Detail View: Archivision Base to Module 9: Rockefeller Center; Channel Gardens, Promenade and Plaza
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Preferred Title:
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Rockefeller Center; Channel Gardens, Promenade and Plaza
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Alternate Title:
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Channel Gardens, Promenade and Plaza
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Image View:
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Channel Gardens; nereid ""Imagination""
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Creator:
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Paul Manship (American sculptor, 1885-1966); Raymond M. Hood (American architect, 1881-1934); Rene Paul Chambellan (American sculptor, 1893-1955)
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Location:
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site: New York, New York, United States
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Location Note:
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Between 50th and 49th Streets and 5th Avenue and the Promenade (pedestrian street)
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GPS:
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+40.758701-73.978437
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Date:
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ca. 1934-1936 (creation)
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Cultural Context:
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American
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Style Period:
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Art Deco; Twentieth century
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Work Type 1:
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promenade (walkway)
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Work Type 2:
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sculpture (visual work)
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Work Type 3:
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fountain
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Classification:
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landscape architecture
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Material:
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bronze; paving; plant materials; gold leaf
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Technique:
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casting (process); gardening
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Measurements:
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59 ft (wide, ice rink) x 122 ft (length, ice rink)
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Relation Work:
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partOf Rockefeller Center
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Description:
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The Channel Gardens separates La Maison Française (610 Fifth Avenue) from the British Empire Building (620 Fifth Avenue), just as the English Channel separates the two countries. The gardens are built on a gentle slope leading to the Sunken Plaza. There are 6 pools with fountainhead sculptures. The tritons, nereids, and other bronze creatures in the garden fountains are the work of sculptor René Chambellan. The design for each of them was personally approved by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The Sunken Plaza was planned primarily to lure customers down to the center's extensive underground concourses. It was equipped with a winter ice skating rink for the first time in 1936. It contains the Manship statues ""Mankind (Maiden and Youth)"" flanking the entrance and the gold gilded ""Prometheus"" in the plaza fountain. The Promenade between the Plaza and 30 Rockefeller Center was originally planned as a through street, but a building owner on West 52nd St. blocked that plan and eventually it was closed to traffic. (Source: Rockefeller Center [website]; http://www.rockefellercenter.com/)
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Image Description:
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The six bronze fountainhead sculptures by René Chambellan are nereids and tritons that symbolize Leadership, Will, Thought, Imagination, Energy and Alertness. They ride different fish and cetaceans including a shark, sturgeon and porpoise. Each are approximately 3 ft high, 1935.
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Collection:
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Archivision Addition Module Eight
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Identifier:
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1A1-RH-RC-S12
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Rights:
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© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.
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