Sei sulla pagina 1di 15

Theaters of Power: Architectural and Cultural Productions

Author(s): Wesley Janz


Source: Journal of Architectural Education (1984-), Vol. 50, No. 4 (May, 1997), pp. 230-243
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Association of Collegiate Schools of
Architecture, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1425436
Accessed: 04-04-2017 17:13 UTC

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted
digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about
JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms

Taylor & Francis, Ltd., Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Inc. are
collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Architectural Education
(1984-)

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Theaters of Power:
Architectural and Cultural Productions

WESLEY JANZ, Ball State University

To the American corporate elite, victory in World forms, while derived from Greek and Ro-
To MANY OF THE AMERICAN CORPORATE ELITE,
War II presented a key moment of opportunity. man architecture, were reproduced in
victory in World War II presented a key
Much of what was understood about the world had
changed; much of what was hoped for was sud- moment of managerial opportunity. Hitler's
Much Germany, Mussolini's Italy, and
denly within reach. To further the country's evolu-of what was understood about the world Stalin's Russia. This "language of power"
tion, one deficiency needed attention: The
had changed; much of what was hoped foroffended many.4 Third, an edifice complex
performing arts had to play a prominent role in
the lives of Americans. was suddenly within reach. To elite groupsdominated considerations of use. Too often,
To reveal the utility of architectural heroeswithin government, business, and com- community urges to have a cultural center
to this nation-building project, this paper studies
merce, the opportunity presented by thiscrystallized in fund-raising drives and ill-
the agendas and actions of the men who directed
the production of America's cultural acropolis, new understanding was obvious; it was the planned buildings before anyone had given
the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New nation's destiny to enter the pantheon ofthought to what might possibly go on inside
York City.
great civilizations. To further the country'sthe structures.5
To any powerful elite, the production of
monumental architectural artifacts is a means to evolution, one deficiency needed attention: These criticisms paled in comparison
an end. In the case of Lincoln Center, that end Americans had to become cultured; the per-to the expansive building programs pro-
was the making of a dominant cold war America
forming arts had to play a prominent role in posed in the early sixties. Included were the
through the creation of "the cultural capital of the
world."
their lives.1 $73-million Cultural and Technical Ex-
Information-gathering methods included The postwar period was characterized change Center in Honolulu, the $75-mil-
archival searches, interviews with project partici-
by the diffusion of a building type-the cul- lion National Cultural Center in
pants, site visits, consideration of scholarly and
tural center-that demonstrated the cul- Washington, D.C., and the $175-mi
popular texts, and attendance at Lincoln Center
performances. tural priorities of a civic and corporate five-hundred-acre complex of colleges,
directorate. By 1961, thirty-two Americansic schools, and museums in Cleveland
communities had built cultural centers. This building effort, which often f
Others were under construction: a four-unit
tured theaters and auditoriums, is of in
performing arts center in New Hampshire;est for reasons besides its expense and s
an auditorium, music, art, and planetariumFew other architectural objects have the
tial consistency that theaters maintain a
complex at the University of Michigan at
Flint; a three-house theater center in Austin,a variety of cultures. The variety and c
Texas; a concert hall, recital hall, outdoor
plexity of decoration and design elem
band shell, and exhibition space assemblageare enormous, and their selection re
in Tempe, Arizona; and a concert hall atsomething of any cultural center's pu
Seattle's World's Fair venue.2 image. In addition, the location of per
Yet, for a number of reasons, thismance spaces reflects how inhabit
building type was also widely criticized."make sense" of the city. Finally,
building's external appearance, shape,
First, most cultural center planning followed
decorative elements provide informa
modern planning precepts. Jane Jacobs suc-
not only to its patrons, but also to ca
cinctly assessed these efforts: "Look what we
have built .... Cultural centers that are un-
passersby, about that specific organiz
and its offerings and often about theat
able to support a good bookstore. Civic cen-
ters that are avoided by everyone but bums, general within a particular society.,
who have fewer choices of loitering place To reveal the linkages among civ
than others. ... This is not the rebuilding ofand corporate patrons, cultural cent
passersby, and architects, this research
cities. This is the sacking of cities." Jacobs's
judgments recast this "blight of dullness" peel
as away the travertine veneer of the
antithetical to the neighborhood "plans forprestigious cultural complex-the Lin
empowerment"
Journal ofArchitectural Education, pp. 230-243 she championed.3 Second,Center for the Performing Arts. Se
? 1997 ACSA, Inc. questions are posed: Who directed the
the preferred monumental cultural acropolis

May 1997 JAE 50/4 230

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
duction of this most important cultural cen-
ter? What ideological agendas drove the
Lincoln Center elite? Who were the archi-

tects who gave physical form to the cultural


acropolis? How and why was a desire for
Lincoln Center created in the public mind?
Who was denied access to the center? How
were the inner circle's intentions expressed
in the architecture of Lincoln Center?

The Lincoln Center Elite

Lincoln Center was the focus of the eigh-


teen-block Lincoln Square Urban Redevel-
opment Project on New York City's Upper
West Side (Figure 1)." A number of influen-
tial Americans, bound together by decades of
interaction and hundreds of millions of dol-
lars of cooperative construction efforts, en-
dorsed this "cultural capital of the world."9
The early machinations of this group
advantaged their personal and institutional
1. This aerial view of Manhattan, circa 1955, illustrated the cultural center's intended site. In
agendas, often at the expense of others.
form of anti-redlining, the protected Lincoln Center location was outlined with a white line that
Robert Moses, as chair of the Mayor's foretold "fortress" walls imagined by the architects. (Courtesy of Lincoln Center, Inc.)
Slum Clearance Committee, assembled the
Lincoln Square site. One parcel of long-termMost cities relocated tenants and cleared
luxury apartments anticipated a new class of
interest to Moses was the Upper West Sideland before they resold the property, but resident. The Towers' primary gesture to
neighborhood, which he termed "the worstMoses undertook an innovative approach: the existing neighborhood was the inclusion
slum in New York"'' and "urban rot."" With He made the developer responsible for ten-
of 420 middle-income cooperative apart-
Lincoln Center's Metropolitan Opera Houseant relocation and land clearance, just as he
ments in a separate building.14
and Philharmonic Hall serving as his redevel-required the developer to pay taxes through Moses' alliance with the Archdiocese
of New York was ideologically snug and
opment agents, Moses moved to reorder a the entire process.12 This accelerated the re-
new New York City. In so doing, he aligneddevelopment process, overwhelmed those natural." The Church, Irish-Catholic con-
himself with Baron Georges Haussmann, who stood in the developer's path, and kept tractors, and the Irish-Catholic trade unions
whose siting of the Opera House made it amoney flowing into the city's treasury.13 pressured the city for more public works;
landmark feature of a new Paris. Developer William Zeckendorf isthese provided jobs for Catholic parishio-
Much of Moses' influence came best known for the Midtown Manhattan
ners, who made increased religious contribu-
through his creative handling of the site he assembled and sold to John D.tions; the Church's swelling coffers led to
city's
Rockefeller, Jr., who presented it to the
Title I program. This 1949 legislation autho- more power for Catholic parishes and chari-
United
rized cities to acquire sites that would later be Nations. Several years later, ties. The metropolitan influence of Francis
Zeckendorf
resold at reduced rates to private developers. and Moses partnered to build Cardinal Spellman, the archbishop of New
The city assumed one third of the loss the nation's largest Title I apartment project
in re- York, was reinforced by building activity:
selling the land; the federal governmentin Lincoln
ab- Square. Lincoln Towers was toThe archdiocese had completed $353 mil-
include
sorbed two thirds of the price difference. eight buildings; its four thousandlion of construction from 1940 to 1960.16 In

