Rosario Candela (March 7, 1890 – October 3, 1953) was an Italian American architect who achieved renown through his apartment building designs in New York City, primarily during the boom years of the 1920s. He is credited with defining the city's characteristic terraced setbacks and signature penthouses. Over time, Candela's buildings have become some of New York's most coveted addresses. As architectural historian Christopher Gray has written: "Rosario Candela has replaced Stanford White as the real estate brokers' name-drop of choice. Nowadays, to own a 10- to 20-room apartment in a Candela-designed building is to accede to architectural as well as social cynosure."Gray, Christopher, in the foreword to: Alpern, Andrew (2001). The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter. New York: Acanthus Press. . OCLC 46385874.

Life

Early life and education Born in Montelepre, Italy in 1890, Candela immigrated to New York in 1906.U.S. Immigration Service. List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the U.S. Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival (Ship Manifest), Immigration Service Form 500 B. S.S. Napolitan Prince sailing from Palermo on November 12, 1906 and arriving in Port of New York on November 27, 1906. American Family Immigration History Center (Ellis Island Archives) posted this manifest online at www.ellisisland.org.U.S. Immigration Service. List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the U.S. Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival (Ship Manifest), Immigration Service Form 500 B. S.S. Sicilian Prince sailing from Palermo on October 22, 1906 and arriving in Port of New York on November 08, 1906. American Family Immigration History Center (Ellis Island Archives) posted this manifest online at www.ellisisland.org. He returned to Italy after his arrival to study there and returned to the US in 1909. His father was Michele Candela, a plasterer, and his mother was Josephine Pizzurro. He gained admission to the Columbia University School of Architecture and graduated in 1915. Keenly aware of his talent, he went so far as to erect a velvet rope around his drafting table to prevent other students from copying his designs.

Career After graduation, Candela worked briefly as a draftsman for the Palermo-born Italian-American architect, Gaetan Ajello. After another brief stint with the firm of Frederick Sterner, Candela set up his own practice in 1920. His first major commission was for an apartment house at West 92nd Street and Broadway. Shortly thereafter, he received his first commission for an East Side apartment at 1105 Park Avenue. Excerpted from book review by Carter B. Horsley During the next five years, Candela designed a number of residential buildings on the Upper West Side, primarily on West End Avenue and Riverside Drive. During this period, the West side was undergoing an intense transformation from an area of primarily single-family homes to one characterized by the apartment buildings.

Candela's greatest work would occur during the latter half of the 1920s, when he designed numerous apartment buildings on the Upper East Side, primarily on Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue, as well as at Sutton Place and other locations. In 1927 and 1928, Candela designed 19 apartment buildings, including 960 Fifth Avenue (at East 77th Street) and 720 Park Avenue (at East 70th Street). He had more commissions in 1929, but the housing boom had begun to slow prior to the stock market crash in October. Of 27 designs that year, only 12 were completed. These included 740, 770, 778 and 834 and 1040 Fifth Avenue.

The exteriors of his buildings tended to be understated, particularly in view of some of the more exuberant styles popular during the period. However, he was considered a master of design when it came to the interiors. Many apartments were constructed as duplex residences with grand entry foyers; curved, freestanding stairways; and dramatic public rooms. Some of the designs, including that of the John D. Rockefeller Jr. triplex at 740 Park Avenue, were palatial by even the considerable standards of the day. That triplex, of more than , "had, depending on who was counting, anywhere from 23 to 37 rooms, the discrepancy caused by such questions as whether one included hallways and foyers the size of ballrooms, servants quarters, and the fourteen bathrooms".

During the Great Depression, work fell off dramatically and Candela received only sporadic commissions. While the quantity declined considerably, the quality of his designs rarely suffered. During this time, he expressed his interest in codes and ciphers, publishing two books on the topic. He continued his practice up until his death in 1953. Chesley Bonestell, first an architect, and later a noted science fiction illustrator, painted two pictures for him, one of his home and one of his son.

Cryptography Candela began studying cryptography in 1930 after learning about the accomplishments of the Army Signal Corps in WWI.The New York Times. "Deciphering Military Codes Is Course In Hunter College Evening Division", September 28, 1941, D7. He decrypted messages originally coded in 1898 by Commandant Étienne Bazeries of the French Army. Commandant Bazeries was "one of the most brilliant cryptologists of his era,"Candela, Rosario. The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries (New York: Cardanus Press, 1938), 3. and developed an encryption method considered unbreakable.Rosario, p. 10 Candela wrote a book, The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries, in 1938 detailing how he broke Bazeries' code. Starting in 1941, Candela taught a class on cryptography and cryptanalytics at Hunter College in New York. At the time, the course was considered the only one of its kind offered to the public in the United States. When the war came, he worked for the OSS — the forerunner of the CIA.

