The Original Architect

When we bought the place, the previous owner gave us copies of the original plans for the building.  A quick internet search of the architect, John C. MacKenzie, Jr.,  revealed that he did some major buildings in the New York area.  Also, we found that the Columbia University Architecture Library archives some of his work.  

We contacted the library and found that the collection consists of photographs and drawings for only a few buildings, including the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, the Watson house in Biltmore Forest, NC, and the Greene House in Houston.   

We went to the Avery Drawings and Archives yesterday to view the collection.  

John C. MacKenzie, Jr. is most known for the Harlem YMCA building...

 ... and the Reader's Digest Building in Pleasantville, NY.

I was most impressed by his penciled drawings, which showed such beautiful craftsmanship.

We also found the AIA letter showing his induction as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

John C. MacKenzie, Jr. studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, which focused on classical styles.  In his later work, it appeared as if the world of architecture was changing in the 1940-1950's and that the classical styles he studies were being supplanted by the beginnings of the International style and other modern movements.  It seemed that his work during this period was an attempt to keep up with these changing patterns.  However, he didn't seem at home with the new style and the pieces he produced took on the stripped down character of the modernist movement but seemed to lack a true understanding of the new expressions of space and minimalism that were antithetical to the expressive and florid classical style that he was most comfortable with.