231 Janz

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
licize his willingness to advance atomic re- individual experience and aspiration-that
search beyond existing scientific or moral focused the group's energies.22 These gentle-
horizons, to establish America's economic men knew one another and their histories,
system as the world standard, and, in his role saw one another socially and professionally,
as "Advocate in Chief for the Performing married women who shared backgrounds
Arts,"19 to disseminate the nation's cultural and interests, and raised children along simi-
superiority to the corners of the earth. lar lines. They knew implicitly what the oth-
As the grandson and namesake of ers were doing, and why and how it was
Standard Oil's founder, John D. Rockefeller being done. Lincoln Center was to be but
III inherited great wealth and philanthropic another project by these prime movers.23
leanings. Like the president, he was a pow-
erful man with worldwide influence. Unlike
Ike, he could afford to be a titan of philan- The Building of Culture
thropy, combating the world's hunger and
population problems by launching the "Culture today is emerging as a great ele-
Population Council, and advancing U.S.- ment of East-West competition. Culture,
Asian relations by creating the Japan Society ladies and gentlemen, is no longer a sissy
and the Asia Society.20 word. Today it is a word of immense world-
2. Dwight Eisenhower-standing between a TV camera and a
rendering of Lincoln Center done by Hugh Ferriss-holds aloft a Lincoln Center represented an oppor- wide political significance."24 Lincoln Cen-
spadeful of turned earth. Below, left to right: John D. Rockefeller
tunity to give something to New York City, ter director C.D. Jackson was right: Culture
Ill, Lincoln Center Director David Keiser. Behind Keiser stands
Commissioner Robert Moses, behind Eisenhower stands his place of birth. It was also a chance to was more than a "sissy word"; for the corpo-
Borough President Hulan Jack, New York City Mayor Robert
complete his father's unfulfilled plan for an rate elite, it was a complex cause. Three
Wagner, and New York State Lieutenant Governor Malcolm
Wilson. The tall person in the photograph's upper-right corner is opera hall at Rockefeller Center, to rein- leitmotivs defined the agenda of this group's
the architect Wallace Harrison. (Courtesy Columbia University.)
force the family's position at the center ofmission first to produce and then to satisfy
influence in New York circles, and to follow a national hunger for culture.
his parents' example as a civic developer on One theme rebutted those who
return, the archbishop received preferential a global scale.21 thought the nation too young; it exalted
treatment. When Spellman's alma mater Working with Moses, Zeckendorf, America as a mature cultural state and pro
wanted to relocate and enlarge its Manhat- Spellman, Eisenhower, and Rockefeller III moted Lincoln Center as primary evidenc
tan campus, Moses gave Fordham Univer- were other lesser-known men. The initial of this condition. A 1957 statement by th
sity what it wanted-valuable land in makers of Lincoln Center first convened on cultural center's board said, "To the World
Lincoln Square.17 October 25, 1955. This Exploratory Com- Lincoln Center will announce America's
On May 14,1959, Dwight Eisenhower mittee for a Musical Arts Center counted cultural maturity. Lincoln Center will draw
came to New York to break ground for Lin- eleven members: Anthony Bliss, C.D. Jack- the eye of the world to the American artist,
coln Center (Figure 2). The president made son, Irving Olds, and Charles Spofford ofthe singer, the dancer, the player, and to the
two additional stops: the World Trade Fair, the Metropolitan Opera Association; Arthur masses of American citizens who enjoy these
where he chatted with Vladimir S. Alkhimov,
Houghton, Jr., and David Keiser of the New arts."25 The production of Lincoln Center
the commercial counselor of the Soviet York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra was to communicate clearly the message
Society; Lincoln Kirstein of the New York that postwar America deserved placement in
Union, and a dinner hosted by the National
City Ballet; Robert Blum, Devereux Josephs, the pantheon of great civilizations.
Academy of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, where he an- Wallace Harrison, and Rockefeller III. A second, more vitriolic leitmotiv
nounced plans for a $100-million electron Shared backgrounds (preparatory counterattacked the Soviet Union. At a New
linear accelerator. These stops made apparent schools, university alma maters, military ser- York Board of Trade dinner that honored
the tasks of the period18 that occupied the vice, and social clubs) gave this directorate a Rockefeller III, board president Robert
most powerful person on the planet: to pub- unity of vision and purpose-influenced byDowling said that Lincoln Center would be

May 1997 JAE 50/4 232

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
i ?'

