The Met presents the first-ever major museum exhibition to examine the career of the influential 20th-century architect Paul Rudolph, a second-generation Modernist, who came to prominence during the 1950s and 1960s alongside peers such as Eero Saarinen and I.M. Pei. Materialized Space: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph showcases the full breadth of Rudolph’s important contributions to architecture—from his early experimental houses in Florida to his civic commissions rendered in concrete, and from his utopian visions for urban megastructures and mixed-use skyscrapers to his extraordinary immersive New York interiors.
The exhibition gives visitors the opportunity to experience the evolution and diversity of Rudolph’s legacy and better understand how his work continues to inspire ideas of urban renewal and redevelopment in cities across the world. The presentation features a diverse range of over 80 artifacts and in a variety of scales, from small objects that he collected throughout his life to a mix of material generated from his office, including drawings, models, furniture, material samples, and photographs.
The exhibition is made possible by The Modern Circle.
Additional support is provided by The Daniel and Estrellita Brodsky Foundation, Ann M. Spruill and Daniel H. Cantwell, and the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.
The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in collaboration with the Library of Congress’s Paul Marvin Rudolph Archive.
The catalogue is made possible by the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Inc.