The New York Five
Encyclopedia
The New York Five refers to a group of five New York City
architect
s (Peter Eisenman
, Michael Graves
, Charles Gwathmey
, John Hejduk
and Richard Meier
) whose work appeared in a Museum of Modern Art
exhibition organized by Arthur Drexler in 1967, and the subsequent book Five Architects in 1972.
These five had a common allegiance to a pure form of architectural modernism
, harkening back to the work of Le Corbusier
in the 1920s and 1930s, although on closer examination their work was far more individual. The grouping may have had more to do with social and academic allegiances, particularly the mentoring role of Philip Johnson
.
The show did produce a stinging rebuke in the May 1973 issue of Architectural Forum
, a group of essays called "Five on Five", written by architects Romaldo Giurgola
, Allan Greenberg
, Charles Moore
, Jaquelin T. Robertson
, and Robert A. M. Stern
. These five, known as the "Grays", attacked the "Whites" on the grounds that this pursuit of the pure modernist aesthetic resulted in unworkable buildings that were indifferent to site, indifferent to users, and divorced from daily life. These "Grays" were aligned with Philadelphia architect Robert Venturi
and the emerging interest in vernacular architecture
and early postmodernism
.
John Hejduk was primarily an educator, and died in 2000. Charles Gwathmey died on August 3, 2009. The remaining three of the New York Five have produced significantly divergent work, and disavow any continuing relationship with each other. Graves embraced postmodernism. Eisenman has limited his work to images and models of architectural-looking designs in printed media, although he became the architect most associated with Deconstructivism
. Meier's buildings remain truest to the modernist aesthetic and, true to Corbusian form. Gwathmey, too, remained true to modernist style, although its purity has been tempered by realities of larger corporate and public commissions.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
s (Peter Eisenman
Peter Eisenman
Peter Eisenman is an American architect. Eisenman's professional work is often referred to as formalist, deconstructive, late avant-garde, late or high modernist, etc...
, Michael Graves
Michael Graves
Michael Graves is an American architect. Identified as one of The New York Five, Graves has become a household name with his designs for domestic products sold at Target stores in the United States....
, Charles Gwathmey
Charles Gwathmey
Charles Gwathmey was an American architect. He was a principal at Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, as well as one of the five architects identified as The New York Five in 1969...
, John Hejduk
John Hejduk
John Quentin Hejduk , was an American architect, artist and educator who spent much of his life in New York City, USA...
and Richard Meier
Richard Meier
Richard Meier is an American architect, whose rationalist buildings make prominent use of the color white.- Biography :Meier is Jewish and was born in Newark, New Jersey...
) whose work appeared in a Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
exhibition organized by Arthur Drexler in 1967, and the subsequent book Five Architects in 1972.
These five had a common allegiance to a pure form of architectural modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
, harkening back to the work of Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
in the 1920s and 1930s, although on closer examination their work was far more individual. The grouping may have had more to do with social and academic allegiances, particularly the mentoring role of Philip Johnson
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson was an influential American architect.In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and later , as a trustee, he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker Architecture...
.
The show did produce a stinging rebuke in the May 1973 issue of Architectural Forum
Architectural Forum
Architectural Forum was an American magazine that covered the home-building industry and architecture. Started in 1892, it absorbed the magazine Architect's world in October 1938, and ceased publication in 1974.-Other titles:...
, a group of essays called "Five on Five", written by architects Romaldo Giurgola
Romaldo Giurgola
Romaldo Giurgola AO is an Italian-American-Australian academic architect, professor, and author. Giurgola was born in Galatina, in the south of Italy in 1920. After service in the Italian armed forces during World War II, he was educated at the Sapienza University of Rome...
, Allan Greenberg
Allan Greenberg
Allan Greenberg , is an American architect and one of the leading classical architects of the late twentieth century. He was the originator and leading practitioner of "canonical classicism," one of many design responses to postmodernism emerging in the mid-1970s...
, Charles Moore
Charles Willard Moore
Charles Willard Moore was an American architect, educator, writer, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and winner of the AIA Gold Medal in 1991.-Life and career:...
, Jaquelin T. Robertson
Jaquelin T. Robertson
Jaquelin Taylor Robertson, FAIA, FAICP usually credited as Jaquelin T. Robertson and informally known as "Jaque," is an American architect and urban designer....
, and Robert A. M. Stern
Robert A. M. Stern
Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A. M. Stern, is an American architect and Dean of the Yale University School of Architecture....
. These five, known as the "Grays", attacked the "Whites" on the grounds that this pursuit of the pure modernist aesthetic resulted in unworkable buildings that were indifferent to site, indifferent to users, and divorced from daily life. These "Grays" were aligned with Philadelphia architect Robert Venturi
Robert Venturi
Robert Charles Venturi, Jr. is an American architect, founding principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, and one of the major figures in the architecture of the twentieth century...
and the emerging interest in vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
and early postmodernism
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
.
John Hejduk was primarily an educator, and died in 2000. Charles Gwathmey died on August 3, 2009. The remaining three of the New York Five have produced significantly divergent work, and disavow any continuing relationship with each other. Graves embraced postmodernism. Eisenman has limited his work to images and models of architectural-looking designs in printed media, although he became the architect most associated with Deconstructivism
Deconstructivism
Deconstructivism is a development of postmodern architecture that began in the late 1980s. It is characterized by ideas of fragmentation, an interest in manipulating ideas of a structure's surface or skin, non-rectilinear shapes which serve to distort and dislocate some of the elements of...
. Meier's buildings remain truest to the modernist aesthetic and, true to Corbusian form. Gwathmey, too, remained true to modernist style, although its purity has been tempered by realities of larger corporate and public commissions.