?.u
I'H Ir I
"no Moscow tower of culture in which are to
be performed only that which is acceptable to
a political party."26 Wallace Harrison joined
the fray; he framed the cultural acropolis as "a
symbol to the world that we so-called mo-
nopolistic, imperialistic degenerates are ca-
pable of building the greatest cultural center
in the world."27 These men cast the form and
content of Lincoln Center as armaments for
the cultural battalions in the cold war.
The third defining theme consisted of
attacks on the evils of unstructured leisure
time. John D. Rockefeller III often spoke of
ill
the need to counter increases in free time:
"Leisure ... can be either a time of peril-
more time to be anxious-or an opportu-
nity-more time to gain a sense of creative
fulfillment."28 He was not alone in these
anxieties; others viewed filling free time as an
opportunity for consumerist skill develop- 3. A preliminary Lincoln Center site plan, dated October 12,
ment. Mass production was monotonous; Belluschi. Buildings backed against sidewalks and one main
(Courtesy of Columbia University.)
leisure time could provide educational and
profitable moments. This leitmotiv con-
structed Lincoln Center as a cultural display
primed for consumer purchase. semble that consisted ofplaza
three main
with the audito-
main entrance and facade of
The production of this cultural insti- riums: an opera house with 3,800
each building seats;
on it. In this way, a
the back of
tution "talked to" the consuming masses of philharmonic hall that each stage house
seated would and
2,800; be on ora very near
the correctness of the inner circle's national 2,200-seat dance theater.toAtherecital
surroundinghall, edu-
streets.""32
visions. To display these intentions, the cation building, library, and Penetration
garageof this were
surrounding wall
leitmotivs had to take three-dimensional also included. needed attention. An approach from Cen-
form. Architectural deliberations reinforced tral Park was possible on the site's eastern
a "center" concept: "With the realization that edge. Here Broadway connected to Times
for the arts and for music one needs to get Square. All the architects agreed with this
An Architectural Elite Takes Center out of the maelstrom and into a quiet place, recommendation, and a plaza, as the pri-
Stage the consultants were unanimous in agreeing mary point of entry, was set against Colum-
that the Lincoln Center for the Performing bus Avenue in the center block, between
In October 1956, the Exploratory Commit- Arts be an area isolated from the hubbub of Sixty-third and Sixty-fourth streets.
tee gathered for ten days of discussions with New York City. The Center will be a special Aalto, Abramovitz, Belluschi, Breuer,
architectural, theatrical, engineering, and place, concentrated upon an inner space and Harrison, Johnson, Markelius, and Shepley
acoustical consultants.29 This initial archi- inward-looking. [As stated by the acoustician moved forward confidently, turning their
tectural directory listed Alvar Aalto, Max consultant Hope Bagenal,] 'a home for the energies and backs against the neighborhood,
Abramovitz, Pietro Belluschi, Marcel Muses today must be a fortress.'"'3 streets, and residents that stood in or near
Breuer, Wallace Harrison, Philip Johnson, Arguing on behalf of acoustic calm, their path. A Johnson-Belluschi preliminary
Sven Markelius, and Harry Shepley.30 The
these architects isolated the cultural campus: site plan indicates the extent to which the for-
group configured a performing arts en-"The scheme will be that of an enclosed tress was developed: All streets and sidewalks

233 Janz

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
.
:Af f!- :0 f
. ... ..

z,: i

s,.: Fj ........
*t ."'an;

G4T- PL M
LISCOLA CSATIBI
'r" T16L

t AGyi L tAis%'. AT
VatiLCOA i LLmV

MI. Ir T rr5 Lincoln Center -will be for you,


II --- t D I ,I" '
your children, and your children's children

4. A December 1956 site plan done by Harrison & Abramovitz included a park demanded by 5. A Lincoln Center Public Participation Program advertisement.
Robert Moses. Buildings and trees limit access to Lincoln Center's center. Most of the secondary(Courtesy of Lincoln Center, Inc.)
access/egress points would be removed as the architects responded to the site's falling
topography by placing the cultural center on a flat platform level with Sixty-second Street.
(Courtesy of Columbia University.)

were rejected except for those of Columbus The promises of Lincoln Center-that
Avenue, the backs of the major buildingsAmerica was a mature cultural state, that
were pushed against the low-income housing the cultural acropolis would sway the
that existed along Amsterdam Avenue, andmasses, and that all Americans could gain a
long buildings were buttressed against Sixty-sense of creative fulfillment-were directed
second and Sixty-fifth streets (Figure 3).to this audience.
From the very beginning of site planning,
access to the center was to be restricted.
In December 1956, Moses insisted Producing Desire for Lincoln Center
that a park inhabit the site's southwest cor-
ner. Harrison and Abramovitz responded Desire for Lincoln Center was produced by
with a plan in which the buildings' backs a cohort of civic-minded individuals who
were again pushed against the sidewalks. simultaneously organized the consumer
"Ireldtnd may be thetvn-ibur New -k'V , grumTig mIicoln Ciemr"
The primary entry point was from Colum- marketplace. One effort, the Public Partici-
bus Avenue, and Moses' park buttressed pation Program, was directed by Clarence 6. A Lincoln Center Public Participation Program advertisement.
In this photograph, donated by the American Tobacco Company,
Lincoln Center's corner against the side- Francis, the retired board chairman of Gen- policemen study, not the cultural center, but a cigarette.
walk, street, and intersection (Figure 4). eral Foods, and David Ogilvy, the leader of(Courtesy of Lincoln Center, Inc.)
The 1956 deliberations marked the one of the world's most successful advertis-
last major consideration of architecture for ing agencies. A statement by Francis ce-
nearly two years. This period was not an mented the bonds among culture,
empty void; cultural and political promot- commerce, and design: "David Ogilvy has
ers worked to create an awareness of the made the products of his clients household
project among metropolitan New Yorkers. words in the American family. We expect he

May 1997 JAE 50/4 234

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
II\ ()I. ('E III~ 1)\ I III \\ 'A ( I." . ...............
t9 i MUM i

will create the same kind of compelling im-


L. rNIAN .XN .
age of Lincoln Center in the minds of the
American people."33 Like a Dove soap bar
or a Hathaway shirt, Lincoln Center was to
become a cultural product worthy of citizen
support and consumer purchase.
lllf, Il ..? .-~~
4 i

The two men orchestrated a media


blitz. The Lincoln Center film, A Legend Is
Born, appeared one hundred times on televi-
sion, in fifty-two movie theaters, and 780
iI |
schools, and on fifty overseas television sta-
tions. A Lincoln Center model traveled
throughout metropolitan New York. News- " [./ U *
papers ran full-page advertisements at charity
rates, and magazines ran free advertisements
.~;.i i; Y"
(Figures 5 and 6). Hundreds of radio and
television stations ran Lincoln Center com-
mercials; seven TV stations broadcast
$600,000 worth of "public service" adver-
tisements.34 More than 7,500 commuter
trains, buses, and subways displayed Lincoln
Center advertising cards. Children received
more than 700,000 Lincoln Center textbook
covers. Articles about the cultural center cir-
culated to 400,000 students. Mayor Robert
Wagner proclaimed a retailers' salute week;
an estimated 3 million people viewed store
windows featuring Lincoln Center-donated
photographs arranged by Lincoln Center- 7. "Retailers' Salute to Lincoln Center" storefront windows. (Courtesy
hired consultants (Figure 7).35 Even though
Philharmonic Hall was the only Lincoln
Center building under construction, the citi-tion: the tenants of Lincolnany more
Square andthan
the you can make
without
zenry had been primed for a comparison with children ofJoseph P. Kennedy. Their breaking
distinct eggs."38
one of history's greatest monuments: "67%treatment reveals the arrant class Harris Present, chairman of
snobbery
York
Know Center," claimed the center's Report onthat rendered the poor invisible toCouncil on Housing Reloc
the city's
the Public Participation Program, "the sameelite as well as the privilegestices,
of theprotested
old boys'the depopulation
Square
percentage . . . as have heard of the Pyra-network that organized Lincoln (Figure 8). According to
Square.
mids."36 Establishing the appropriate public adequate compensation was paid
understanding was critical: "It is ... impor- placed, and the relocation of sev
tant to create the right image," Ogilvy wrote.The families accentuated the deterioration of
Tenants of Lincoln Square
"Lincoln Center is for all the people."37 other parts of the city.39 Moreover, new Lin-
While the "right" image was pro-Robert Moses' speech at the
coln Square housing
Lincoln would be priced beyond
Center
the means of the
moted, the reality was very different. Lincolnground breaking stated his position twenty thousand people liv-
regard-
Center was not for all the people. Twoing the Lincoln Square tenants:
ing in the "You can-
area.4" At public hearings, Present
groups impeded the cultural center's produc-not rebuild a city without stated
movingthat Lincoln
tenantsSquare ignored human

