Rockefeller Center emerged in the Depression era as a major redevelopment of Columbia University’s former Upper Estate in Midtown Manhattan under John D. Rockefeller Jr. The site had evolved from David Hosack’s Elgin Botanic Garden, opened in 1804, into a valuable urban property shaped by nearby growth and changing transit patterns. A planned Metropolitan Opera complex collapsed after the crash of 1929, and the project was recast as a center for media, commerce, and coordinated Art Deco design. Built from 1931 into 1940 by tens of thousands of workers, it became a defining architectural ensemble and a major turning point in Midtown’s development.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

New York, New York · USA