Morningside Heights, the institutional heart of New York City, is also
one of the city's most architecturally distinguished neighborhoods. The
high plateau that forms Morningside Heights is geographically isolated
within the city and remained largely undeveloped even as neighboring
Harlem and the Upper West Side became prestigious residential
communities. At the end of the nineteenth century, institutions
relocated to the plateau where sizable plots were available at a
convenient distance from the built-up city. In 1887 Episcopal Bishop
Henry Potter announced plans for the construction of a great cathedral
at the edge of the plateau. The cathedral was soon followed by Columbia
College and St. Luke's Hospital, which contemplated grand complexes, and
by newer institutions such as Barnard College and Teachers College that
were intent on establishing a presence in the rapidly growing city.
Thus, Morningside Heights became indelibly associated with New York's
educational, medical, and religious foundations, and was appropriately
dubbed "the Acropolis of New York."
In this extensively illustrated book, Andrew S. Dolkart explores the
architecturally varied complexes built by these organizations. He traces
the successes and failures of each building project, as trustees and
supporters struggled to raise funds in order to construct great campuses
in a city where residents were not always generous in their support of
such endeavors. Commissioning designs from some of city's and the
nation's leading architects, the Morningside Heights institutions
created a richly diverse ensemble of buildings.
The book tells the stories of the excitement surrounding the initial
plans for an Episcopal cathedral and the ultimate failure of this
grandiose project; the efforts of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to build a
rival nondenominational church (Riverside Church); the development of
Charles McKim's inspired designs for Columbia's campus; the efforts of
Barnard and Teachers College to build impressive campuses adjacent to
Columbia; and the later projects of Union and Jewish theological
seminaries and the Institute of Musical Art (late the Julliard School)
to erect buildings that would be part of the larger institutional
concentration, but world provide each with a unique architectural
identity.
Dolkart also traces the history of the surrounding residential
neighborhood, providing the first comprehensive analysis of the design
and construction the early-twentieth-century speculative apartment
houses that typify so many New York neighborhoods. Based on extensive
research and incorporating more than 200 photographs, Morningside
Heights will appeal to anyone interested in architecture, urban
development, or the history of New York City, as well as those
associated with the neighborhood or its institutions.
