This small, five-story structure is a one-off gem created for a client willing to embrace what was then a radical design, combining art and architecture in a notable act of corporate patronage that went far beyond convention and the bottom line. The latest and most alarming example of the prevalence and general acceptance of this practice is in process at the building at the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 43rd Street, originally built for the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company in 1953-54, and occupied until recently by its successor, JPMorgan Chase. The problem is not restricted to thoughtless demolition there are ways of altering or changing these buildings that destroys them just as effectively but in a more subtle and insidious fashion. It set the standard for corporate and commercial construction world-wide and is increasingly recognized as a major American contribution to the architecture of our time. The concern here is for the precedent-setting modernism perfected in New York in the mid-20th century. I am not talking about the loss of quaint cobblestoned Greek Revival streets or gentrified brownstone neighborhoods. A 70-foot site-specific gilded screen by sculptor Harry Bertoia.
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