Archinect - News

Paul Rudolph's Government Center won't be saved, despite preservationist pleas

2015-06-30T13:04:00-04:00

“We can now get back to doing the public’s business and return a functioning Government Center to Goshen,” the Orange County executive, Steven M. Neuhaus, said in a statement. “It is my hope that this delay will not impact the bid prices.”

As of this past April, the fate of New York's Orange County Government Center, a boxy brutalist designed by Paul Rudolph, was pretty much sealed. Preservationist had previously fought to restore the structure in the face of much-needed updates to the Center, but their proposals were dismissed, and (at least partial) demolition was looking more or less imminent.

Now, another loss has cleared the way for work to begin. A lawsuit filed by local residents, claiming that the building was worth saving for both its architectural significance and the existence of a cheaper, alternate plan for an updated government center that spared Rudolph's building, has been rejected.

Work on the building will begin in early July.

Chart the rocky history of Rudolph's Orange County Government Center below:

Orange County legislators fail to save Paul Rudolph's Government Center

2015-03-06T13:59:00-05:00

Yesterday, legislators in Orange County, New York failed to stave off the demolition of Paul Rudolph's Orange County Government Center. In January, county executive Steven M. Neuhaus vetoed a proposal that would entertain outside bids like Manhattan architect Gene Kaufman's, to purchase, restore, and repurpose the structure. Kaufman also proposed designing a new government center next door, with a proposed budget less than that of the county's current plan [...].

Previously:

Michael Kimmelman on why Paul Rudolph's brutalist Orange County building is worth saving

2015-03-04T13:47:00-05:00

Michael Kimmelman’s column this week, about the debate over plans to demolish a midcentury Paul Rudolph building in Goshen, N.Y., makes the case for why it should be saved. It is only one example of his taking up a cause. As The Times’s architecture critic, he has not been shy about advocacy. Here, he describes why he’s been outspoken in supporting this building, which doesn’t have the profile of other fights he has taken up.

UPDATE: Orange County legislators fail to save Paul Rudolph's Government Center

Previously:

Editor's Picks #403

2015-02-03T11:20:00-05:00

Archinect Sessions still wants you to share your client horror stories!, (Inspired by the insane Just lost a-hole clients thread from a earlier this month) which you can do via twitter #archinectsessions, email or call us at (213) 784-7421.

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Stephen Burgen traveled to the newly opened Museo Universidad de Navarra, designed by Rafael Moneo. Mr_Wiggin was disappointed "To me, Moneo's best works are those that are inserted into a place built up 100+ years ago....this, standing alone in the middle of a verdant green, looks like failure of planning".

The NYT reported on the latest developments regarding Paul Rudolph’s Orange County Government Center in Goshen, N.Y. Thayer-D lamented "I know this building is a maintenance nightmare, but it's truly one of the more interesting brutalist buildings out there. A lot of ideas to cull from it".

Orhan Ayyüce shared a quote/story from Esther McCoy's 1981 memorial to Konrad Wachsmann, wherein both Corbu and Konrad praise the Pont Transbordeur as ...

Future of Paul Rudolph's brutalist Orange County building still uncertain

2015-01-28T18:12:00-05:00

But Steven M. Neuhaus, Orange County executive, seems determined to pursue the teardown plan. [...] He recently vetoed a proposal that would have allowed the county to sell the center to Mr. Kaufman. County legislators meet on Feb. 5. [...] But many people who spoke at a public hearing last month in Goshen endorsed Mr. Kaufman’s proposal. It would save the center, potentially save the county a fortune, bring in tourist dollars and even put the Rudolph building on the tax rolls.

Previously:

Paul Rudolph's brutalist Orange County gem to be repurposed as "arts hub"

2014-12-09T15:25:00-05:00

According to a press release issued last week by Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman & Associates, principal Gene Kaufman has submitted a proposal to buy the Orange County Government Center (Goshen, NY), which has been closed since 2011 due to storm damage. Designed in 1967 by Paul Rudolph, the building is slated to become an "arts hub" in Kaufman's hands, similar to projects he is already developing in Brooklyn, NY – described in the same press release as "combination artists' lofts-gallery-retail spaces".

