Editing Wallace Harrison (section)

==Career==
Harrison's work in the mid-20th century comprised large, modernist public projects and office buildings.  He worked for [[McKim, Mead & White]] and [[Bertram Grovesnor Goodhue]] from 1916 to 1923, and later formed a series of architectural partnerships. Harrison participated with the architectural teams involved in the [[construction of Rockefeller Center]] in New York City, completed in 1939.  His brother-in-law was married to [[John D. Rockefeller Jr.]]'s daughter, Abigail<ref>Icons of American Architecture: From the Alamo to the World Trade Center By Donald Langmead</ref> and Harrison served as a designer and architectural adviser for [[Nelson Rockefeller]], notably in the years when Rockefeller was governor of New York.

In 1941, Harrison joined with [[Max Abramowitz]] to form the firm of [[Harrison & Abramovitz|Harrison & Abramowitz]]. In partnership with Abramovitz, Harrison designed scores of university and corporate buildings, including the [[Time-Life Building|Time & Life]] (1959) and Socony-Mobil (1956), both designated New York City landmarks.<ref name="Caroline Rob Zaleski 2012 Pg. 26">Caroline Rob Zaleski, ''Long Island Modernism'' (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2012): Pg. 26</ref>

Among Harrison's most noted projects are the [[Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center)|Metropolitan Opera House]] at the [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts]] and the [[Empire State Plaza]] in [[Albany, New York]]. He also served as Director of Planning on the [[Headquarters of the United Nations|United Nations complex]], which was built on slaughter house property contributed by the Rockefeller family (the Rockefellers owned the Tudor City Apartments across First Avenue). Harrision developed the design for the [[Pershing Park|Pershing Memorial]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], which is now home to the National World War I Memorial.<ref>Thomas E. Luebke, ed., ''Civic Art:  A Centennial History of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts'' (Washington, D.C.:  U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, 2013):  Appendix B, p. 545.</ref> In addition to his architectural work, Harrison served as master planner and supervising architect for a number of important [[Long Island]]-based projects, including the [[1939 New York World's Fair|World's Fairs of 1939]] and [[1964 New York World's Fair|1964]] in [[Flushing, Queens]], and [[LaGuardia]] and [[Idlewild Airport|Idlewild]] (now [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|John F. Kennedy]]) airports.<ref name="Caroline Rob Zaleski 2012 Pg. 26"/>

Harrison's major projects are marked by straightforward planning and sensible functionalism, although his residential side-projects show more experimental flair. In 1931, Harrison established an {{convert|11|acre|ha|adj=on}} [[Wallace K. Harrison Estate|summer retreat]] in [[West Hills, New York]], which was a very early example and workshop for the [[International Style (architecture)|International Style]] in the United States, and a social and intellectual center of architecture, art, and politics. The home includes a {{convert|32|ft|m|adj=on}} circular living room that is rumored to have been the prototype for the [[Rainbow Room]] in [[Rockefeller Center]]. Two other circular rooms complete the center of Harrison's design. Frequent visitors and guests included Nelson Rockefeller, [[Robert Moses]], [[Marc Chagall]], [[Le Corbusier]], [[Alexander Calder]], and [[Fernand Léger]]. Harrison's expansive country property also exhibited his relationships with contemporary architects. For example, shortly after purchasing the property in 1931, Harrison and his wife bought the [[Aluminaire House]], an iconic, compact, ready-to-assemble steel-and-aluminum structure designed by Swiss architect [[Albert Frey (architect)|Albert Frey]] and then editor of Architectural Record, [[A. Lawrence Kocher]].<ref>Caroline Rob Zaleski, ''Long Island Modernism'' (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2012): Pg. 29</ref>

Harrison collected works by Calder and Léger and commissioned new ones for buildings that he designed, including his country house in [[West Hills, New York]] on Long Island, a pavilion at the [[1939 New York World's Fair]], parts of Rockefeller Center; and the United Nations headquarters.<ref>Eve M. Kahn (May 8, 2014), [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/arts/design/a-glimpse-of-leger-a-good-look-at-lalique.html A Glimpse of Léger, a Good Look at Lalique] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601051244/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/arts/design/a-glimpse-of-leger-a-good-look-at-lalique.html |date=June 1, 2016 }} ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref> Léger waited out part of [[World War II]] by painting a mural at the bottom of Harrison's swimming pool. Léger also created a large mural for the home's circular living room and sculpted an abstract form to serve as a skylight. Calder's first show is said to have taken place at the home.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} In 1965, Harrison was appointed to a commission to choose modern art works for the [[Empire State Plaza#Art collection|Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection]] in Albany, NY.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection and Plaza Memorials |date=May 3, 2002 |publisher=Rizzoli International Publications |isbn=0847824551 |page=11}}</ref>

Between 1941 and 1943, Harrison designed and built the Clinton Hill Coops, a 12-building coop complex split between two campuses along Clinton Ave. in [[Brooklyn]], to house the Brooklyn Navy Yards workers.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://architectuul.com/architect/wallace-kirkman-harrison |title=Article in "Architectuul" |access-date=October 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013065914/http://architectuul.com/architect/wallace-kirkman-harrison |archive-date=October 13, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Harrison's architectural drawings and archives are held by the Drawings and Archives Department of [[Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library]] at [[Columbia University]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/collections/ldpd_3460617/ |title=Wallace K. Harrison architectural drawings and papers, 1913–1986 bulk 1930–1980 |access-date=October 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029194218/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/collections/ldpd_3460617/ |archive-date=October 29, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Harrison was a member of the [[United States Commission of Fine Arts]] from 1955 to 1959. In 1967, Harrison received the [[AIA Gold Medal]].<ref>Luebke, ''Civic Art''; Richard Guy Wilson, ''The AIA Gold Medal'' (New York:  McGraw-Hill, 1984).</ref> In 1938, he was elected into the [[National Academy of Design]] as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1948.