Radio City Music Hall
| theatre, office building, radio station, Streamline Moderne (architecture), NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, interesting place, Art Deco (architecture), movie / film / TV location, 1932_construction
USA /
New Jersey /
West New York /
Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas), 1260
World
/ USA
/ New Jersey
/ West New York
World / United States / New York
theatre, office building, radio station, Streamline Moderne (architecture), NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, interesting place, Art Deco (architecture), movie / film / TV location, 1932_construction
1260 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue)
Manhattan, New York City, NY 10020
www.msg.com/radio-city-music-hall
409-foot, 31-story Art-Deco office building and performance hall completed in 1932. Designed by Reinhard & Hofmeister, Corbett Harrison & MacMurray, and Hood & Foulhoux, the office building was the first structure undertaken at Rockefeller Center, followed one month later by RKO's Radio City Music Hall, with which it is connected. Some of the interiors were designed by Donald Deskey.
The office building fronting the avenue was originally named the RKO Building, then later the Americas Building, American Metal Climax Building, the AMAX Building, and now 1270 Avenue of the Americas. Rondels on the exterior were designed by Hildreth Meière who was the most prominent muralists of her time.
The combination theater-office building was a familiar type in New York with such notable predecessors as The Palace Theater (1913) and Hammerstein's (later Ed Sullivan) Theater (1927). The RKO Building, however, differed in its much taller 31-story mass and in the fact that it was designed as part of a much larger entertainment complex.
Radio City Music Hall opened to the public on December 27, 1932 with a seating capacity of 5,933. The theater is used mainly for live stage performances. Movies were regularly shown as part of the same program up to the 1970s. It has also hosted award ceremonies and in 2000, its first live sports event.
It is home to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, a New York Christmas tradition since 1933, and to the women's precision dance team known as The Rockettes. Though movie premiers do still occur here, the recent emphasis has been on concerts, live shows and events such as the Grammy Awards, the Tony Awards, and the MTV Music Awards.
The building is a 31-story slab rising above Sixth Avenue with low corner wings. Set back above the 6th floor at its north and south, and above the 8th floor in the center, it rises sheer to the top. Like all the original Rockefeller Center towers it is articulated by vertical window spandrel bays and limestone piers, with terminal foliage at the setbacks and roof line.
Four polished granite piers at the ground level in the center of the Sixth Avenue elevation form three wide bays; the outer two house storefronts, while the inner bay houses the main entrance. Above each bay is a stone relief by Robert Garrison. The central panel shows the female muse of Contemporary Thought holding the torch of past knowledge in one hand and in the other, an electric bolt signifying the speed of radio transmission. To her right is a rearing Pegasus. On the right, virile Morning flies entwined in the wings of an eagle. Evening at left is borne atop a flying heron.
The music hall's main entrance, at the northeast corner of Sixth & 50th, is recessed under the lower wing of 1270 Avenue of the Americas, and an enormous marquee and twin vertical sings are attached. The marquee is supported on three polygonal piers faced in polished granite. Above the doorways are granite blocks serving as background for the series of bronze reliefs on entertainment themes.
The marquee curves around the corner onto 50th Street, where a limestone wall above it serves as background for three polychromatic metal-and-enamel reliefs. These 18-foot allegorical roundels were designed by Hildreth Meière and executed by Oscar B. Bach. "Dance" is located at the left, followed by "Drama" and "Song".
The 51st Street elevation is simply a smaller version of the 50th Street side. It includes a blank wall with no reliefs and a 6-story vertical over a 2-section marquee with curved corners and neon lettering. The retail spaces are occupied by Brooks Brothers clothing, The Body Shop, and Radio City Music Hall Store.
www.hildrethmeiere.org/commissions/radio-city-music-hal...
Manhattan, New York City, NY 10020
www.msg.com/radio-city-music-hall
409-foot, 31-story Art-Deco office building and performance hall completed in 1932. Designed by Reinhard & Hofmeister, Corbett Harrison & MacMurray, and Hood & Foulhoux, the office building was the first structure undertaken at Rockefeller Center, followed one month later by RKO's Radio City Music Hall, with which it is connected. Some of the interiors were designed by Donald Deskey.
The office building fronting the avenue was originally named the RKO Building, then later the Americas Building, American Metal Climax Building, the AMAX Building, and now 1270 Avenue of the Americas. Rondels on the exterior were designed by Hildreth Meière who was the most prominent muralists of her time.
The combination theater-office building was a familiar type in New York with such notable predecessors as The Palace Theater (1913) and Hammerstein's (later Ed Sullivan) Theater (1927). The RKO Building, however, differed in its much taller 31-story mass and in the fact that it was designed as part of a much larger entertainment complex.
Radio City Music Hall opened to the public on December 27, 1932 with a seating capacity of 5,933. The theater is used mainly for live stage performances. Movies were regularly shown as part of the same program up to the 1970s. It has also hosted award ceremonies and in 2000, its first live sports event.
It is home to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, a New York Christmas tradition since 1933, and to the women's precision dance team known as The Rockettes. Though movie premiers do still occur here, the recent emphasis has been on concerts, live shows and events such as the Grammy Awards, the Tony Awards, and the MTV Music Awards.
The building is a 31-story slab rising above Sixth Avenue with low corner wings. Set back above the 6th floor at its north and south, and above the 8th floor in the center, it rises sheer to the top. Like all the original Rockefeller Center towers it is articulated by vertical window spandrel bays and limestone piers, with terminal foliage at the setbacks and roof line.
Four polished granite piers at the ground level in the center of the Sixth Avenue elevation form three wide bays; the outer two house storefronts, while the inner bay houses the main entrance. Above each bay is a stone relief by Robert Garrison. The central panel shows the female muse of Contemporary Thought holding the torch of past knowledge in one hand and in the other, an electric bolt signifying the speed of radio transmission. To her right is a rearing Pegasus. On the right, virile Morning flies entwined in the wings of an eagle. Evening at left is borne atop a flying heron.
The music hall's main entrance, at the northeast corner of Sixth & 50th, is recessed under the lower wing of 1270 Avenue of the Americas, and an enormous marquee and twin vertical sings are attached. The marquee is supported on three polygonal piers faced in polished granite. Above the doorways are granite blocks serving as background for the series of bronze reliefs on entertainment themes.
The marquee curves around the corner onto 50th Street, where a limestone wall above it serves as background for three polychromatic metal-and-enamel reliefs. These 18-foot allegorical roundels were designed by Hildreth Meière and executed by Oscar B. Bach. "Dance" is located at the left, followed by "Drama" and "Song".
The 51st Street elevation is simply a smaller version of the 50th Street side. It includes a blank wall with no reliefs and a 6-story vertical over a 2-section marquee with curved corners and neon lettering. The retail spaces are occupied by Brooks Brothers clothing, The Body Shop, and Radio City Music Hall Store.
www.hildrethmeiere.org/commissions/radio-city-music-hal...
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_City_Music_Hall
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 40°45'35"N 73°58'46"W
This article is protected.
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