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James S. Russell (b. 1952. Seattle, WA) is an architectural writer, critic and journalist who lives and works in New York City. He is currently the architecture columnist for Bloomberg News, and from 1998 to 2005, he was an editor of Architectural Record magazine. Russell also contributes to numerous other publications, including the the New York Times, the Harvard Design Magazine, among others. A registered architect in New York, he practiced architecture with firms in New York City, Philadelphia, and Seattle before becoming a full-time writer. Russell received his Master of Architecture (MArch) at Columbia University in 1980.

Douglas Putnam Haskellan (1899-1979) was an American writer, architecture critic and magazine editor. This collection contains correspondence, memos, articles, speeches, lectures, transcripts, clippings, notes, printed matter, photographs, audiotapes, and memorabilia mainly relating to Douglas Haskell's editorship at Architectural Forum and his professional activities. The collection includes items dating from 1866 to 1979, with the majority of materials dating from the period of 1949 to 1964.

Robert Allan Jacobs (1905-1993) was an American architect and designer active in the United States from the 1930s until his retirement in the early 1980s. His work consists primarily of commercial projects, including numerous skyscrapers in New York City, along with a richly varied corpus of other institutional, residential, and commercial projects--primarily centered in New York City and its surrounding suburbs but ranging as far afield as South Africa and the Dominican Republic. The son of the notable Beaux-Arts architect Harry Allan Jacobs, Robert Allan Jacobs was educated at Amherst College and the Columbia University School of Architecture. Jacobs began his career as a disciple of Le Corbusier, went on to serve as a designer and draftsman for Harrison & Fouilhoux, and then formed a partnership with Ely Jacques Kahn in 1941--thus commencing three decades of pioneering collaborative design work that would leave an indelible mark on the Manhattan skyline. Together, Kahn & Jacobs made their debut with the Municipal Asphalt Plant in 1941 and went on to design such iconic projects as 100 Park Avenue (1944), the Universal Pictures Building (1947), 1407 Broadway (1950), 425 Park Avenue (1957), the Seagram Building (in collaboration with Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson, 1958), the Astor Plaza Building (in collaboration with Carson & Lundin, 1961), the New York Telephone Building (1969), and One Astor Place (1970).

Gordon Bunshaft (1909-1990) was an American architect who, as a partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, had a significant impact on large-scale corporate architecture. His projects include such significant urban office towers as the Lever House in midtown Manhattan, as well as modern office campuses set in natural landscapes, including such examples as the American Can Company in Greenwich, Connecticut or the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company headquarters in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Additionally, his interest in art caused him to actively integrate work by well-known modern artists into the public plazas and interiors of SOM's projects. The professional aspects of this collection can be found in clippings, project photography, oral history records, and publications, however, the majority of the collection is personal and reflects the life of Gordon and his wife Nina Bunshaft. Through correspondence, snapshots, objects, and personal papers the collection focuses on the Bunshafts' friends, their travels, and their impressive art collection of both modern and ancient sculptures and paintings.