235 Janz

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
the family of Joseph Kennedy denied the
Lincoln Center elite access to a portion of
the Lincoln Square site. This contest clearly
demonstrates the contrasts between the
cavalier treatment meted out to the Upper
West Side tenants and the extreme consider-
ation offered to fellow members of the elite.

The Children of Joseph P. Kennedy

The twelve-story Kennedy Building was lo-


cated on the southeast corner of the Lincoln
Center site. Four of Rose and Joseph
8. Lincoln Center captioned this image, "Street Scene That Is No More: The slums of West 64th Kennedy's children-Robert Kennedy, Jean
Street before being demolished to make way for Philharmonic Hall." (Courtesy of Lincoln Center, Inc.) Kennedy Smith, Eunice Kennedy Shriver,
and Patricia Kennedy Lawford-were listed
as the building's owners, although there is
values and failed to provide low-income he denied having the bill introduced, admit- little doubt regarding the father's control.
housing, especially for minority groups.41 ted that the bill was no mystery to him and Of the parcel's 188 buildings, the
Present also brought six cases before the that he supported it.44 In another instance, Kennedy Building was the only structure
courts; two went as far as the Supreme Rockefeller III did not tell the relocation not covered by blanket condemnation pro-
Court. All of the cases were dismissed. staff party that the destination of 487 fami-cedures; Robert Moses maintained that its
Demolition began on July 28, 1958. In De- lies (nearly one third of the tenants) waspurchase would require excessive urban re-
cember 1959, Lincoln Center reported that unknown.45 newal funding. In November 1959, the
all 1,647 families had been removed.42 Harris Present probed this void, ques- Kennedy children received a $2.4-million
On November 30, 1959, the relocation tioning efforts that moved tenants to areas condemnation award from the state su-
staff celebrated their success. A statement slated for demolition (which meant that preme court; this despite a $1.75-million as-
"decently" removed tenants would be re-
from John D. Rockefeller III was read: "It was sessment and the building's $1.1-million
said that decent relocation was impossible. moved again) and challenging the auto- value as claimed for tax reasons. The court
[You] have proved that decent relocation is matic relocation of black families to other asserted that it could not "constitutionally
possible provided that the task is approached black neighborhoods.46 Such were the deprive the owner of just compensation be-
with a businesslike dispatch and with a sin- "rights of the families" living in the path of cause the [Kennedy family was] greedy
cere consideration of the rights of the families the Lincoln Center juggernaut. enough to try to pay less than its fair share
and the responsibilities of the sponsor."43 These concerns did not alter the Relo- of taxes. "47
It was inevitable that, at times, "busi- cation Committee party, where the fact that Being fair to the Kennedys was differ-
nesslike dispatch" would be at odds with the former Upper West Side neighborhood ent from being fair to the residents. Relo-
"sincere consideration." It is not difficult to no longer existed was celebrated. Maps of the cated tenants who found their own
imagine which concern dominated such area were altered: Sixty-third and Sixty-fourth apartments were given bonuses ranging from
moments. For example, in mid-1958, crit- streets between Columbus and Amsterdam $275 to $500. Other dollar amounts, like
ics of Lincoln Center discovered a "mystery avenues were no more. The former neighbor- the $62.88 per square foot paid the Kennedy
bill" moving quietly through the state legis- hood ceased to exist; its residents were gone; family versus the $9.58 per square foot paid
lature that would have forced many tenants the "decent relocation" was completed. property owners adjacent to the Kennedy
out of the area by removing all restrictions One building stood after the others Building, suggest the exclusive relations that
then under rent laws. Robert Moses, though had fallen. In an opportunistic turnabout, organized the Lincoln Center effort.48

May 1997 JAE 50/4 236

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
On November 18, 1961, the U.S. at-
torney general dedicated Fordham Univer-
sity's law school, built across the street from
the recently demolished Kennedy Building.
The featured speaker, Robert Kennedy, said
that he was reassured to see such buildings
rise "when threats could pervade our every
thought and fear our every action."49 Perhaps
Kennedy did not realize the irony of his com-
ments. Perhaps he did not care.
Through his actions, Joseph Kennedy,
as much as the architects, influenced the site
location of these buildings. Early site plans
show the Philharmonic Hall at the corner of
Sixty-second Street and Columbus Avenue.
However, needing to begin construction on
the cultural center, the decision makers 9. A frieze of Lincoln Center architectural heroes. In the foreground: John D. Rockefeller Ill. From
left to right, the architectural elite: Edward Mathews (SOM), Johnson, Jo Mielziner, Harrison,
pulled the Philharmonic inward to a site Saarinen, Bunshaft, Abramovitz, and Belluschi. The building elite, from left to right: New York State
they owned and moved the State Theater to Theater, Metropolitan Opera House, and Philharmonic Hall. (Courtesy of Columbia University.)

