Salkowitz, A. H. | Honorable Mention | Extant | Forest Hills | Apartment Building | 1959 | The Diplomat was one of the first white brick apartment houses in Queens and stands out among the more prevalent red brick towers of Forest Hills. As with many of the apartment towers going up at this time, the aim was to provide the latest amenities and the real estate brochure for the Diplomat lists more than 30 features, from a roofdeck and garden to Venetian blinds for all windows. The architect, A. H. Salkowitz, was known for his apartment designs so it makes sense he was chosen here, although the Diplomat was quickly surpassed by larger and most costly apartment buildings as the 60s progressed.
Salkowitz, A. H. | Bronze Plaque for Apartments | Extant | Forest Hills | Apartment Building | 1959 | Warner House is one of numerous rather interchangeable red brick apartment buildings in Forest Hills that received an award. The The E-shaped building is six stories and includes a central entrance faced in black marble. The building sits on a slope with access to a parking garage at one end of the site. The architect A. H. Salkowitz also won an honorable mention for a white brick apartment building on Queens Boulevard, The Diplomat, completed the same year.
Raymond Irrera Associates | Honorable Mention | Extant | Richmond Hill | Office Building | 1959 | The Leo Kearns series of funeral home facilities are unique within the Queens Modern lexicon, featuring elements of West Coast modernism and showing the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright, both rarities in the borough’s mid-century design. The former executive office building, now a daycare center is much more restrained than the two extant funeral homes, and is largely a brick cube with simple limestone and granite detailing. Raymond Irrera did this building and one of the two funeral buildings, with Meisner doing the other, so its unclear why the Kearns company employed a more restrained style here.
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.
Fellheimer and Wagner | Bronze Plaque for Schools and Colleges | Extant | Jamaica | School or College | 1959 | Designed by major architectural firm Fellheimer & Wagner toward the end of its existence, this mid-century school has some unusual and engaging elements including a rounded, U-shaped central classroom space and bold blue terra cotta panels decorating the entrance areas. According to the Chamber of Commerce description, the building rambles over a sloping 8 1/2 acre site and is built of reinforced concrete and steel, partially to accommodate the weight of industrial equipment typical in a vocational school. The other major exterior elements are brick, steel windows and aluminum detailing around the entrance. The lower-rise portions of the building also feature angled roofs which give the entire structure an element of energy.
