The Master Building

History and architecture

The Master Building, erected in 1928-29 to house an apartment hotel and museum, is an innovative and significant example of the work of Harvey Wiley Corbett, an architect influential in skyscraper design, and expresses his successful employment of sculptural massing, vertical emphasis, and the minimal, yet elegant, use of surface ornamentation and historically-inspired detailing. The design of the building includes many strong and well-integrated features representative of the best of New York City's Art Deco style skyscrapers, including patterned brickwork which varies in color from dark at the base to light at the tower, setbacks, irregular and faceted massing of the upper stories, and an ornamental cap.

The use of corner windows, influenced by modern European architecture, was the most innovative feature of the building and was cited in contemporary accounts as the first appearance of this feature in a skyscraper in New York City and particularly appropriate for a building with views of Riverside Park and the Hudson River. The Master Building was commissioned by Louis L. and Nettie Horch, followers and patrons of the Russian artist and mystic Nicholas Roerich, to Whom the museum was dedicated and from whom the building derives its name; this unusual combination of uses is masterfully reflected in the design.

The building has played an important cultural role in New York City, housing first the Roerich Museum and later the Riverside Museum, as well as an art school, the Master Institute of United Arts, and most recently the Equity Library Theater. The Master Building continues to be a distinctive feature in the Upper West Side skyline as one of the most prominent structures along Riverside Drive.