the Kennedy-owned corner location.50


dance group most likely to become theRohe on the Seagram Building; and
center's resident company. Kirstein, a mem-Saarinen worked on the General Motors
The Architects' Agendas ber of the Exploratory Committee, autho-Technical Center. These architectural he-
rized Philip Johnson to design the danceroes had already proved their ability to ex-
Not all of the members of the Architects' theater; "no one else was discussed."'52press a modernist language of power, a
Advisory Panel were called back. Breuer was Juilliard president William Schuman and language in the process of embracing
excluded: "He seemed too rigid in his opin- the Juilliard board were "enamored by theAmerica's corporate elite (Figure 9).
ions, and was generally unpopular"; Shepley personality of Belluschi" and this led to his Each architect assumed different roles
"was considered too conservative"; and commission.53 Harrison recommended Gor- in and brought different agendas to the pro-
Aalto and Markelius "were vetoed by board don Bunshaft for the library-museum. Four duction of Lincoln Center. Harrison was
members who favored using only American- architects interviewed for the Vivian Beau- promoted as an architectural authority with
based architects.""1 mont Repertory Theater project; Eero "more practical influence on building con-
The constituent groups decided that Saarinen received the commission.54 struction in New York City than any archi-
each should select its own prominent archi- What brought these architects to- tect of his day"" and as a principal architect
tect. Harrison's decades of involvement with gether was only part coincidence; sharing of both Rockefeller Center and the United
the Metropolitan Opera Association led to life experiences and aesthetic sensibilities Nations buildings. His form-giving agenda
his commission. New York Philharmonic- made them a group. Each architect had con- was simple: to maintain the opera as the
Symphony Orchestra Society chairmantributed a canonical work to America's center's "prima donna" performer.56
Arthur Houghton, Jr., recalled a positive ex-modernist vanguard. Harrison and Abramovitz's assignment was daunt-
perience with Max Abramovitz on a Corn-Abramovitz served on the Board of Design ing: to replace Carnegie Hall and to design
ing Glass Works project. This relationshipfor the United Nations Secretariat; the first Lincoln Center building to be con-
and Abramovitz's partnership with HarrisonBelluschi was the architect of the Equitable
structed. Uncomfortable with such a public
led to his Philharmonic Hall commission. Life Insurance Building in Portland, Or- role, the architect hid behind a technologi-
Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchineegon; Bunshaft designed Lever House;cal scrim; he entered the realm of pure
managed the New York City Ballet, theJohnson collaborated with Mies van der acoustic science to recreate the sound of

237 Janz

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
acquire this prestigious commission, yet "to-
tally independent, [each] within [his] own
realm," the tensions within this architectural
cabinet fractured the project along numer-
ous lines."58 As observed by Harold
Schonberg, the music critic of the New York
Times Magazine, at a working session of the
architects, "pencils stab and cross like bayo-
nets on the field of battle. Occasionally an
architect may be pinked as, before his
startled eyes, the clay model of his very own
building is carved up by the tremendous
swish of a palette knife belonging to an ar-
10. A model of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, circa May 1961. Clockwise from lower chitect with entirely different ideas. Nothing
left: New York State Theater (architect: Philip Johnson), Metropolitan Opera House (Wallace
Harrison), New York Public Library (Gordon Bunshaft) and Vivian Beaumont Repertory Theater (Eero
personal mind you. . . . Does any specific
Saarinen), Juilliard School (Pietro Belluschi), and Philharmonic Hall (Max Abramovitz). (Courtesy of building interfere with one's notions of that
Columbia University.)
esthetic scheme? Then move the building;
slice it; re-arrange it; even redesign it from
Carnegie Hall and to escape the media spot- scratch, if necessary. Again nothing per-
They further specified that their exterior
lights aimed at Lincoln Center. balconies at the promenade level were tosonal,
be mind you."59
Johnson was both provocateur and of uniform height, excluding even the re- Despite what they shared, these ar-
unifier. "I was always interfering with every- maining Lincoln Center buildings from
chitects were all proud men from varying
thing," says the architect. "Belluschi and I their composition. backgrounds, with conflicting loyalties to
fought like cats and dogs." This quarrel Belluschi, Saarinen, and Bunshaft oc-
the Lincoln Center elite, at different points
probably was set by Johnson's attempt to cupied Lincoln Center fringes. Belluschi
in their careers, often with competing opin-
move the dance theater to the site occupied ions and agendas. Harrison would take per-
oversaw the most complex structure at Lin-
by Belluschi's design for the Juilliard. In sonally the "tremendous swish" of
coln Center-the Juilliard School. His de-
another instance, Johnson proposed a tall Bunshaft's knife across the front of his
sign for the school excluded Broadway
arcade with piers that would have sur- Avenue frontage (and tradition) in favormodel
of of the opera house. Abramovitz
rounded the complex on three sides. This would not forget Johnson's unwillingness
a turn to the Lincoln Center center. Juilliard
provocation brought an immediate query: to redesign the State Theater based on the
did not open until late 1969, years after the
"Wally [Harrison] said, 'Who do you think gala opening ceremonies of the Philhar- aesthetic of Philharmonic Hall. Belluschi
monic Hall and Metropolitan Opera House.
is going to let you design the facade of their would not overlook Saarinen's maneuver-
building?'""7 The arcade soon disappeared. Saarinen and Bunshaft, as late addi- ing to rearrange the repertory theater onto
The deliberations of Harrison, tions to the group, found themselves with the Juilliard site.
Abramovitz, and Johnson reinforced the ex-too little site area for their buildings. Left These fissures are further evidenced
clusive nature of their shared venture. Un- in photographs of an architects' working
alone to resolve their predicaments, the ar-
like those who created the decorated fronts session taken by Dan Weiner for a Fortune
chitects accepted a compromise that the pri-
of the commercial theaters of Forty-second
mary constituents could not have imagined;
magazine story (Figures 11 and 12).60 At
Street, these architects designed stark, this meeting, Saarinen alone challenged the
they combined their two buildings into one
monumental buildings that turned away theater-library structure (Figure 10). dominant east-west axis and Metropolitan
from the sidewalk. The three also authored Such extreme performance require- Opera House; his north-south axis realigned
the gritty loading dock and underground a redesigned New York State Theater (the
ments created their own pressures within the
Johnson building) with the Vivian Beau-
architectural elite. Forced together, always
parking lot entrances/exits to the south and
on view, willing to "consider anything" mont
west that blocked most pedestrian access. to Repertory Theater, which Saarinen

May 1997 JAE 50/4 238

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
11. Eero Saarinen gestures along a north-south axis he created. 12. Eero Saarinen models a north-south axis as he adjusts the
From left: Harrison, Abramovitz, Belluschi, consultant Rene Vivian Beaumont Repertory Theater model positioned on the
d'Harnoncourt, Johnson, Bunshaft, and Saarinen. (Photograph by Juilliard School site. The other architects pay little attention.
Dan Weiner; courtesy of Sandra Weiner.) (Photograph by Dan Weiner; courtesy of Sandra Weiner.)

