Kirchman and Bassuk | Honorable Mention | Demolished | Long Island City | Office Building | 1959 | Unfortunately this moody but handsome building was demolished in 2013 just before this project started. A new, much taller building is taking this corner site off of Queens Plaza and several other Queens Modern winners nearby have also been lost in recent years. The award winning rectilinear structure was built on a sloping corner moving from two to three stories including basement and clad in striking black enamel brick and a brassy colored metal framing system running down one side of the building.
Barbanel and Levien | Bronze Plaque for Commercial | Demolished | Queens Village | Office Building | 1957 | Sadly this building, a little Miesian box in Queens Village, is no more. It is unclear when it was vanished but today the building is covered in huge awnings and houses a fruit and vegetable seller, although the framework of the building may exist under all that.
Kahn and Jacobs | Special Bronze Plaque | Extant | Jamaica | Office Building | 1955 | One of the era’s selected Special Bronze Plaques went to this building. Scandinavian Airlines was making a statement with this building, siting it at a triangular point above the intersection of two major roads and using gleaming white brick as the main material. Kahn and Jacobs were also prominent designers of the era so this building has more to do with the showmanship seen with some of the major airport buildings. The neighborhood, while somewhat an arbitrary choice, was supposedly chosen as a location halfway between the two airports. The design is distinctly echoing in the white brick and glass of International design rather than the brick of the immediate surrounding area. Unfortunately, the building’s fortunes did not rise and once Scandinavian Airlines moved, the building has limped along, currently being occupied by a bank and a senior health care facility.
Heller, Simeon | Bronze Plaque for Office Buildings | Demolished | Flushing | Office Building | 1948 | This building addressed the issue of inserting a mixed use into a residential neighborhood. The structure, which housed both a residence and medical office had the character of a low ranch structure facing north to allow light to enter the examination and operating rooms. The building had a low hipped roof and a facade of brick and stone. It was demolished in approximately 2001 and the site is now filled by multifamily attached housing. Coincidentally, there is a similar building immediately nearby, the award-winning 1959 residence of Dr. Elmer Kestler, which also addresses the same issue and remains largely intact.
Lorimer Rich and Associates | Bronze Plaque for Office Buildings | Extant | Jamaica | Office Building | 1958 | The Otis Elevator Company stands semi-derelict on a somewhat forlorn block of Jamaica with empty lots on either side. The building remains intact with its brick and limestone facade and the aluminum windows are now behind metal mesh screens. The metal Otis Elevator signage is now gone and the entrance area is surrounded by a blue wooden partition. The awards program states that the building is 90 x 99 feet and uses the Larson system of continuous membrane waterproofing.
