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Rockefeller Center: City Within A City

J.M. Syken

Course Outline

In this course, we will examine the background and history of the creation of Rockefeller Center in New York City. This examination will include a review of the early history of the site from colonial times, its ownership by Columbia University (a.k.a. “Upper Estate”) and subsequent sale for development as a commercial complex. We will examine the initial plan to develop the complex around a new home for the Metropolitan Opera and changes to this plan resultant from the onset of the Great Depression.

The “modernist” architecture of the structures and their construction will also be discussed, in particular the work of lead project architect Raymond Hood. The magnificent art and sculpture, gardens and public amenities will be of great interest as will be the role the Center plays in the cultural life of the city it serves. The “Showplace of the Nation” – Radio City Music Hall, and its many unique technical and aesthetic features will be discussed as well as the ancillary theatres that no longer exist. Maintenance and operations and the post-WWII westward extension of Rockefeller Center will also be highlighted.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

Intended Audience

This course is intended for architects, engineers and other design professionals.

Benefit to Attendees

The attendee/s will gain an intimate knowledge and insight into one of the greatest commercial development projects ever conceived and executed: Rockefeller Center.

Course Introduction

The course includes an in-depth PowerPoint presentation and the viewing of documentary films.

Course Content

In this course, you are required to view/study the following slideshow and the materials contained in the web pages:

Rockefeller Center: City Within A City (printable handout in PDF, 10 MB, see Note A below for downloading instruction)
Rockefeller Center: City Within A City (non-printable slideshow for screen-viewing only, 63 MB, see Note A below for downloading instruction)

Archival/Documentary Films:

TITLE: Building Radio City Music Hall (silent)
LINK: https://archive.org/details/79164TheBuildingOfRadioCityReel1
DURATION: 14:23

TITLE: The Building of Rockefeller Center (silent)
Part II
LINK: https://archive.org/details/79184TheBuildingOfRadioCityReel3
DURATION: 09:08
Part III
LINK: https://archive.org/details/79174TheBuildingOfRadioCityReel2
DURATION: 13:00

Note A: Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right-clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader from your computer.

Course Summary

At the “Last Rivet” ceremony held in 1939 for the completion of the steel frame for the final building of Rockefeller Center (the U.S. Rubber Co. Building), a jubilant Fiorello LaGuardia – then Mayor of the City of New York, asked John D. Rockefeller, Jr. – the man most responsible for its creation, if he would like the opportunity to create more such “Centers” around the city. Perhaps this was the greatest compliment that could be paid to a project conceived in the heyday of the roaring ‘20s and built in the darkest days of the Great Depression. It was built at one of the best-ever times to build such a complex with labor and material prices severely reduced; by about one-third of what they would have been otherwise. For Rockefeller, it was not only good business but good moral business; putting men back to work at a time when there was no work was a higher calling than just turning a profit. The result was the “city within the city.” While the Empire State Building (1931) was deridingly referred to as “The Empty State Building” – failing to attract corporate tenants as first conceived, by the time of the Rockefeller Center’s completion in 1940, it was near full occupancy with prestige corporate and international tenants. The high-speed elevators, air-conditioning and stellar maintenance of the complex played a part in this phenomenon of course, but there was also the beautiful “modernist” architecture of the buildings, inviting public spaces and celebration of art and sculpture all around. The additional “five percent” allocated for “making it beautiful” was, no doubt, money well spent.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_Center

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_Building

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_City_Music_Hall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ahNOZf3FN0

(Film: Top of the Rock - 3:33)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgJdVMRRSAs
(Rockefeller Center Tour - 07:25)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgT-UVHirqU
(Rockefeller Center Tour - 28:32)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT6-GWOZ9Ek 
(Film lecture: NY Modern: Rockefeller Center - 1:33:55)

https://archive.org/details/0544_Cities_How_They_Grow_Second_Edition_14_19_59_02
(Film: Cities: How They Grow - 09:14)

http://archive.org/details/BehindYo1947 (history of NBC at RC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZxCYpSXQTs&list=PLct3LriY6JUzXBt6L6b3aaT3dk4ZIvemz&index=8 (Film: Building Big: Skyscrapers - 1:04:48)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMPR7flpf4
(Film: How Tall Buildings Tame the Wind - 09:33)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U3vB9P6Sec
(Film: Top 5 tallest Skyscrapers by 2021 - 05:14)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9mp-2w9aFU
(Film: What are Groundscrapers? - 03:15)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoGcnJ15TlM
(What are Earthscrapers? - 03:38)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwawntVZYEg
(What are Oceanscrapers? - 04:00)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIYdystZDJ4
(Ironworkers from Newfoundland: Walking Iron [1986] - 17:22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOdnHYvIZ74
(Film: Birth of the Skyscraper - 08:08)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM_MgeHk5Cg&t=2s
(Film: Superstructures - How to Build a Skyscraper - 51:45)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-m42xeFTUg
(Film: High Steel - 15:26)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QCYDzsQ_yM
(Film: Lunch Atop a Skyscraper: The Story Behind the 1932 Photo - 05:34)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy5pbpVBmN4
(Film: History of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree - 04:43)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy8tDcdUUJY
(Film: Why NY's Skyscrapers Keep Changing Shape - 27:31)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkaYbvfJUvk
(Film: Rockefeller Center Case Study - 09:26)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptreqGLGabc
(Film: The History of the Rockefeller Family - 2:14:08)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeW81LSj0E4
(Film: Rockefeller Center Walkabout - 13:49)

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.


DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.