had placed to the north across Sixty-fifth both had cramped lobbies. Third, these cul-theater. Plazas and vast foyers became places
Street (the Belluschi site). Saarinen's ap- to view and be viewed, to watch and be
tural framers put in place a new etiquette that
proach, almost immediately rejected, conve- watched, to frame and be framed.
forged new relations among the individual the-
niently placed his repertory theater at the ater-goer, the audience, and the work. Decades The Lincoln Center directors also rec-
primary point of the campus composition.6' earlier, the American citizenry was taught-byognized that the project's public design ele-
This was not a team; these were individual orchestra conductors, theater critics, and the
ments would provide a dramatic framework
men, each with a strong ego, each deter- for the complex's public image. The most
like-the proper etiquette to be practiced dur-
mined to introduce his own agendas into ing classical music performances, including revealing expression may be from a 1959
the architecture. when to applaud, when to shout "Bravo!,"meeting of the Lincoln Center Board of Di-
rectors. At this gathering, director C.D.
when to cast flowers on stage, and when to re-
Jackson said that "in his judgment this
main silent. This was, and is, learned behavior,
Architectural Agendas of the Lincoln [Metropolitan
taught by performing arts elites determined to Opera House] design had
Center Directors institutionalize high culture. style and excitement [and that] the size and
Arriving Lincoln Center, audiencesthe nature of the design [created] the atmo-
To institutionalize these new facilities, the ur-
would learn new etiquette connected notsphere of a great 'temple.' He said that this
ban elite undertook three concurrent but dis-only to the interior of the theater house, butdesign with its massive columns and arches
tinct projects, each of which influenced theto the circulation spaces of the site and had established its own aesthetic 'virility'
architects and architecture.62 First, as culturalbuildings. Now, one was in full view as he or
and by contrast had tended to 'feminize' the
exterior of the previously approved design
entrepreneurs, the Lincoln Center elite createdshe entered the complex; moved across the
their own organizations as they excluded oth-wide plazas; entered either the four-story for Philharmonic Hall. As a result, he said
ers. Second, in their role as cultural classifiers,foyer of the New York State Theater, the
Mr. Abramovitz was currently making modi-
the directors established distance between theself-consciously red-carpeted stairs of the fications in the details of the Philharmonic
Metropolitan Opera House lobby, or the design to strengthen its appearance."63
new Lincoln Center and the old Carnegie Hall
and Metropolitan Opera House. The criti-many-tiered lobby of the Philharmonic Hall; In other words, the virile, masculinized
aesthetic of the Opera House proposed by
stood on an exterior balcony overlooking the
cisms of these predecessors were implicit: Both
looked too much like commercial theaters andplaza; and then, and only then, entered the Harrison was preferred; the "feminized" look

239 Janz

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
A Dissenting Voice

One board member wanted something else.


At the time of the Lincoln Center May 1959
ground breaking, a letter of resignation from
Lincoln Kirstein-the only board member
with a direct connection to the performing
arts-sat on John D. Rockefeller III's desk.
"Working so long with artists, I imagined
[Lincoln Center] might answer their possi-
bilities-fantasy, imagination, selfless capac-
ity," Kirstein admitted. "Four years taught
me; the criterion is manipulation of real-es-
tate sweetened by the education-business."66
In 1980, in a review of a Lincoln
Center history written by a former president
of the cultural center, Kirstein revisited his
1959 resignation.67 The single concept that
united Lincoln Center's originators was, ac-
cording to Kirstein, "the control of real
property. If there is a single motto that
13. A "masculinized" design of the Metropolitan Opera House greeted with enthusiasm by the
Lincoln Center Board of Directors. (Courtesy of Lincoln Center, Inc. and Ezra Stoller ? ESTO.) might be carved on one of its walls it is: 'Or-
ganized hatred, that is unity."'
Kirstein condemned the arts fortress
of Abramovitz's design for Philharmonic caught the attention of General Dwight creators; what he found was a group with
Hall was inferior and needed to be strength- Eisenhower. As a result, Jackson served as whom he did not share urban sensibilities or
ened. As Harrison had added muscle to the the general's Deputy Chief of Psychological the vision of a cultural center (Figure 14). In
opera house, so too Abramovitz needed to Warfare in the Supreme Headquarters of the all likelihood, this ballet company director
inject his design with an aesthetic steroid Allied Expeditionary Forces during World grew tired of the cold war propagandists
(Figure 13). Jackson was not alone in his War II. Psychological warfare, as practiced by who promoted Lincoln Center. Like Jack-
thinking; the irony apparently escaped him Jackson, was a term for military propaganda son, Kirstein had served a vital role in World
that the men he had fought so vigorously in aimed at foes, friends, or both. War II.68 Unlike Jackson, Kirstein was an
World War II had used much the same lan- The postwar Jackson was a model artist, and the revelation of Lincoln Center's
guage of power to give physical manifestation citizen of sorts; his public-service work in- artistic vacuum led to his estrangement.
to their nations' superior ideologies. cluded a stint as chairman of the Greater
Charles Douglas Jackson, like New York Men's Council for the 1951
Rockefeller III, was a New York City native, United Negro College Fund Campaign. At Theaters of Power
a Princeton alumnus, and a member of the Lincoln Center, the "publisher, propaganda
Century Association private men's club and The contemporary promoters of the cul-
director" revived the tactics of psychological
the Council on Foreign Relations. Unlike warfare.64 Radio and television transmis- tural center feel justified in proclaiming,
his Lincoln Center boss, Jackson understood sions, advertising campaigns, presidential "The whole world is Lincoln Center's
the persuasive power of the media. His con- appearances, and crafted building facadesneighborhood."69 It is a claim that is diffi-
siderable talents in public relations and pro- were aimed both at friends and foes. Ameri- cult to dispute.
motions, as exhibited in work with Henry cans and the world would want Lincoln There are now eleven Lincoln Center
Luce at the Time-Life publishing empire, Center; Jackson would make sure of it.65 constituent organizations (up from six in

May 1997 JAE 50/4 240

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
1965), and the $150-million Rose Building
has been added to the campus. One hundred
million people have experienced the cultural
center through the media, seven hundred
thousand students attend its performances
and programs annually, and eighty thousand
visitors take guided tours of Lincoln Center
every year.7" In a 1996 visit reminiscent of
President Eisenhower's ground breaking,
President Clinton came to Lincoln Center
to meet with leaders from Russia.
Real estate fortunes have also been
amassed. Between 1959 and 1979, twenty-
five large structures were built in the neigh-
borhood at a cost of $600 million. Property 14. The center of Lincoln Center. From left: New York State Theater, Metropolitan Opera, and

values rose 46 percent between 1969 and Philharmonic Hall. (Courtesy of Lincoln Center, Inc.)

