Emery Roth & Sons architectural records and papers, 1906-1996, bulk 1951-1994 | Avery Drawings & Archives (original) (raw)
Summary Information
At a Glance
Bib ID:
3460569 View CLIO record
Creator(s):
Emery Roth & Sons; Belluschi, Pietro, 1899-1994; Durst, Joseph, 1882-1973; Graves, Michael, 1934-2015; Gropius, Walter, 1883-1969; Helmsley, Harry; Jaffe, Norman, 1932-1993; Manerias, J. C. S; Matsui, Yasuo; Merrick, Frederick I; Pomeroy, Lee Harris, 1932-2018; Roth, Emery, 1871-1948; Roth, Julian; Roth, Richard, 1904-; Roth, Richard, Jr., 1933-; Ruderman, James; Rudin, Samuel, 1896-1975; Silverstein, Larry A., 1933-; Stone, Edward Durell; Viñoly, Rafael, 1944-; Yamasaki, Minoru, 1912-1986; Zukov, Nikita; Emery Roth & Sons; Cesar Pelli and Associates; Cosentini Associates; Cross & Cross; Diesel Construction Company; Dormitory Authority of the State of New York; Durst Organization; Edward Durell Stone & Associates; Fox & Fowle Architects; Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects; Helmsley Hotels, Inc; Helmsley-Spear, Inc; Hugh Stubbins and Associates; Hurley & Farinella; Lee Harris Pomeroy Associates; Magnusson Architecture and Planning; New York (N.Y.). Board of Education; Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.); New York City Housing Authority; Otis Elevator Company; Pei Partnership; Pelli/Viñoly Architects; Peterson and Brickbauer; Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; RTKL Associates; Shah Alam Properties; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Syska & Hennessy; Tishman Realty & Construction Co; Tishman Speyer; Trammell Crow Company; United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. New York District; United States. Department of Housing and Urban Development; United States. National Park Service; Uris Buildings Corporation
Repository:
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Physical Description:
34175 drawings (34,175 drawings); 201 document boxes (245 linear feet papers); 4 print boxes
Language(s):
English .
Access:
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
Description
Scope and Content
This collection primarily contains architectural drawings, correspondence, business records, and a small number of photographs related to the projects of Emery Roth & Sons and its subsidiary entities. A large portion of the entities are represented only in the Office Records series and are identified as such. Some projects on which Emery Roth & Sons acted as architect of record are not represented in this collection, most notably the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
Arrangement
This material is arranged in two series: Project Records and Office Records. Within the Project Records series, materials are arranged in the following subseries: Drawings, Files, Photographs, and Specifications. The further arrangement of material within each level is described at the beginning of each series and subseries.
Using the Collection
Restrictions on Access
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Columbia University is providing access to the materials in the Library's collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of Columbia University is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. In addition to permission from Columbia University, permission of the copyright owner (if not Columbia University) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distributions, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. Columbia University makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.
Preferred Citation
Emery Roth & Sons architectural records and papers, 1906-1996. Dept. of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.
Related Material
Emery Roth & Sons was the architect of choice for the real estate developers Uris Brothers. Materials pertaining to their Emery Roth & Sons projects can be found in the Percy and Harold D. Uris Papers, also held by Avery Library's Department of Drawings & Archives.
Additionally, the Department of Drawings & Archives also holds the Emery Roth Architectural Drawings and Biography collection.
Lastly, the Christopher Gray Research Materials on Emery Roth and Emery Roth Sons are also held in the Department.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Source of acquisition--Gift from Higgins Quasebarth & Partners. Accession number--2006.013.
About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Sponsor Information
Processing was funded by a generous grant from the E.H.A. Foundation
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Vanessa Cameron, Emery Roth & Sons Project Archivist, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Department of Drawings & Archives, 2007 - 2008 with the assistance of Hollyamber Kennedy, Bibliographic Assistant. Additional support was provided by Mellon Graduate School Interns Lindsay McCook and Teresa Harris. Processing was funded by a generous grant from the E.H.A. Foundation.
Revision Description
2008-11-10 File created.
2009-07-23 File revised.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Biographical / Historical
Emery Roth Sons (1938-1996) was a family-run architecture firm that had a major influence on the post-war development of Manhattan. In 1938 the architect Emery Roth (1871-1948), renowned for upscale Manhattan apartment buildings like the Beresford and the San Remo, renamed his practice Emery Roth Sons to reflect the inclusion of his sons Julian and Richard as partners. Julian (1901-1992) specialized in construction costs and building materials and technology, while Richard (1904-1987) was named the firm's principle architect. In the early 1960s, Richard Roth's son, Richard Roth, Jr. (b. 1933) became the third generation to join the firm, eventually rising to chief architect and shareholder. As the firm expanded and diversified over six decades, it remained a family business through the 1990s. Richard Roth's children, Robyn Roth-Moise and Richard Lee Roth, both worked for the firm and its subsidiaries.
Emery Roth Sons continued to design high-rise apartment buildings in Manhattan, as Emery Roth had, but shortly after World War II the firm began to shift its focus to high-rise office buildings. As they became increasingly specialized in commercial space, they worked closely with real estate developers such as the Uris Corporation, Tishman Construction, Diesel Construction, the Durst Organization, and Helmsley-Spear, Inc.
Significant examples of their work in New York include 55 Water Street, 300 Park Avenue, the Palace Hotel, 546 Fifth Avenue, and 600 Lexington Avenue. Emery Roth Sons frequently collaborated with other architects on large projects for which they were the architects of record. These projects included the World Trade Center (Minoru Yamasaki), General Motors Office Building (Edward Durell Stone), 1585 Broadway (Gwathmey Siegel Associates), 7 Hanover Square (Norman Jaffe), the Portland Municipal Building (Michael Graves), 375 Hudson Street (Skidmore, Owings Merrill), and the Pan Am Building (Walter Gropius and Pietro Belluschi).
Over the years the firm consistently provided marketable designs that maximized the net rentable area, a feature highly prized by real estate developers. Writing of the firm's work in a 1957 article, Richard Roth remarked "The entire endeavor in our office is to create the best that can be produced within the restrictions that are placed upon us; and these restrictions are seldom those of our client, but rather of lending institutions; economics; and municipal authorities' laws." (Progressive Architecture, June 1957).
The promotion of the Texas-based architect Robert Sobel (b. 1931) to principal in the late 1970s marked a shift in their focus from Manhattan office buildings to mixed-use properties in Texas and overseas. Beginning in the 1970s, possibly in reaction to New York City's fiscal crisis, and continuing through the 1990s, the firm expanded and diversified its operations into several related entities. In the 1980s they took advantage of the Texas oil boom, establishing the office of Sobel / Roth that was based in Houston. Notable examples of their work outside of Manhattan include Houston's Alliance Tower, Beijing's China World Trade Center, and the Taman Tuk Abdul Razak Center in Malaysia.
In 1993, Richard Roth, Jr., sold his all of his issued and outstanding shares of Emery Roth & Sons and all of its affiliated and related entities to Robert Sobel. In 1996, the firm ceased to operate, apparently because of financial distress.
Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, throughCLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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