Rosario Candela

Infobox Architect


caption=
name=Rosario Candela
nationality=Italian-American
birth_date=March 07, 1890
birth_place=Montelepre, Sicily
death_date=October 03, 1953
death_place=
practice_name=
significant_buildings=740 Park Avenue 834 Fifth Avenue
significant_projects=
significant_design=
awards=|

Rosario Candela (b. March 07, 1890, d. October 03, 1953) was an American architect who achieved renown through his apartment building designs in New York City, primarily during the boom years of the 1920s. He is credited with defining the city's characteristic terraced setbacks and signature penthouses. [cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E6D81F3CF932A25753C1A9679C8B63 |title=CURRENTS: ARCHITECTURE; An Inside Look At Grand Apartments |accessdate=2007-02-21|last=Lee |first=Linda |date=2001-10-11 |work=The New York Times ]

Life

Early life and education

Born in Montelepre, Sicily in 1890, Candela immigrated to New York in 1906. [U.S. Immigration Service. "List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the U.S. Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival" (Ship Manifest), Immigration Service Form 500 B. S.S. Napolitan Prince sailing from Palermo on November 12, 1906 and arriving in Port of New York on November 27, 1906. American Family Immigration History Center (Ellis Island Archives) posted this manifest online at [http://www.ellisisland.org www.ellisisland.org.] ] [U.S. Immigration Service. "List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the U.S. Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival" (Ship Manifest), Immigration Service Form 500 B. S.S. Sicilian Prince sailing from Palermo on October 22, 1906 and arriving in Port of New York on November 08, 1906. American Family Immigration History Center (Ellis Island Archives) posted this manifest online at [http://www.ellisisland.org www.ellisisland.org.] ] His father was Michelle Candela, a plasterer, and his Mother was Josephine Pizzurro. He gained admission to the Columbia University School of Architecture and graduated in 1915. [cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE2DE153AF932A2575AC0A96E948260 |title=Apartments by Candela: Grandest of the Grand |accessdate=2007-02-21|last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=1988-09-11 |work=The New York Times ] Keenly aware of his immense talents, he went so far as to erect a velvet rope around his drafting table to prevent other students from copying his designs.cite book |last=Gross |first=Michael |title=740 Park : The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building |accessdate= |edition= |series= |date= |year=2005 |month= |publisher=Broadway Books |location=New York |isbn=0385512090 |oclc=60669137 |pages=4, 38]

Career

After graduation, Candela worked briefly for another Italian architect Gaetano Ajello. After another brief stint with the firm of Fredrick Sterner, Candela set up his own practice in 1920. His first major commission was for an apartment house on 92nd and Broadway. Shortly thereafter, he received his first commission for an East Side apartment at 1105 Park Avenue.cite book |last=Alpern |first=Andrew |title=The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |date= |year=2001 |month= |publisher=Acanthus Press |location=New York |language= |isbn=0926494201 |oclc=46385874 Excerpted from [http://www.thecityreview.com/carpcand.html book review by Carter B. Horsley] .] . During the next five years, Candela designed a number of residential buildings on the Upper West Side, primarily on West End Avenue and Riverside Drive. During this period, the West side was undergoing an intense transformation from an area of primarily single family homes to one characterized by the apartment buildings that, for the most part, still stand.

Candela's greatest work would occur during the latter half of the 1920s when he designed numerous apartment buildings on the East side, primarily on Fifth and Park avenues, as well as at Sutton Place and other locations. In 1927 and 1928, Candela designed a total of 19 apartment buildings including 960 Fifth Avenue (at 77th Street) and 720 Park Avenue (at 70th Street).cite web |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/realestate/05scap.html |title=A Renowned Architect's Less Renowned Designs |accessdate= |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=2006-02-05 |work=The New York Times |archiveurl= |archivedate= ] 1929 brought even more commissions, but the housing boom had begun to slow prior to the stock market crash in October. Of 27 total designs that year, only 12 were completed. These included 740, 770, 778 and 1280 Park Avenue and 834 and 1040 Fifth Avenue.

