City landmarks duplex apartment in Paul Rudolph’s Modulightor Building
6sqft
Aaron Ginsberg - May 06, 2025
Exterior photo courtesy of the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture; interior photo courtesy of the Landmarks Preservation Commission
The duplex apartment inside Paul Rudolph’s iconic Modulightor Building in Midtown East is officially a New York City landmark. On Tuesday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to designate the third- and fourth-floor residence at 246 East 58th Street as an interior landmark, citing the significance of its “complex, multi-layered interior.” With the designation of the Modulightor Building as an individual landmark in December 2023, the interior and exterior of the building are now both protected.
“The Modulightor Apartment Duplex is a remarkable example of late 20th-century interior design. Its spatial complexity, innovative use of light, and carefully crafted architectural details reflect Rudolph’s unique vision and enduring influence,” LPC Commission Chair Sarah Carroll said.
“With today’s designation, we preserve a vital example of New York City’s rich design heritage, and ensure this special space will continue to inspire architects, designers, and visitors alike for generations to come.”
After purchasing the building in 1989, Rudolph and German physicist Ernst Wagner rebuilt the original 1860s row home to house their Modulightor lighting company.
As 6sqft previously reported, Rudolph was the contractor during the first phase of construction, and in 1990, he and Wagner moved their offices into the unfinished building. In May 1993, the city’s Department of Buildings issued a certificate of occupancy for the structure’s cellar, first floor, and mezzanine.
The city issued a temporary certificate of occupancy for the two apartments in June 1994, and they were first leased to tenants in 1996. The apartment had been ineligible for interior landmark status until 2024, as the LPC requires at least 30 years to have passed since the original certificate of occupancy.
After Rudolph’s death in 1997, architect Mark Squeo, who collaborated with Rudolph in the 1990s, led the second phase of the project, which added a fifth and sixth floor to the building. Wagner later moved in and renovated the space by removing a wall and combining the north and south units into a single duplex apartment.
Built between 1984 and 1994, the airy, light-filled duplex features a shifting open-plan layout with an all-white double-height space and minimal walls. The fluid space includes two living areas, four bathrooms, and a kitchen. Standout architectural features include tile floors and stairs, exposed metalwork, fireplaces, lighting fixtures, and built-in furniture.
Throughout his career, Rudolph explored how light shapes the perception of architectural space, a concept expressed in the apartment’s design. The all-white interior and custom furnishings amplify the play of light throughout the residence.
“Inside and out, the triumph of the design is that Rudolph pulled off the kaleidoscopic complexity with wallboard and off-the-rack metal studs and joists. For Rudolph, the richness of the materials didn’t matter. He aimed at the same spatial qualities regardless of materials: it was space itself, Rudolphian space, that counted,” architect Joseph Giovanni said in a 2004 New York Times article.
The Midtown East building also serves as the headquarters of the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture, formerly the Paul Rudolph Foundation, which currently owns and occupies the building. Founded in 2015, the Institute has hosted tours of the apartment since 2002, making it the city’s only publicly accessible interior space designed by Rudolph. The next tour is Saturday, May 17.
“If you look at this work, the care to the human scale and detail is evident. I would make the parallel to our landmark buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. The craft, detail, and care are something we appreciate,” LPC Commissioner Stephen Chu said.
In December 2023, the Modulightor Building was designated by the LPC as an individual landmark for its special character and its historical and aesthetic significance in NYC. The building’s designation was the first in the LPC’s history to officially acknowledge an architect’s gay identity, as 6sqft previously reported.
Born in 1918 in Kentucky, Paul Rudolph studied architecture at Auburn University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he developed his signature sculptural modernist style using industrial materials like concrete and steel, according to the LPC. In the mid-1960s, at the height of his career while serving as chair of the Yale School of Architecture, Rudolph relocated his practice to Manhattan.
During this period, the architect designed notable buildings such as the Jewett Art Center, the Tuskegee University Chapel, and the Yale School of Art & Architecture, now known as Rudolph Hall.
Two other Rudolph-designed buildings are also NYC landmarks: The Paul Rudolph Townhouse at 23 Beekman Place, where Rudolph lived for a large portion of his life, and the Halston House at 101 East 63rd Street on the Upper East Side.
“We are thrilled to support the interior landmark designation of the Paul Rudolph-designed Modulightor Building,” Liz Waytkus, executive director of Docomomo US, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving modern architecture and design, said.
“We are enthusiastic for this designation not only for its spatially rich and light-filled Modern design but also because of the intimacy of the space and how Rudolph’s hand and belongings can be found nearly at every turn.”
Go to the original article here.