1979. Lincoln Center's board chairman


claimed that the land on which the center was

built was worth $1 billion in 1979.71 Thiswas wanted by the civic and corporate elites
that no one would misperceive the great
upturn is highlighted by the announcementwho produced the Lincoln Center for the Per-
temple and the great nation under construc-
of a "multi-billion-dollar joint venture,"forming Arts. Following in the wake oftion.
an The world's preeminent cultural center
headlined by Donald Trump, to redevelop American
a victory in World War II, thesewas also too painful to deny. Moses,
75-acre site west of Lincoln Center.72 sponsors set out to change the view of theZeckendorf, and Rockefeller III and his min-
The center's founding group could world as it concerned the United States. This
ions celebrated as thousands of citizens lost
only dream of such successes. In December is a nation-building project of the highest or-
their homes and businesses to the powers that
1960, architect in charge Wallace Harrison der. Worldview is not easily altered or dis-were unified behind a real estate transaction
admitted to representatives of Lincoln Cen-mantled because individuals tend ultimately dedicated to "you, your children, and your
ter that he had not always felt so "into disavow knowledge that contradicts children's it. children."
charge." As the Deputy Coordinator of In- They may puzzle over contradictory evidence Each Lincoln Center man was, in
ter-American Affairs during World War II,but usually succeed in pushing it aside-un-
some ways, a new Pericles who signaled his
he had endured "five years of doubt on thetil they come across a piece of evidence new
too power and independence by building
fascinating to ignore, too clear to be
part of our friends, the Latinos, about our an American acropolis. These modern-day
depth of understanding and affection formisperceived, too painful to deny, which
potentates and rulers were determined to
the humanities and the Arts." The architect makes vivid still other signals, forcing thembuild,
to like Pericles and the Athenians, an
remembered the taunts: Americans were alter and surrender the worldview they have edifice to house "a concentration of human
so meticulously constructed.74
"rough necks," and not only did France and creative energy and a triumph of drama,
Germany have great operas, but "even poor The originators of Lincoln Center set
philosophy, and art such as has been known
Mexico City had a finer opera then we." out to make such a piece of evidence, such
in ano other place or time in all of the West-
With Philharmonic Hall rising for all tovivid signal. Department store displays por-ern world."75 This was, they thought, their
see, Harrison swiped at his tormentors: trayed a cultural center that was as fascinat-
Periclean imperative.
"Man builds his monuments because he ing as the Great Pyramids of Egypt-so By elite standards, the production of
wants something," and the men of Lincolnfascinating that it had to be built. The propa-
these theaters of power is an unquestioned
Center intended to build "the greatest cul-
gandist Jackson made sure that the architects
victory. This very quality should cause archi-
tural center in the world."73 hired by the constituent groups "masculin-
tectural practitioners and academics to be
ized" the primary architectural elements uneasy
This article suggests that a great deal so about our role in this success story.

241 Janz

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Notes 19. During his presidency, Eisenhower used 30. Lincoln Kirstein suggested Philip Johnson.
the performing arts as an integral part of his programSee "Exploratory Committee for a Musical Arts Cen-
1. There is inherent in the definition of the to promote America and American values around the ter Meeting Held March 19, 1956," Folder 390, Box
word "culture" a certain ambiguity which must be world. As part of this propaganda program, he led the 38, Cultural Interests series, RG III 2E, RFA, RAC.
mentioned. effort to build a national cultural center, which be-"Harrison . . . invited [Aalto, Belluschi, Breuer,
2. "Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, came the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. See Markelius, and Shepley] to serve as advisors." See
Inc. National Aspects," Box 8, E.B. Young series, RG Ralph Becker, Miracle on the Potomac (Silver Spring,Edgar Young, Lincoln Center (New York: New York
17, Rockefeller Family Associates (RFA), Rockefeller MD: Bartleby, 1990). University Press, 1980), p. 79.
Archive Center (RAC). 20. Cary Reich, The Life of Nelson A. 31. "Summary Report," Harrison Papers, Co-
3. Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great Rockefeller (New York: Doubleday, 1996), p. 638. lumbia University, New York.
American Cities (New York: Modern Library, 1969), 21. Other New York metropolitan area con- 32. Ibid.

p. 4. structions funded and/or directed by the Rockefeller 33. "David M. Ogilvy to Head Drive," Per-
4. Spiro Kostof, A History ofArchitecture family included Fort Tryon Park and the Cloisters, In-formingArts 1/8 (Aug. 13, 1959): 3.
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1985), p. 719. ternational House and Riverside Church, the Museum 34. "Report on the Public Participation Pro-
5. Glenn Loney, "American Theatre (1954- of the City of New York, Rockefeller University, Me- gram," Box 15.1.3.3, Lincoln Center, New York.
1967)," in eds., George Freedly and John A. Reeves, morial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the site of 35. "Retailers' Salute to Lincoln Center," Per-
A History of the Theatre, 3d ed. (New York: Crown, the United Nations, the Museum of Modern Art, forming Arts 2/4 (May 27, 1960): 3.
1968), pp. 898-99. Chase Manhattan Plaza, 26 Broadway Building (the 36. "Report on the Public Participation Pro-
6. "Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, former headquarters of the Standard Oil Company),gram.
Inc. National Aspects." and Rockefeller Center. See Henry Hope Reed, 37. "Lincoln Center-Public Participation,"
7. Marvin Carlson, Theatre Semiotics Rockefeller New York (New York: Greensward Founda- Lincoln Center-Public Participation Campaign
tion,
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990), pp.1988). folder, Box 59, JDR 3rd series, RG 2, RFA, RAC.
43-54. 22. All eleven Exploratory Committee members 38. "Addresses by Eisenhower and Moses."
8. Lincoln Center is named after the Lincoln were Caucasian males born in the United States; nine 39. Harris Present, "Lack of Provision for Re-