The exteriors of his buildings tended to be somewhat understated, particularly in view of some of the more exuberant styles popular during the period. However, he was considered a master of design when it came to the interiors. Many apartments were constructed as duplex residences with grand entry foyers, curved, freestanding stairways and dramatic public rooms. Some of the designs were palatial by even the considerable standards of the day. Although not initially designed for the family, the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. triplex at 740 Park Avenue may be the grandest apartment in all of the city. At more than 20,000 square feet, "it had, depending on who was counting, anywhere from twenty-three to thirty-seven rooms, the discrepancy caused by such questions as whether one included hallways and foyers the size of ballrooms, servants quarters, and the fourteen bathrooms.".

During the Great Depression work fell off dramatically and Candela received only sporadic commissions. While the quantity declined considerably, the quality of his designs rarely suffered. During this time, he expressed his interest in codes and ciphers, publishing two books on the topic. He continued his practice up until the time of his death in 1953.

Cryptology

Rosario Candela was a notable amateur cryptologist. Candela began studying cryptology in 1930 after learning about the accomplishments of the Army Signal Corps in WWI."New York Times". “Deciphering Military Codes Is Course In Hunter College Evening Division”, September 28, 1941, D7.] Candela decrypted messages originally coded in 1898 by Commandant Étienne Bazeries of the French Army. Commandant Bazeries was “one of the most brilliant cryptologists of” his era [Candela, Rosario. "The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries" (New York: Cardanus Press, 1938), 3.] and he developed an encryption method considered unbreakable. [Candela, Rosario. "The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries" (New York: Cardanus Press, 1938), 10.] Candela wrote a book "The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries" in 1938 detailing how he broke the code developed by Commandant Bazeries, a code that had previously never been broken. [Candela, Rosario. "The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries" (New York: Cardanus Press, 1938), 9-10.] Starting in 1941, Candela taught a class on cryptography and cryptanalytics at Hunter College in New York. At the time, the course was considered the only one of its kind offered to the public in the United States.

Legacy

Today, Candela-designed buildings, most of which are now owned by their residents through cooperative ownership structures, are some of the most expensive and sought after addresses in New York.

Work

Buildings

(All within New York City unless otherwise noted.)

1920s

1930s

*1220 Park Avenue, 1930
*770 Park Avenue, 1930cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980DE2DD1130F93BA35755C0A9659C8B63 |title=Streetscapes: 770 and 778 Park Avenue, at 73rd Street; Fraternal-Twin Examples of East Side Superluxury |accessdate=2007-02-21|last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=2003-06-08 |work=The New York Times ]
*1040 Fifth Avenue, 1930
*1021 Park Avenue, 1930
*834 Fifth Avenue, 1930
*1500 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 1931
*56 Seventh Avenue, 1931
*778 Park Avenue, 1931
*2 Beekman Place, 1932
*3 Times Square (Rialto Theatre), 1935 (replaced by Reuters Building, 2001)
*Normandie Theatre (51 East 53rd Street), 1936 (demolished in the 1950s)
*19 East 72nd Street, with Mott Schmidt, 1936 [cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04EED8173CF93AA1575AC0A960958260 |title=A 30's Building Where the Duplex Was King |accessdate=2007-02-21|last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=1996-09-29 |work=The New York Times ]
*Regency Park, 1937
*955 Fifth Avenue, 1938

1940s

*44 East 67th Street, 1941
*135 East 54th Street, 1948
*1 East 66th Street, 1948

1950s

* [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=montclaironstreetpark-streetlouis-mo-usa Montclair on the Park] , St. Louis, MO, 1951

Projects

*960 Fifth Avenue, with Warren & Wetmore, 1929

Books

*cite book |last=Candela |first=Rosario |title=The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries — An Essay in Decrypting |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |date= |year=1938 |month= |publisher=Cardanus Press |location=New York |isbn= |oclc=814084
*cite book |last=Candela |first=Rosario |title=Isomorphism and Its Applications in Cryptanalytics |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |date= |year=1946 |month= |publisher=Cardanus Press |location=New York |isbn= |oclc=708605

Resources

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.emporis.com/en/cd/cm/?id=rosariocandela-newyorkcity-ny-usa Rosario Candela] listing in Emporis Buildings