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

STATUS
Type: Exhibition
Status: Built

TECHNICAL DATA
Date(s): 1954
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Architect: Paul Rudolph
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Family of Man Exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art

On January 31, 1954 Rene d'Harnoncourt, Director of the Museum of Modern Art, announces that a major exhibition is planned for the 25th anniversary celebration of the Museum and will be an international photography show organized by Edward Steichen, Director of the Museum's Department of Photography, on the theme of “The Family of Man.”
The project scope is to design an exhibition which brings together 503 images by 273 photographers from 69 countries. The exhibition includes the Museum’s entire second floor galleries.
The exhibition is created as a photo essay celebrating the universal aspects of the human experience. Steichen invites photographers to submit photographs for consideration, explaining that his aim is to capture “the gamut of life from birth to death” - a task for which, he argues, photography is uniquely suited.
Rudolph designs the exhibit to be an architectural as well as pictorial experience. The photos - ranging from 8 by 10 inches to 10 by 12 feet - are arranged to emphasize their connection but also add drama as the viewer walked through the space.
The exhibit is open at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City from January 26 – May 8, 1955. During its 103-day run it is seen by more than 250,000 people, exceeding the museum’s previous attendance record set in 1940.
After leaving New York, the “Family of Man” exhibition is shown in Minneapolis, Dallas, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Baltimore. In addition, two foreign editions are made for the United States Information Agency to circulate - one in Europe and one in Asia. Eventually, five copies of the exhibit are circulated, seen in 88 venues in 37 countries.
The exhibition tours the world for eight years afterward, attracting more than 9 million visitors. It is finally retired by the USIA in 1965.
Following the death of Edward Steichen (1879-1973), Joanna T. Steichen (1933-2010) hired Paul Rudolph in 1973 to design the Steichen Residence for her. She had become a friend of Rudolph’s through his work with her husband on the MoMA exhibit.