Exhibition at Paul Rudolph’s Modulightor Building in New York Unites Works of Architectural Art from Gehry, Rossi, and More

Exhibition at Paul Rudolph’s Modulightor Building in New York Unites Works of Architectural Art from Gehry, Rossi, and More

ArchDaily
Antonia Piñeiro - August 27, 2025

Photo by Paul Clemence

An exhibition of architectural drawings and photographs, titled "Architecture = Art: The Susan Grant Lewin Collection," is now on view at Paul Rudolph's Modulightor Building in Manhattan, New York. Hosted by the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture (PRIMA), the collection brings together works by prominent architects, including Eileen Gray, Daniel Arsham, Frank Gehry, Jesse Reiser, Hani Rashid, Steven Holl, Aldo Rossi, Michael Graves, James Wines, Stanley Tigerman, John Hejduk, among others. The drawings are accompanied by a selection of photographs by architectural photographers such as Ezra Stoller, Robin Hill, Norman McGrath, Paul Clemence, and others. The exhibition opened on July 2 and will remain on view until September 20, 2025.

Approximately 50 architectural presentation drawings occupy two floors of the Modulightor Building, named for the lighting company Paul Rudolph founded with Ernst Wagner in 1976. The building is considered an example of late modernist architecture in New York City and was conceived as both a showroom and workspace for the company, while the upper floors were planned as rental apartment units. Rudolph became the project's client, architect, and contractor in order to complete it in 1989. Featuring open, multi-level interiors and reflective surfaces, the building embodies Rudolph's ideas about layered space, interlocking volumes, and light manipulation.

The exhibited drawings, whether hand-drawn or digitally rendered, are conceptual or presentation works. The selection, curated by Eshaan Mehta, reflects drawing as an essential part of the architect's expressive process, while representing multiple generations and ideologies. The collection emphasizes the persuasiveness and imagination captured in the drawings more than their documentary value. The authors are thus considered to share a deep commitment to drawing as both a communicative tool and an artistic medium. The selection of photographs follows this same spirit, being described as "not merely records of completed buildings but carefully composed works that stand on their own as art." The curatorial approach highlights their expression of atmosphere, intention, and the emotional experience of architectural space, underscoring the role photography plays in shaping our understanding of the built environment.

Other exhibitions in New York City include one dedicated to Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa's Nakagin Capsule Tower, hosted at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) from July 10, 2025, through July 12, 2026, and the reopening of the New Museum in fall 2025 with an exhibition exploring the very definition of humanity. Other upcoming events in the architecture and design field include the 18th Istanbul Biennial, Türkiye's largest international exhibition dedicated to contemporary art, to be realized in three stages between 2025 and 2027, and the first edition of the Copenhagen Architecture Biennial, opening on September 18, 2025.

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Paul Rudolph’s Sanderling Beach Club Cabanas in Florida Destroyed by Hurricane

Paul Rudolph’s Sanderling Beach Club Cabanas in Florida Destroyed by Hurricane

Arch Daily
Maria-Cristina Florian - October 01, 2024

Photo: Francis Dzikowski

On September 27, 2024, the Paul Rudolph Institute of Modern Architecture has announced that the Sanderling Beach Club, a complex of beachside buildings 1952 building designed by Paul Rudolph in 1952 in Sarasota, Florida, has been completely destroyed by Hurricane Helene. The severe tropical storm, a Category 4 Hurricane, has had a devastating impact on communities across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Paul Rudolph was hired at the age of 34 by the Sanderling family to design the Sanderling Beach Club on Siesta Key. Known for their development of golf courses, the family entrusted Rudolph with creating a distinctive architectural experience against the backdrop of the Gulf Coast. Rudolph's design featured a series of cabanas with barrel vaults, their curved roofs intended to mimic the waves of the Gulf. The initial plan consisted of a concrete patio, an observatory, and five single-story structures composed of cabanas that faced the gulf. The low vaulted ceilings were made from thin layers of plywood sheathing.

The project received an international architecture prize from the Museum of Modern Art in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Over the years, Sanderling Beach Club underwent a series of additions, expanding between 1952 and 1960 with the inclusion of three more structures and a clubhouse. the club's architecture was eventually designated as a historic site but later fell into disrepair. In 1994, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. According to architect Max Strang, who visited the site after the hurricane, the architecture was completely destroyed overnight.

According to the Paul Rudolph Institute of Modern Architecture, several other of Rudolph's notable structures in the area are also threatened by the severe weather conditions, among which the 1956 Deering Residence, 1949 Bennett Residence, and 1953 Umbrella Residence.

In other related news, the Boston Government Service Center, designed by Paul Rudolph and opened in 1971, has announced plans to be redeveloped into a mixed-use housing plan, to address the housing crisis while allowing for the preservation of the Brutalist structure. Another modern heritage site, the Wayfarers Chapel, designed by Lloyd Wright, the eldest son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, has been responsibly dismantled following extensive damage from accelerated land movement.

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The Refurbishment and Adaptive Reuse of Brutalist Architecture

The Refurbishment and Adaptive Reuse of Brutalist Architecture

ArchDaily
Andreea Cutieru - August 23, 2021