Austrian Cultural Forum

11 East 52nd Street | Midtown | built 2000

Open on the map7 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1942

    Austrian immigrants found the Austrian Institute in New York, with Irene Harand as vice president

    The institution now called the Austrian Cultural Forum began in 1942 as the Austrian Institute, set up in New York by Austrian immigrants to preserve and spread Austrian culture. One of its leading figures was the émigré Irene Harand, who served as vice president. It later took the name Austrian Cultural Forum and settled at 11 East 52nd Street.

    “…founded as the Austrian Institute in 1942 in New York City by Austrian immigrants to the United States…”

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1963

    The Austrian cultural office opens in the townhouse at 11 East 52nd Street

    In 1963 the institute opened offices at 11 East 52nd Street, becoming the Austrian federal government's official cultural representative in New York. The building then was a townhouse, which in 2002 was succeeded on the same plot by the current tower.

    “…it opened offices at its current location at 11 East 52nd Street in Manhattan, as the official cultural representation office…”

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 1985

    Staff in the old townhouse sit without heat in winter, and talk turns to a new building

    By the mid-1980s the friendly little townhouse needed a very costly renovation that would have added no space. Peter Marboe, later a champion of the tower, recalled that staff sat at their desks with no heat in winter and no air conditioning in summer. Foreign Minister Alois Mock wanted instead to make an architectural statement in New York.

    Source: acfny.org

  4. 1992

    Austria's largest public architecture competition draws 226 entries and Raimund Abraham wins

    Austria's Parliament approved a new building for the cultural institute, and the Foreign Ministry opened a competition to all Austrian and expatriate Austrian architects. Marboe called it the largest public competition in the country's history; the 226 models were displayed in Vienna's Messepalast. Raimund Abraham, an Austrian-born New York architect, won the commission in 1992.

    Source: acfny.org

  5. 1992

    Abraham puts the fire stair at the back to fit a 24-story tower on a 25-by-81-foot lot

    In the 1992 competition, Abraham's key choice was moving the required emergency stair to the rear, leaving the full width of the site for usable rooms. According to the Forum, he was the only one of the 226 entrants to do so. He described the tower as three elements: a rear stair called the Vertebra, a structural Core, and a glass street front called the Mask. The 30,000-square-foot building tapers upward to meet zoning rules.

    Source: acfny.org

  6. 2002

    April 19

    The tower is dedicated on April 18 and opens to the public the next day

    Construction began in September 1998 and finished in January 2002. The building, owned by the Republic of Austria, was dedicated on April 18, 2002, and opened to the public on April 19. It was the first major United States project for Abraham.

    Source: acfny.org

  7. 2002

    New York magazine reviews the new Austrian Cultural Forum as a work of art as it opens

    As the glass doors opened, the magazine's architecture critic called the tower a haunting 24-story facade, part totem pole and part mask, and one of the few recent buildings in the city worth calling art. It noted that Abraham, a Cooper Union professor, had given up his Austrian citizenship in protest at Jörg Haider's party joining the government in Vienna.

    Source: nymag.com

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