Test your design IQ
MANILA, Philippines - Who is the American architect who was considered the master builder of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island and Westchester County who is considered the shaper of a modern city?
He was born to German-Jewish parents in New Haven, Connecticut on Dec. 18, 1888. After graduating from Yale University and Wadham College, Oxford, and earning a PhD. in political science from Columbia University, he became attracted to New York City reform politics. His intelligence was noticed by Belle Moskowitz, a friend and trusted advisor to Al Smith, who later became New York governor.
He received numerous commissions that he carried out extraordinarily well, such as the development of the Jones Bridge State Park.
During the depression he, along with Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was responsible for the construction of 10 gigantic pools under the WPA program that when combined could accommodate 66,000 swimmers.
His closeness to both state and city officials allowed him to hold simultaneous jobs in both state and city governments. At one point, he had 12 separate titles, maintaining four palatial offices across the city and Long Island, and was in control of all federal appropriations. For the city, he was parks commissioner, and for the state he was president of the Long Island State Park Commission and the secretary of state of New York (1927-1928), as well as chairman of the New York State Power Commission, responsible for building hydroelectric dams in the Niagara/St. Lawrence region.
While he had power over the construction of all public housing projects, the one position that gave him political power was his chairmanship of the Triborough Bridge Authority. The Triborough Bridge (now the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge), a cluster of three separate spans, connects the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens. The bridge’s toll revenues, which amounted to tens of millions of dollars a year, allowed him to fund other large public construction projects.
With that, he changed shorelines, built bridges, tunnels, and roadways, and transformed neighborhoods forever. His decisions favoring highways over public transit helped create the modern suburb of Long Island and influenced a generation of engineers, architects, and urban planners who spread his philosophy across the nation.
From the 1930s to the 1960s, he was responsible for the construction of the Throgs Neck, the Bronx-Whitestone, the Henry Hudson, and the Verrazano Narrows bridges. His other projects included the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the staten Island Expressway, the Cross-Bronx Expressway, the Belt Parkway, and the Laurelton Parkway.
He was the mover behind the Shea Stadium and the Lincoln Center, and contributed to the United Nations Headquarters. He passed away on July 29, 1981.
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Last week’s question: Who is the Australian chef, restaurateur and food writer best known for The Cook’s Companion, an alphabetical guide to ingredients cooking, and for her national program that aims to develop healthy eating habits among children?
Answer: Stephanie Alexander
Winner: Leopoldo Suarez Jr. of Quezon City
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Text your answer to 0927-9148817 with your name and address. One winner will be chosen through a raffle of texts with the correct answer. The winner will receive P2,000 worth of SM gift certificates for use at Our Home, SM Department Store, or SM Supermarket. They can claim their prize at Our Home in SM Megamall. Call Roma Cortes or Apple Caballes at 634-1951, 634-1952. Bring photocopies of two valid IDs and a clipping of the Design Quiz issue in which you appear as winner.
