HIGHLIGHT! George and Edward Blum

Source: Office of Metropolitan History 

    by Shannon Brown
  
      George and Edward Blum aka the Blum Brothers studied at the Ecole des Beaux- Arts during the 20^th century. After their studies, they created the Admaston (251 west 89th street) and few other buildings with this architectural feature such as the Evanston (610 West End Avenue, the Phaeton (539 West 112th Street) and many others. 

       George Blum was the more the laid back and opinionated brother who had similar ideas as his brother but different intentions as to how the buildings would be or appear to look in others eyes. Also Blum graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1894 and in that same year he took the bar exam and a partnership in a firm with John B. Fleming called "the firm of Fleming and Blum".

   

    Edward Blum was the more creative brother out the both of them. He came up with the most design ideas. Blum attended Columbia University from which he received his degree in architecture. He later formed a firm with his brother George and built some of the most well-known and geometrically designed buildings. 

   

499 Seventh Avenue

Terra Cotta design panels

    As an individual each brother had the same intentions to come together to create the same design idea in buildings. In result to that they both collaborated and eventually had their owned firm called “the firm of George & Edward Blum”, which received more than 170 commissions in Manhattan alone between 1909 & 1930. Their most common façade details are designs made of Terra-Cotta, brick; usually geometrical shapes for the buildings front entrances and street façade. The brothers mainly gravitated towards Renaissance themed facades but depended on masonry and metalwork.


~ My name is Shannon Brown and I'm an intern at Landmark West! I will be entering my senior year of high school in September 2015. My experience here has been a great one so far but hope to share more research before the summer is out.

GUEST BLOG :: The Future of Development on the Upper West Side

An Intern's Perspective
As reported by Kate Gilmore (more on Kate below!)

The NYC Dept. of City Planning Zoning Handbook

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the New York City zoning resolution. The last comprehensive resolution was adopted in 1961, and since then the document has been tweaked and expanded from the original 81 pages to nearly 1,000 pages!  It is a complex patchwork of regulations that only a few city planning veterans understand, yet it governs the shape of our beloved city. What to do?


This past semester I participated in a graduate level, urban planning studio led by Elliott Sclar, Professor of Urban Planning and the Director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD).  We examined the impact of the current zoning on an iconic New York City neighborhood, the Upper West Side. The studio grappled with the difficult question of how to balance preservation and development.

Photo: LANDMARK WEST!

The studio of nine students began by focusing on the iconic Central Park West skyline and used the skyline as a lens to understand the forces that have impacted the Upper West Side. As seen in the timeline below, the skyline has been shaped by different theories of urbanism and government interventions over time.

Click to view this image in enlarged PDF format.
Image: From Columbia studio final report; graphic by Alex Wallach

Using history to understand where the UWS has been, the studio was better able to plan for where it is going. Putting the case study of the UWS into the larger framework of New York City, the studio analyzed how institutional decisions impact the character of the City’s neighborhoods. Ultimately, the studio developed an integrated approach that considers community input and regulatory recommendations in order to proactively shape future growth that is sensitive to neighborhood character.

Tying proposed solutions back to original problems.
Image: Columbia Studio final report

On June 23, 2011, an informal gathering of some of the leading thinkers in the fields of planning, preservation, law and real estate convened to hear the studio's final presentation. The presentation led to a lively discussion and debate.  Re-occurring themes emerged including the opacity of the as-of-right development process, the need to re-evaluate our current set of planning tools, and much more! The studio's hope is that this meeting is the first of many that will lead to an ongoing dialogue in preparation for a Zoning symposium this Fall at Columbia University.  Access the full report via the Columbia Univ. website (click here); stay tuned to LW's YouTube channel for video of the June presentation!

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Kate Gilmore is a second year graduate student at Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.  She is completing a dual degree in Urban Planning and Historic Preservation. Before coming to LW!, Kate has been hard at work finishing her first year of coursework in Urban Planning. She loves exploring the forces that shape different New York City neighborhoods (zoning, historic districts, development, etc.) and has spent a lot of time attending community boards meetings this past year to see how community input factors into the planning and preservation process.

Look forward to more from Kate throughout the summer here on the LW! blog.

SPECIAL INVITATION :: For Residents of West End Avenue and Environs

West End Avenue Walking Tour

For Residents of the proposed West End - Collegiate Historic District Extension

** UPDATE **  Since first announcing this FREE public tour, we've had an overwhelming response from residents of the West End Avenue neighborhood who want to learn more about this area!  To accommodate even more people we've added a second tour of the area ...

View of West End Avenue.

LW! invites you on an early evening walking tour of a section within the proposed extensions of the historic districts along West End Avenue, focusing on the area between 70th and 79th Streets.  A tour will be led by Andrew S. Dolkart, the Director of the Historic Preservation Program at Columbia University's School of Architect, Planning and Preservation.  AND NOW a second tour will be led by preservation consultant Gregory Dietrich.

West End Avenue, an assortment of grand residences, houses of worship and educational institutions, offers a cohesive picture of the development of the Upper West Side.  A strikingly consistent streetwall of uniform cornice heights, harmonious materials and creative interpretations of historical styles showcases the work of many of the city's most prolific, if less recognized, architects, such as Schwartz and Gross, Neville and Bagge, and brothers George and Edward Blum.

LW! invites our friends and neighbors residing in the proposed West End Avenue historic district extensions, of which there are three, to attend at no charge.  This is a terrific opportunity to learn more about the history of West End Avenue prior to the Tuesday, June 28th, public hearing at the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Not a resident of West End Avenue?  Contact us about being added to the tour waiting list.

*Preference will be given to those who did not already attend the March 9th informational breakfast session of the proposed historic district extensions.  Space is limited.  To RSVP call (212) 496-8110 or email landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org.