SAVING PLACE:
50 YEARS OF NEW YORK CITY LANDMARKS

When Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis went to the Supreme Court to save Grand Central Station, she ignited the future course of historic preservation. New York City continues to lead the way.

The exhibition celebrates the ground-breaking role that New York City played in the history of landmark law in the United States. Ultimately, these laws protect not only the texture and complexity of the urban fabric but its cultural and social structure. By illuminating critical decisions to restore, demolish and rebuild, the exhibition highlight projects large and small from civic scale to industrial sites to residences. 

 Given the vast amount of materials on display, the exhibition organization brings forward information in a way that is easy to navigate. The perimeter walls show a chronological history of the law and its implementation. At the center of the gallery, a series of built and unbuilt architectural ‘responses’ are displayed with models and drawings. 

Angled wall panels form a series of corrugated surfaces, much like the pages of an open book. While preserving the materials’ density, this strategy organized the materials into curatorial narratives. The protruding panel edges are color-coated with descriptive titles. Bespoke graphics are sliced in a way that references the series of restorations, renovations and demolitions stitched into the city fabric, the idea of “saving (a) place.” The black floor heightens the graphic quality of the room while also functioning to mitigate acoustics.

Photographs by renowned architectural photographer Iwan Baan, are shown in large overhead “hoods.” Quotes on the hood exterior bring strong points of view by noted journalists and historians pose conceptual arguments.