Square double triangle formed by the intersection of were born in the northeast. Several shared the Groton location and Compensation Charges," New York
Broadway and Columbus Avenue. or St. Paul's preparatory schools, and all but HarrisonTimes, Aug. 16, 1956.
9. "Addresses Given at the Ceremony," Per- received Ivy League degrees. All served in the U.S. 40. Harris Present, "Objections Enumerated
formingArtsl/6 (May 22, 1959): 2. armed forces; eight were on active duty in World War I to Proposed Redevelopment of Area," New York
10. Peter Salwen, Upper West Side Story (New or World War II. Other subgroups included member- Times, Sept. 18, 1957.
York: Abbeville, 1989), p. 270. ship on the Council on Foreign Relations, the Century 41. Paul Crowell, "Lincoln Sq. Rivals Clash,"
11. "Addresses by Eisenhower and Moses," Association, and trusteeships in the Carnegie Founda-New York Times, Sept. 12, 1957.
New York Times, May 15, 1959. tion, the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan 42. "Relocation Completed Ahead of Sched-
12. By 1957, $133 million of public monies Museum of Art, and the Rockefeller Foundation. ule," PerformingArts 1/13 (Dec. 4, 1959): 1, 4.
had been expended on urban renewal in all the cities 23. Robert Lubar, "Prime Movers," Fortune 43. "Foundation Job Awarded," Performing
of the United States with the exception of New York. 61/2 (Feb. 1960): 98-101, 248-56. Arts 1/14 (Dec. 18, 1959): 1, 4.
Moses had managed to acquire $267 million for the 24. C.D. Jackson, "Culture: A Status Symbol 44. Richard J. Roth, "Lincoln Square-
city. See Robert Caro, The Power Broker (New York: for the World," PerformingArts 1/1 (Mar. 12, 1959):Monumental Argument," New York World-Telegram,
Vintage, 1975), p. 12. 2-3. June 10, 1958.
13. In early 1960, Nelson Rockefeller, the 25. "Text of Statement by Lincoln Center for 45. "Relocation Completed."
governor of New York and the younger brother of the Arts," New York Times, Sept. 12, 1957. 46. Harris Present, interview by Sharon Zane,
John D. Rockefeller III, signed a bill that exempted 26. Russell Porter, "Arts Are Saluted by City's transcript, Oral History Project, Lincoln Center, New
Lincoln Center from real estate taxation, taking the Business," New York Times, Oct. 11, 1957. York.

cultural complex off the city's tax rolls. See "Lincoln 27. Wallace Harrison, "Talk by W.K. 47. Charles Grutzner, "Kennedy Building
Arts Center Gets Tax Exemption," New York Times, Harrison at Opening of Fall 1960 Fund Raising Brings $2,403,000" The New York Times, Nov. 12,
Mar. 17, 1960. Drive," Harrison Papers, Columbia University, New1959.
14. Charles Grutzner, "Co-ops Proposed forYork. 48. Caro, Power Broker, p. 1014.
Lincoln Sq.," New York Times, Sept. 17, 1956. 28. Ira Wolfert, "New York Builds a Great 49. Russell Porter, "Robert Kennedy Hails
15. Caro, Power Broker, pp. 740-41. New Music Center," Reader's Digest 81/486 (Oct. Lincoln Sq.," New York Times, Nov. 19, 1961.
16. Charles J.V. Murphy, "The Cardinal," 1962): 209. 50. Victoria Newhouse, Wallace K Harrison,
Fortune 61/2 (Feb. 1960): 154. 29. In attendance were theater designer Walter Architect (New York: Rizzoli, 1989); p. 189.
17. John Cooney, The American Pope (New Unruh, acousticians Hope Bagenal and Richard Bolt, 51. Ibid., 193.
York: Times, 1984), p. 301. Rockefeller III, Bliss, Keiser, Kirstein, stage designers 52. Max Abramovitz, interview by Sharon
18. C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite (New Jo Mielziner and Donald Oenschlager, and A.L. Zane, July 10, 1990, transcript, Oral History Project,
York: Oxford University Press, 1956), p. 77. Fowler and Henry Johnson. Lincoln Center, New York, pp. 135-36.

May 1997 JAE 50/4 242

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
53. Ibid., 137. societal shifts many Americans experienced following Rockefeller Conscience (New York: Charles Scribner's
54. Frederick Keisler "was not of the stature of World War II. Special topics included the civil rights Sons, 1991); p. 140.
the other architects." Bunshaft had "no experience ... movement, corporate expansion, South Africa, and 67. All references in this section from Lincoln
with the theater and little or no personal interest." everyday life in New York City. Weiner's work is in Kirstein, "Lincoln Shelter," New York Review ofBooks,
Edward Durell Stone was "the least appropriate." the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Aug. 13, 1981.
Saarinen had a great deal of theater experience and Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the San Francisco 68. Kirstein joined the army in 1943 and was
understood that the Metropolitan Opera House was to Museum of Modern Art. sent overseas and attached to the Arts, Monuments,
be "the preeminate [sic] architectural feature." See 62. Paul Dimaggio, "Cultural Entrepreneur- and Archives Section of the Third Army. He was one
"Memorandum on Meeting," Box 8.2.6.2, Lincoln ship in Nineteenth-Century Boston." In Chandra of those who discovered the art treasures the Germans
Center, New York. Mukerji and Michael Schudson, eds., Rethinking had hidden in the salt mines.
55. "Realistic Architect: Wallace Kirkman Popular Culture (Berkeley: University of California 69. "A Report for Business Leaders from the
Harrison," New York Times, Nov. 17, 1958. Press, 1991) pp. 374-397. Consolidated Corporate Fund, 1990-1991," bro-
56. Peter D. Franklin, "Lincoln Center De- 63. Center (Minutes-Board of Directors, chure, Lincoln Center, n.d.
sign: A New U.S. Landmark," New York Herald Tri- 1959) Folder, Box 366, 200 R United States series, 70. Richard F. Shepard, "Lincoln Center-
bune, May 25, 1958. RG 1.2, Rockefeller Foundation Archives, RAC. The First 20 Years," New York Times, May 20, 1979.
57. For the source of the quotations in this 64. Anna Rothe, ed., Current Biography 1951 71. Ibid.
paragraph, see Philip Johnson, interview by author, (New York: H.W. Wilson, 1952). 72. David W. Dunlap, "Hong Kong Investors
tape recording, July 20, 1994, Janz Archive. 65. Although Jackson is an extreme case, the Finance a Trump Project," New York Times, July 1,
58. Ibid. turn from wartime propagandist to membership in the 1994.
59. Harold Schonberg, "Six Architects in Lincoln Center elite is of interest. Included in this sub- 73. Wallace Harrison, "Draft of Talk,"
Search of a Center," New York Times Magazine, Feb. set are Jackson, Eisenhower, Harrison (coordinator of Harrison Papers, Columbia University.
8, 1959. informational functions for the Office of the Coordina- 74. Diane Vaughan, The Challenger Launch
60. Fortune and its publisher, C.D. Jackson, tor of Inter-American Affairs), General Maxwell Tay- Decision (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
actively promoted Lincoln Center. lor (who had served behind enemy lines in Italy and 1996); pp. 62-63.
61. Dan Weiner (1919-1959) was a photo- was later elected the second Lincoln Center president), 75. Horst de la Croix and Richard G. Tansey,
journalist who lived in New York City. His work viv- and David Ogilvy, who worked in British intelligence. Gardner's Art Through the Ages, 5th ed. (New York:
idly captured the human dimensions of the dramatic 66. John Ensor Harr and Peter J. Johnson, The Harcourt, Brace and World, 1970), p. 138.

243 Janz

This content downloaded from 128.59.222.107 on Tue, 04 Apr 2017 17:13:34 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Potrebbero piacerti anche