This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
Architectural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, structural, and elevator drawings for the Eldorado Apartment Building at 300 Central Park West in New York City.
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
This collection was donated by 300 CPW Apartments Corporation in 2017.
2018.005
Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
The Eldorado (300 Central Park West, NYC) is an iconic apartment building designed by Margon & Holder in association with Emery Roth, one of the most prolific architects of important hotels and apartment buildings in Manhattan during the 1920s and 1930s. Home to many prominent New Yorkers, including Senator Royal Copeland and the important rabbi of Reform Judaism Stephen Wise, the thirty-story Eldorado is one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the city due to its geometric ornament, contrasting materials, and futuristic sculpture. The massing of the building is evidence of the first zoning laws passed in New York (1916) that mandated setbacks to allow light and air to reach streets below. Such setback designs became a signature of Roth's architecture, as well as the New York City skyline. These original linen drawings document floor plans of the Eldorado, which were the primary responsibility of Roth.