Welcome to the Archives of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation. The purpose of this online database is to function as a tool for scholars, students, architects, preservationists, journalists and other interested parties. The archive consists of photographs, slides, articles and publications from Rudolph’s lifetime; physical drawings and models; personal photos and memorabilia; and contemporary photographs and articles.
Unless otherwise noted, all images and drawings are copyright © The Estate of Paul Rudolph and The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation. Please speak with a representative of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation to get permission to use any drawings or photos. Drawings, sketches and other materials produced by Rudolph’s architectural office at the Library of Congress are maintained there for preservation, but the intellectual property rights belong to the Paul Rudolph Estate and Ernst Wagner, founder of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.
LOCATION
Address: 11 West 53rd Street
City: New York
State: New York
Zip Code: 10019
Nation: United States
LOCATION
Address: 222 West Merchandise Mart Plaza
City: Chicago
State: Illinois
Zip Code: 60654
Nation: United States
STATUS
Type: Exhibition
Status: Built
TECHNICAL DATA
Date(s): 1951
Site Area:
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PROFESSIONAL TEAM
Client: The Merchandise Mart; The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Architect: Ralph S. Twitchell
Associate Architect: Paul M. Rudolph
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SUPPLIERS
Contractor:
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Good Design Exhibition of 1952
‘GOOD DESIGN’ is a series of exhibitions of home furnishings, organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City for the Merchandise Mart of Chicago, Illinois. Edgar Kaufman, Jr. is appointed by the Museum as the Director of the program.
‘GOOD DESIGN’ begins in January 1950 and Mr. Edgar Kaufman, Jr. is appointed by the Museum as the Director of the program and Chairman of the Selection Committee for the items that are to be displayed in the exhibit. He is joined by F. Carlton Ball, Gordon F. Fraser, Harry Weese and Charles Zadok.
A setting is created for the exhibit each January in Chicago and each fall in New York by a prestigious designer or architect appointed annually by the Museum of Modern Art. Charles and Ray designed the 5,300-square-foot space for the inaugural installation in 1950 in Chicago, followed by Finn Juhl (1951), Paul Rudolph (1952), Alexander Girard (1953), and Daniel Brenner and A. James Spire (1955).
The New York version of ‘GOOD DESIGN’ is held at the Museum of Modern Art, usually on the ground floor for about eight weeks. About 3,000 square feet is available for the exhibit, and fewer items are shown in New York than at the Chicago event due to the smaller venue.
The project scope is to design a layout for the third annual ‘GOOD DESIGN’ exhibition to be held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, Illinois.
On November 26, 1951 the Museum of Modern Art and the Merchandise Mart issue a press release announcing a December 10, 1951 deadline to receive items to be displayed in the exhibit. Included in the press release is that ‘Paul Rudolph will install the 1952 Exhibition,’ along with a short biography.
At the time of the commission, Rudolph is teaching at the School of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania.
The exhibit is open on the eleventh floor of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago beginning January 10, 1952.
The exhibit opens at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City from September 23 – November 30, 1952 with approximately 225 items of home furnishings installed in the first floor galleries of the Museum. It is the 9th GOOD DESIGN showing in the three years of collaboration between the Museum and the Merchandise Mart at the time of the event.
“A special installation for the New York show is being designed by Paul Rudolph who also installed the Chicago exhibition. Mr. Rudolph, a young Florida architect, has come here especially for this purpose. A curved grille of plastic and large transparent screens will divide but not confine the space. Lighting will contrast bright areas with darker ones providing alternate backgrounds to accent the products shown.”
DRAWINGS - Design Drawings / Renderings
DRAWINGS - Construction Drawings
DRAWINGS - Shop Drawings
PHOTOS - Project Model
PHOTOS - During Construction
PHOTOS - Completed Project
PHOTOS - Current Conditions
LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Good Design Awards website
RELATED DOWNLOADS
PROJECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Charles R. Smith. Paul Rudolph and Louis Kahn: A Bibliography. The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1987.
“Chronological List of Works by Paul Rudolph, 1946-1974.” Architecture and Urbanism, no. 49, Jan. 1975.
“Display Techniques.” Progressive Architecture, no. 33, 33, Oct. 1952.
“Good Design 1952: Rudolph’s Installation Gets Raves.” Architectural Record, no. 111, 111, Mar. 1952.
“Good Design Exhibition: Installation by Paul Rudolph.” Arts and Architecture, no. 69, 69, May 1952.
“New York Version.” Interiors, no. 112, 112, Nov. 1952.
Olga Gueft. “Good Design in Chiaroscuro: Paul Rudolph Designs the Mart’s Third Exhibition.” Interiors, no. 111, 111, Mar. 1952.