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Upper East Side, , Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

The Metropolitan Museum, the most important art institution in the Western Hemisphere, is contained in one of the most notable monumental structures remaining in New York City. The first of the fifteen units comprising the colossal building, was begun in 1874 and the expansion program is still continuing.

Although these component parts were designed by eminent architects and reflect diverse architectural styles, they are well related in scale to each other. Some consider the dramatic central element of the long limestone facade facing Fifth Avenue to be the most significant architecturally. Completed in 1902, it represents Richard Morris Hunt's masterpiece in the Roman style.

This imposing entrance with its wide, central flight of stairs is comprised of three monumental arches set between four pairs of free standing Corinthian columns on high pedestals each with its own entablature. They support massive blocks of stone which were intended to become sculptural groups set in front of a high attic story. Crowning this attic story is an ornately decorated cornice with female heads connected by swags.

The richness of this design of Hunt's is in marked contrast to the initial Victorian Gothic unit designed by Calvert Vaux in 1880. Two subsequent additions to the north and south were built in 1888 and 1894. Facing the park and set well back from the Avenue, these buildings are of red brick with stone base, trim, and cornice and high pitched slate roofs. Hunt's creation blocked out the view of this original group, and his design succeeded in determining the future architectural character of the entire Fifth Avenue facade.

Two contiguous units to the north completed in 1911 and 1913 and two to the south completed in 1916 and 1926 were designed by McKim, Mead & White. These extremely handsome additions, though simpler, are in complete harmony with Hunt's classic central portion.

Another unit, unusually significant architecturally but seen only from the Park and from a courtyard at the northwest corner of the Museum complex, is the facade of the Old Assay Office Building which was located on Wall Street from 1824 to 1912. Saved from destruction by I. N. Phelps Stokes, this facade was dismantled in 1915 and stored on the Museum grounds until it was re-erected in 1924 at its present location as a part of the American Wing. Of marble and in the Federal style, it was designed by Martin E. Thompson and is one of the most beautiful examples of the refined architecture characteristic of that period.
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History of the Museum

The idea for a great museum in New York City was born on July 4 1866 when John Jay, speaking at an assembly in Paris, called upon a group of his friends for "the foundation of a national institution and gallery of art." The Museum was actually founded in 1870, although neither funds, building, nor one single work of art belonged to the corporation at that time.

Two temporary downtown houses served the Museum until Vaux's initial structure was completed in 1880. The objectives listed in the Museum's charter of "encouraging and developing the study of fine arts, and the application of arts to manufacture and practical life, of advancing the general knowledge of kindred subjects, and to that end, of furnishing popular instruction" were put into effect at this time.

Following these guiding principles, the Metropolitan's activities have prospered to the extent that it is today as much a giant educational institution as it is a depository for great art.

What started as a single building in 1880 has grown into a complex of fifteen separate but connected units, that cover the equivalent of four city blocks and seventeen and a half acres of floor space. With a collection of over 265,000 individual works of art and visited by some six million persons annually, the Museum has indeed become a great and cultural institution. Today, it is acknowledged as one of the renowned museums.

- From the 1967 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

Columbia University, Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

Low Memorial Library is a majestic building of truly monumental proportions. It is situated on a slight rise overlooking the south campus of Columbia University. This Roman stone building, designed in the form of a Greek cross, displays great classic grandeur. One of its chief features is an imposing Ionic portico (porch), consisting of ten superb fluted columns, supporting a simple cornice and high attic story, inscribed with references to the original King's College charter, An octagonal shaped drum, containing large semi-circular (lunette) windows, rises above the central portion of the building. Crowning the whole is a round low dome. Modelled on the Pantheon in Rome, the library building exhibits but little ornamental decoration and relies for its beauty on the strength of its pure classic form.

This remarkable building occupies an important site on the campus and in this setting plays a major role in the academic life of the University. Centrally located on the long axis of the campus, north of College Walk (116th Street), the building is separated from the street, by several flights of steps, two landings and a wide esplanade which terminates in landscaped areas. Located midway up the steps is the world renowned statue of Alma Mater, by Daniel Chester French, her outstretched arms welcoming all who come on campus. At the annual commencement ceremonies, weather permitting, the impressive graduation ceremony is held here in this dramatic setting with the library in the background.

Columbia University, chartered by George II in 1754 as Kings College, is the oldest college in New York State. Columbia came to Morningside Heights in 1897 and Low Library was the first major building erected on the present university site. The gift of Columbia president Seth Low, it was dedicated to the memory of his father Abiel A. Low. Once the main library of the University, it now serves as the administrative center where major academic gatherings and convocations are held. The interior rotunda, surrounded with magnificent Ionic columns, is especially well adapted to receptions. Among the noted guests that the University has received under the domed rotunda, have been King George VI of England and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, Sir Winston Churchill, President Auriol of France and Nehru of India.

- From the 1966 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report