To coincide with the release of a new book detailing the creation of Mies van der Rohe's renowned Seagram Building, Mark Lamster speak with its author Phyllis Lambert - one of the key figures in the building's development.
Lambert, the daughter of Seagram's founder Samuel Bronfman, was just 26, recently divorced and living in Paris, when she took the reins of her father's plans for a New York skyscraper in 1953. Her book, “Building Seagram,” which is being released next week by the Yale University Press, "reveals many new details about a building that remains among the most studied of the modern era."
Figures in the sordid history of the landmark building's creation include Philip Johnson, Eero Saarinen, Frank Lloyd Wright, Morris Lapidus, Mark Rothko, Constantin Brancusi, Pablo Picasso and, of course, Mies, whom New York State authorities claimed lacked the proper qualifications to practice architecture.
“'When she got the Seagram Building built, it was the first time you really realized that architecture brought something to the city that didn’t exist,' said the architect Ricardo Scofidio, a partner in the firm Diller Scofidio & Renfro, which redesigned the Brasserie, the Seagram’s less rarefied restaurant, in 2000. 'It really turned the city around, and for architects it suddenly raised their status in the eyes of clients.'”
FULL STORY: A Personal Stamp on the Skyline

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Canada vs. Kamala: Whose Liberal Housing Platform Comes Out on Top?
As Canada votes for a new Prime Minister, what can America learn from the leading liberal candidate of its neighbor to the north?

The Five Most-Changed American Cities
A ranking of population change, home values, and jobs highlights the nation’s most dynamic and most stagnant regions.

San Diego Adopts First Mobility Master Plan
The plan provides a comprehensive framework for making San Diego’s transportation network more multimodal, accessible, and sustainable.

Housing, Supportive Service Providers Brace for Federal Cuts
Organizations that provide housing assistance are tightening their purse strings and making plans for maintaining operations if federal funding dries up.

Op-Ed: Why an Effective Passenger Rail Network Needs Government Involvement
An outdated rail network that privileges freight won’t be fixed by privatizing Amtrak.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions