Armor Elevator Company, Inc.
Wuest and Bailey | Honorable Mention | Extant | Long Island City | Industrial Building | 1958 |This two story pale brick elevator company building has subtle brick designs and simple angles that make it seem like it could date from the early 1940s instead of the late 50s. It is very dissimilar to the larger Armor Elevator headquarters built three years later or even the Otis Elevator building built the same year, both of which evoke their period more typically.
Bankers Federal Savings & Loan
LaPierre Litchfield and Partners | Honorable Mention | Extant | Jamaica Estates | Bank | 1958 |This one story bank is a stripped-down version of the Colonial Revival. The Georgian and Colonial styles were popular revivals in the 1950s and 60s, continuing to be even more popular around the Bicentennial in 1976. But unlike more high-style versions such as the Queens County Savings Banks in Kew Gardens Hills and Little Neck, here the building only nods to the style with a tiny cupola and brickface.
Barkin, Levin & Co., Inc.
Franzen, Ulrich | Bronze Plaque for Industrial | Extant | Long Island City | Industrial Building | 1958 |Barkin, Levin & Co. Is a tour-de-force of mid-century design hiding in plain sight. The building is off the beaten track in a rather quiet corner of Long Island City, befitting its original role as a factory and offices for a coat manufacturer. The factory is a fairly standard steel frame with brick facade, but the administrative wing with its umbrella support system sheltering a glass box is very striking even with some minor modern alterations, like a low masonry wall breaking the openness of the glass pavilion. Unusually, the Queens Awards write-up states that the spaces of the building and equipment were jointly designed by the architect and the owner of Barkin, Levin. Franzen went on to design other significant modern structures but this “collaboration” is a definite highlight.
Terry Building
Paul, Gerald Anthony | Honorable Mention | Extant | Long Island City | Industrial Building | 1958 |The Terry Building is an industrial building in Astoria that features a prominent wall of blue ceramic panels alongside the corner entrance. The rest of the building is covered in a pale brick. The entrance was originally recessed but has since be filled in. The building also features its original configuration of ribbon style windows.