power" and S5E8 of the USA Network original series "White Collar".
usmodernist.org/TARCH/ARCH-04.pdf
onthesetofnewyork.com/thedevilwearsprada.html
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 40°46'51"N 73°58'23"W
- Metropolitan Museum of Art 0.7 km
- Charles Engelhard Court 0.7 km
- Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts 1.3 km
- Rockefeller Center 2.4 km
- Times Square Area 2.6 km
- Times Square 2.7 km
- Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum 3 km
- The United Nations 3.2 km
- Jacob K. Javits Convention Center 3.6 km
- James A. Farley Building 3.8 km
- Manhattan 0.2 km
- Central Park 0.7 km
- Upper West Side 0.7 km
- Lincoln Square 1.2 km
- Upper East Side 1.4 km
- Hell's Kitchen (Clinton) 2.7 km
- Midtown (Manhattan, NY) 3.6 km
- Hudson County, New Jersey 10 km
- Queens 17 km
- The Palisades 20 km