Previously:

Rethinking a Spurned Landmark

2014-07-07T13:23:00-04:00

As an architect, Gene Kaufman doesn’t typically save buildings; he designs them. But when he heard of plans to change Paul Rudolph’s celebrated but shuttered government building in Goshen, N.Y., as part of a renovation plan, he decided to step in. “To lose a building like this would be a tragedy,” said Mr. Kaufman, a partner at Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman Architects in New York City.

Previously:

Gwathmey Siegel's Kaufman wants to buy Paul Rudolph's brutalist Orange County Government Center

2014-05-07T16:45:00-04:00

At a meeting of the County Legislature on May 1, Kaufman offered to purchase the Rudolph building, which has been closed since 2011, and convert it to private use, perhaps as artists’ studios. Kaufman, who bought Gwathmey Siegel & Associates in 2011... and now calls his firm Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman & Associates Architects, wants to design a new government building adjacent to the Rudolph masterpiece, completed in 1970 on Main Street in Goshen, New York.

Paul Rudolph's Orange County Government Center to be saved

2013-02-13T17:38:00-05:00

The long, rancorous debate over the fate of the Orange County Government Center ended abruptly Wednesday, as a group of Republican lawmakers sided with Democrats to pass a proposal to renovate the 43-year-old complex.

Editor's Picks #263

2012-05-07T16:49:00-04:00

Elected officials in Goshen, N.Y., voted Thursday against a resolution to demolish and replace the Orange County Government Center by Paul Rudolph. Steven Ward, hoped “mr diana will now get behind this decision and determine how best to renovate to meet the needs of the community...score one for preservation of the modern!"

News
Elected officials in Goshen, N.Y., voted Thursday against a resolution to demolish and replace the Orange County Government Center by Paul Rudolph, a late-1960s building in the small Hudson Valley town that sparked debate on the value of modern architecture. Steven Ward, hoped “mr diana will now get behind this decision and determine how best to renovate to meet the needs of the community. ...the fact that the local government's elected representatives have taken this position is a huge deal, an indicator that they are hearing that the community wants to keep this special place. score one for preservation of the modern!” and Scribbler argued “We have to keep a few of these so that we have real examples of the variety, forms, and experiments modernism has made so that we have a record to remind us to not do this kind of modernism again". Donna Sink, for her part agreed “Even if one doesn't find this building beautiful (which I definitely do!), it's important to history to kee...

Orange County Votes to Keep Brutalist Building

2012-05-04T11:54:00-04:00

Elected officials in Goshen, N.Y., voted Thursday against a resolution to demolish and replace the Orange County Government Center, a late-1960s building in the small Hudson Valley town that sparked debate on the value of modern architecture. "I am deeply disappointed by the outcome of today's vote," Mr. Diana said in a written statement.

Unloved Building in Goshen, N.Y., Prompts Debate on Modernism

2012-04-07T11:21:00-04:00

As Modernist buildings reach middle age, many of the stark structures that once represented the architectural vanguard are showing signs of wear, setting off debates around the country between preservationists, who see them as historic landmarks, and the many people who just see them as eyesores.

Also see this discussion in the forum: Paul Rudolph threatened with demolition: when I see #&*! like this I just want to give up.

Editor's Picks #254

2012-03-11T22:49:00-04:00

Viennese architectural firm Wolfgang Tschapeller ZT GmbH won the First Prize in an international competition that seeks to overhaul the campus of the Angewandte, a group of buildings that house the University of Applied Arts, as well as the Museum for Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria. johnszot commented "fucking hot, that".

Evan Chakroff writes about the work of the recent Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu suggesting the selection continues a trend in which "the Pritzker Committee has gravitated towards architects who produce work with an innate understanding of place, allowing their ties to local culture to infuse their work" in the essay Amateur Architecture: A New Vernacular?

News
In advance of the World Cup and Olympic Games authorities in Rio de Janeiro are clearing people from their homes in Vila Autódromo and other favelas, preparing the areas for redevelopment. Will Galloway believed "it would be cool if they followed the lead of medellin instead. i have not heard any complaints about what was done there. anyone know if there was a downside?"