Commissioned in the mid-1950s by luxury auto importer Max Hoffman to market Jaguars, the 3,600-sf Hoffman Auto Showroom at 430 Park Avenue by Frank Lloyd Wright has been razed.
Opened in 1955, the showroom features Wright's signature organic style, with a spiraling ramp that circled a car display turntable. It served as the home for a Mercedes dealership from 1957 to 2012. Months after Mercedes vacated the space, the new owner of the building, Midwood Investment & Management and Oestreicher Properties, was granted a permit to demolish the space.
While the showroom had been altered over the years, including the installation of mirrors as part of a 1982 renovation, it remained quintessentially Frank Lloyd Wright, writes Hyperallergic's Allison Meier. In a post yesterday, Meier detailed the surprising demolition of the showroom.
Read Hyperallergic's report on the demolition of Frank Lloyd Wright showroom.
Related Stories
Architects | Sep 13, 2017
Leo A Daly hires hospitality-design veteran to lead its Dallas office
Ken Martin views this sector as an incubator of innovation.
Museums | Sep 8, 2017
CAF announces plans for 20,000-sf Chicago Architecture Center to be built on East Wacker Drive
The Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill-designed space will open in summer 2018.
Architects | Sep 6, 2017
Fake architect caught in ‘Operation Vandelay Industries’ sentenced to 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison
The fake architect must also pay a $115,000 restitution.
Architects | Sep 6, 2017
Top 110 university architecture firms
Perkins+Will, Gensler, and CannonDesign top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest university sector architecture and AE firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
Contractors | Sep 6, 2017
Following the money: G702 progress payment certifications
There is no single method of calculating progress payments, but the most common formula is the percentage of completion applied to the total contract price, less a retainage which is held by the owner until final acceptance of the project.
Multifamily Housing | Sep 5, 2017
Free WiFi, meeting rooms most popular business services amenities in multifamily developments
Complimentary, building-wide WiFi is more or less a given for marketing purposes in the multifamily arena.
Architects | Sep 1, 2017
5 reasons why AEC firms need to focus on employer branding
Not to be confused with the branding of your firm overall, your employer brand is defined by your reputation as a workplace.
Healthcare Facilities | Sep 1, 2017
Caring for caregivers
Many healthcare organizations are increasingly focused on designing amenities, policies, and workplaces to better support their clinicians, health providers, and administrators.
Architects | Aug 31, 2017
How Instagram is changing the design industry
The digital and physical worlds are colliding. How will social media platforms influence the way we design spaces?
Mixed-Use | Aug 30, 2017
A 50-acre waterfront redevelopment gets under way in Tampa
Nine architects, three interior designers, and nine contractors are involved in this $3 billion project.
