‘architecture = art: the susan grant lewin collection’ to open in the landmarked modulightor building in july
GothamToGo
Lynn Lieberman - June 24, 2025
The drawings—meticulously drawn by hand or digitally rendered—come from the personal collection of Susan Grant Lewin, a longtime advocate for contemporary architecture and design. Created as conceptual or presentation works, they reflect drawing as an essential part of the architect’s expressive process—less about documentation, more about persuasion and imagination. Among the architects and designers represented are: Eileen Grey, Daniel Arsham, Frank Gehry, Jesse Reiser, Hani Rashid, Steven Holl, Aldo Rossi, Michael Graves, James Wines, Stanley Tigerman, John Hejduk, and many others. Their work spans multiple generations and ideologies, yet all share a deep commitment to drawing as both a communicative tool and an artistic medium.
“These drawings transcend function,” says Lewin. “They are personal, poetic, and often provocative. They show how architecture begins with a bold visual idea.”
In addition to the drawings, the exhibition includes a selection of photographs by architectural photographers like Ezra Stoller, Robin Hill, Norman McGrath, Paul Clemence, and others. These images are not merely records of completed buildings but carefully composed works that stand on their own as art. Like the drawings they express atmosphere, intention, and the emotional experience of architectural space. They underscore the role photography plays in shaping our understanding of the built environment.
Susan Grant Lewin’s longstanding commitment to design and innovation extends beyond collecting. She was architecture and design editor at both HFN, Fairchild Publications and House Beautiful Magazine, each for 12 years. In the 1980s, she joined Formica Corporation as Creative Director, originally to promote Colorcore, a new material specifically aimed at architects. She created Surface & Ornament, an exhibition that displayed both the winners of a design competition and the conceptual objects of a group of invited entrants, most notably the Colorcore fish by Frank Gehry. She subsequently started her own marketing and PR firm Susan Grant Lewin Associates, representing clients like Design Miami and Dyson. Lewin is also known as a prominent collector of contemporary art jewelry. She has had exhibitions and donated important works to Yale University Art Gallery, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Museum, Lowe Museum of the University of Miami and SCAD Museum of Art at the Savannah School of Art and Design.
About the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture
The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture is a New York City-based non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to educating the public about modern architecture and the need to preserve it. Through preservation and advocacy efforts, educational programs, public events and maintaining and developing an archive of written and graphic materials, the Institute promotes the legacy of modernist architects in a larger architectural and cultural context to interested students, journalists, scholars, and the general public.
Architecture = Art: The Susan Grant Lewin Collection will be on view from July 2 ~ September 20, 2025 at The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture, The Modulightor Building, 246 East 58th Street, NYC. An Opening Reception will be held on July 2nd from 6-8pm.
As a side note, In May, 2025, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted unanimously to designate the Modulightor Building Apartment Duplex ~ Paul Rudolph’s former Manhattan home at 246 East 58th Street ~ an interior landmark. The duplex is located on the third and fourth floors. This comes two-years after the Modulightor Building itself was declared a New York City Individual Landmark (2023).
Go to the original article here.