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Clarke & Rapuano landscape architecture collection

Call Number

PR 080

Date

1935–2002 (bulk, 1935–1975), inclusive

Creator

Clarke & Rapuano

Extent

5.29 Linear feet in 7 boxes.

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

Collection of black and white photographs and photonegatives taken by the urban redevelopment firm of Clarke & Rapuano, representing many of their projects in New York City, with the earliest images dating to the 1930s. Includes cityscapes, aerial views, and photographs of architectural models and designs. Projects include the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company's housing developments at Stuyvesant Town, Peter Cooper Village, and Parkchester. Numerous ground and aerial views show the Brooklyn Heights Esplanade over the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Other projects represented include buildings for the New York World's Fair in 1939 and 1964, restoration of Bryant Park, Central Park Zoo and Conservatory, JFK International Airport, Queens Zoo, the Van Wyck Expressway, Henry Hudson Parkway, Major Deegan Expressway, and Washington Square in Greenwich Village. Additional materials include printed material documenting several urban redevelopment projects carried out by the firm, and reports for projects on which Clarke or Rapuano were consulted by city agencies.

Biographical / Historical

Gilmore D. Clarke (1892–1982) and Michael Rapuano (1904–1975) began a professional partnership in Engineering and Landscape Architecture in 1934. Both men were trained at Cornell, and Clarke was later a professor of architecture there, as well as Dean of Cornell's College of Architecture. Their first collaboration was on the design of the Henry Hudson Parkway, and the success of that project encouraged the two to become one of the first multi-discipline firms in the country, with a staff of landscape architects, architects, engineers, and planners. From 1944 to 1954 the practice included Leslie G. Holleran as a principal and named partner.

The firm of Clarke & Rapuano seems to have its hand in most of the major building projects in New York City between 1935 and 1965. Clarke served on the Board of Directors for the 1939–1940 World's Fair, and was a consultant to the Board for the subsequent 1964–1965 Fair. Many private exhibits at the 1939 Fair used Clarke & Rapuano as their landscape architects. Both Clarke & Rapuano were on the Board of Design for Metropolitan Life's four major housing projects: Stuyvesant Town, Peter Cooper Village, Riverton and Parkchester. The firm was appointed to be the landscape architects as well as site-engineers for all four projects. The firm also prepared plans for the development of the grounds of the United Nations; Clarke was on the board of Consulting Architects-Engineers for that project.

While Gilmore Clarke seemed to specialize in planning and design, Michael Rapuano often focused on roadways and their implementation and inclusion in the existing landscape. He served on several local and national committees to study the freeway systems that were becoming more important in the 1940s and 1950s. Clarke & Rapuano worked on several of Robert Moses' major projects: The Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx, the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens, and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, including the design of the Brooklyn Heights Esplanade, built over part of that highway.

In 1975 the founding partners both retired, and the firm was bought by the remaining principals, and continued to do the same kind of planning and landscape design work until 1998.

Arrangement

The collection is organized in two series:

Series I.
Project File Photographs, 1935–1986, undated
Series II.
Print Matter, 1940–2002

Scope and Contents

The Clarke & Rapuano Landscape Architecture Collection spans the period from 1935 to 2002 and primarily contains photographs relating to urban redevelopment projects carried out, mainly in New York City, by the firm between 1939 and 1970. The collection includes photographs, negatives, and printed and published materials documenting the New York World's Fairs (both 1939–1940 and 1964–1965), restoration of public parks, John F. Kennedy (formerly Idlewild) International Airport, public housing projects as well as those built by Metropolitan Life, planning and construction of several major highways in the region, and a few mid-century modern skyscrapers.

This collection does not include any architectural drawings, plans, or models. A few photographs show plans or renderings for projects, but most images show the final result of projects. Domenico Annese, donor of the collection, joined the firm of Clarke & Rapuano in 1956, became its Executive Vice President in 1975, and continued to work as a consultant after his retirement in 1991. In the process of gathering his files and organizing them for donation, he made notations on prints and negative sleeves that are helpful in the identification of many projects.

The collection is divided in two series: Series I. Project File Photographs, and Series II. Print Matter.

Series I. Project File Photographs includes photographic material documenting many of the firm's projects. While the firm was involved in projects throughout the eastern United States, the vast majority of the projects represented here were in New York City. Most of the public works projects included in the collection were commissioned by the New York City Department of Parks, the New York City Planning Commission, the New York City Airport Authority, and the New York State Department of Public Works, among other government commissions and bodies.

Series I encompasses two basic formats: photographic prints (including snapshots, aerial views, contract photos, and contact sheets) and negatives (safety acetate film versions of most of the prints). The prints generally show projects in a state of completion, but some project files include photographs of renderings or presentation drawings. These have been noted in the container list when they are present. Aerial photographs in the collection were taken by McLaughlin Aerial Surveys, Aero Services, Thomas Airviews, and Skyviews. Most photographs from the 1930s through 1950s were taken by John Gass. Other photographers represented in the collection are David Plowden, Gottscho-Schleisner, and members of the Clarke & Rapuano firm. Some projects are represented solely by negatives, such as many of the New York City housing projects, as well as some New York City park projects. The negatives of the Astoria Park are primarily focused on the large pool in that park.


Series II. Print Matter includes company promotional materials and various printed reports for projects on which the firm or the principals were involved. Materials about the firm include several company histories prepared by Domenico Annese, Photographs of Clarke & Rapuano, from circa 1968, a detailed listing of the firm's projects from the late 1950s, and material from a 1970 exhibit for the American Society of Landscape Architects. Printed reports involve the following projects: John F. Kennedy (formerly Idlewild) International Airport, New York World's Fair 1964–1965, and several reports on traffic congestion and freeways in urban areas. Each report is entered individually in the container list.

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, contact the Print Room Librarian at printroom@nyhistory.org.

Use Restrictions

Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to 20 exposures of stable, unbound material per day. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

The collection should be cited as: Clarke and Rapuano Landscape Architecture Collection, PR-080, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, New-York Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Domenico Annese, 1999, 2002.

Related Materials

Other aerial photographs of large housing projects can be found in the Thomas Airviews Collection (PR 106). Other material on the New York World's Fairs can be found throughout the Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, particularly in the Album File (PR 002) and in the Geographic Images Collection (PR 020).

Collection processed by

Julie Viggiano, Kate Fais, and Jenny Gotwals (2006); migrated to ArchivesSpace by Joseph Ditta (2020)

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:46:31 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

Julie Viggiano, Kate Fais, and Jenny Gotwals processed this collection in August 2006. Joseph Ditta migrated their WORD-document finding aid to ArchivesSpace in June 2020, and incorporated material found in an overlooked box (herein designated Box 7) in May 2023.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024