Books by Candela

Bibliography

Alpern, Andrew; Christopher Gray, preface. David Netto, foreword. The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter. New York: Acanthus Press, 2001.

Work All within New York City unless otherwise noted. Source: listing in Emporis Buildings

Early 1900s 575 West End Avenue, 1914

1920s Clayton Apartments, 1922 (215 W. 92nd St.) 915 West End Avenue, 1922 1105 Park Avenue, 1923 304 West 89th Street, 1923Alpern, Andrew (2001). The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter. New York: Acanthus Press. . OCLC 46385874. 878 West End Avenue, 1923 522 West End Avenue, 1923 41 Fifth Avenue, 1923 320 West End Avenue, 1924 Charleton Apartments, 1924 875 West End Avenue, 1924 865 West End Avenue, 1924 755 West End Avenue, 1924 334 West 86th Street, 1924 425 Riverside Drive, 1924 240 West End Avenue, 1924 40 West 55th Street, 1924 300 West 108th Street, 1925 315 West 106th Street, 1925 Wellston Apartments (161 West 75th Street), 1925 855 Fifth Avenue, 1926 1172 Park Avenue, 1926 325 West 86th Street, 1926 800 West End Avenue, 1926 820 West End Avenue, 1926 607 West End Avenue, 1926 285 Riverside Drive, 1926 Oxford Tower (280 Riverside Drive), 1926 Berkeley Plaza Apts, 39 Plaza Street West, Brooklyn, 1926 Brazilian Court Hotel, Palm Beach, Florida, 1925 W New York – The Court, 1927 775 Park Avenue, 1927884 Fifth Avenue, 1927 990 Fifth Avenue, 1927 – with Warren & Wetmore 960 Fifth Avenue, 1928 – with Warren & Wetmore One Sutton Place South, 1927 – with Cross and Cross The Windsor Park (100 West 58th Street), 1927 The Van Doran, 1927 230 West End Avenue, 1927 2 East 67th Street (also known as 856 5th Avenue), 1928 4 Sutton Place, 1928 25 Sutton Place, 1928 2 East 70th Street, 1928, with Walker & GilletteNew York 1930: Architecture Between the Two World Wars, Robert A.M. Stern et al. 8 East 96th Street, 1928 447 East 57th Street, 1928 30 Sutton Place, 1928 47 Plaza Street West, Brooklyn, 1928 Westwind Apartments (175 West 93rd), 1928 360 Central Park West (North and South Buildings), 1928 including Second Presbyterian Church, 4 West 96th Street 1500 N Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 1928 1 Gracie Square, 1929 – with William Lawrence Bottomley 14 Sutton Place South, 1929 1192 Park Avenue, 1929 75 Central Park West, 1929 70 East 96th Street Apartments, 1929 133 East 80th Street, 1929 720 Park Avenue, 1929 – with Cross & Cross 40 East 66th Street, 1929 40 West 67th Street, 1929 740 Park Avenue, 1929 – with Shreve & Lamb 995 Fifth Avenue Stanhope Hotel, 1929 1040 Fifth Avenue, 1929

1930s 1220 Park Avenue, 1930 770 Park Avenue, 1930 1040 Fifth Avenue, 1930 1021 Park Avenue, 1930 834 Fifth Avenue, 1930 12 East 88th Street, 1931 1500 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 1931 56 Seventh Avenue, 1931 778 Park Avenue, 1931 2 Beekman Place, 1932 3 Times Square (Rialto Theatre), 1935 (replaced by Reuters Building, 2001) Normandie Theatre (51 East 53rd Street), 1936 (demolished in the 1950s) 19 East 72nd Street, with Mott B. Schmidt, 1936 Regency Park, 1937 955 Fifth Avenue, 1938

Outside of New York City: Personal Normandy Style home in Harrison, New York 1930 Personal homes of friends in Bronxville and Tarrytown

1940s 44 East 67th Street, 1941 135 East 54th Street, 1948 1 East 66th Street, 1948 Twin apartments on Collins Ave. In Mount Vernon abutting the Fleetwood train station. 3103 Fairfield Avenue, Riverdale, The Bronx (1949)

1950s Montclair on the Park, St. Louis, MO, 1951 Public School 87, NY, NY, 1953

Footnotes

External links

Rosario Candela Buildings Images & Descriptions at Brick And Cornice