This Upper East Side Duplex Apartment Is NYC's Newest Landmark

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A duplex apartment designed by architect Paul Rudolph inside the iconic Modulightor Building on East 58th Street is now an official city landmark, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission decided Tuesday.

The duplex, which includes the third and fourth floors of the building, operates as a house museum for Rudolph, a famous 20th-century architect known for brutalist and modernist shapes.

The Tuesday vote to landmark the interior passed unanimously.

"It's been years of working to this point," Kelvin Dickinson, the president and executive director of the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture, which is based inside the duplex apartment, told Patch. "It's a little overwhelming at the moment — in a good way."

The interior of the Modulightor duplex features a daring all-white, late-20th-century modern design, with cantilevered internal balconies, interlocking spaces, built-in furniture, and a double-height ceiling.

"In [Rudolph's] mind, good design is not about putting marble on walls — it's about the actual use of the space and how the space is designed such that it is never boring," Dickinson told Patch.

"I think that's what makes the apartment so interesting and why we've opened it to the public, and we get sold out every time."

The exterior of the building, which features a striking patchwork of windows and painted steel beams, was also designed by Rudolf and landmarked in 2023.

"His designs were not something people were used to. He was a very, very late modernist, a strict modernist, and if you like his work, then you like it. He didn't change his style for anybody," Dickinson told Patch.

Tuesday's designation makes the apartment New York City's 124th interior landmark.

"Its spatial complexity, innovative use of light, and carefully crafted architectural details reflect Rudolph’s unique vision and enduring influence," Sarah Carroll, the chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, said. "With today’s designation, we preserve a vital example of New York City’s rich design heritage, and ensure this special space will continue to inspire architects, designers, and visitors alike for generations to come."

Once a building's interior is landmarked, the Commission must approve any alteration, reconstruction, demolition, or new construction affecting the designated apartment to protect the historical significance of the architecture and design.

To qualify as an interior landmark, the space must be at least 30 years old and regularly open to the public, the Commission said.

The duplex operates as a museum for the architect with regular in-person tours and was first built in 1993, according to the Commission.

The building first opened to the public in 2002, after the architect's death, when Rudolph's partner opened the space to let people walk through, Dickinson said.

"Paul was very concerned at the end of his life that he was going to be forgotten. And the fact that we not only have an exterior but an interior landmark for the building would make him very proud," Dickinson said.

The Modulightor building is located at 246 East 58th St. right on the border of the Upper East Side and Midtown East.

Open House tours of the duplex are offered twice a month. Learn more here.

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.