Welcome to the Archives of The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture. The purpose of this online collection is to function as a tool for scholars, students, architects, preservationists, journalists and other interested parties. The archive consists of photographs, slides, articles and publications from Goldfinger’s lifetime; physical drawings and models; personal photos and memorabilia; and contemporary photographs and articles.

Some of the materials are in the public domain, some are offered under Creative Commons, and some are owned by others, including the Goldfinger Estate. Please speak with a representative of The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture before using any drawings or photos in the Archives. In all cases, the researcher shall determine how to appropriately publish or otherwise distribute the materials found in this collection, while maintaining appropriate protection of the applicable intellectual property rights.

Follow the links below to see Goldfinger’s work during the:

1950’s 1960’s 1970’s 1980’s 1990’s 2000’s

LOCATION
Address: 7 Delafield Way
City: Bronx
State: New York
Zip Code: 10471
Nation: United States

STATUS
Type: Residential
Status: Project

TECHNICAL DATA
Date(s): 1975
Site Area:
Floor Area:
Height:
Floors (Above Ground):
Building Cost:

PROFESSIONAL TEAM
Client:
Architect: Myron Goldfinger
Associate Architect: Norbert N. Turkel
Landscape:
Structural:
MEP:
QS/PM:

SUPPLIERS
Contractor:
Subcontractor(s):

Delafield condominiums

The project scope is to design a condominium complex called Delafield Estates. Delafield Estates is to be a Private Gated Community in the Riverdale on Hudson section of the Bronx.
Spanning 10.4 Acres, over 70% of which is permanently preserved as natural open space, Delafield was owned by early Bank of America President Edward C. Delafield who lived in a mansion on the property. In 1965, Delafield donated it to Columbia University in hopes it would become a botanical garden and the mansion the residence of the university’s President.
In 1975 the property’s only resident is a Chimpanzee named Nim Chimpsky being raised by Columbia University Grad Students as if he were a "Human Child." His name is a pun on linguist/political activist Noam Chomsky, who believed in the opposite theory - that only humans have the capabilities for language. Photos and videos taken at Delafield show Nim swinging from trees that covered the estate, brushing his teeth in the mansion’s blue-tiled bathroom and sitting on the lawns with his teachers and favorite tortoiseshell cat.
Myron Goldfinger meets with Paul Rudolph over lunch at the Russian Tea Room and asks if he would be willing to work with him and Robert Stern on the project. Rudolph replies that he would work with Goldfinger but not if Stern had anything to do with the project.
Facing budget shortfalls, the university puts the property on the market in 1984 and sells it to the Miller Buckley Group, a British private Developer. The developer gets approval for a gated community of 33 compact houses clustered together on about three of the acres, with the remaining seven left for shared woodland. The plan is conceived by James Polshek, the former dean of Columbia University’s School of Architecture. The plan is approved mainly because it leaves much of the original topography of the estate intact, and design of the homes similar to the already existing homes in the area.
But both the developer and the next buyer run into financial difficulties.
Abraham Zion buys the property from foreclosure in 1991 with just nine completed, occupied homes. In his 20 years of ownership, Zion does not complete any additional houses.
In 2011 the property is sold in a foreclosure auction, under the marketing direction of Brown Harris Stevens broker Tobias Schapiro.
Ultimately, the site is transformed into a private community which is governed by the Delafield Estates Homeowners Association (DEHOA)
The project remains unbuilt.