The GCA Objects to Frick Expansion Plans Threatening Russell Page Garden Integrity

May 29, 2018

The latest design proposals for expansion of the Frick museum appear to threaten the integrity of its historic Russell Page garden. In a letter to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, which considered the expansion plans on May 29, the GCA asked the commission to postpone action until the Frick and its architects carefully weigh and satisfactorily address issues concerning proposed changes to the garden.

The Frick’s 70th Street Garden is a rare public commission undertaken by Page and his only design in New York City. Plans to demolish it were successfully averted in 2014-15 in the wake of outcry from the public, including the GCA and its member clubs.

Currently under threat are garden elements on the northern perimeter that create the illusion of depth and green space farther in the distance, “an inventive, living trompe I’oeil that Page used to expand the dimensions of the constricted plot,” according to The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

Read the GCA’s letter.

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