Duke House and the Making of Modern New York: Lives and Afterlives of a Fifth Avenue Mansion

Featuring new archival research and previously unpublished photographs and architectural plans, this volume fundamentally revises our understanding of the development of modern New York, focusing on elite domestic architecture within the contexts of social history, urban planning, architecture, interior design, and adaptive re-use. Contributions from emerging and established scholars, art historians, and practitioners offer a multi-faceted analysis of major figures such as Horace Trumbauer, Julian Francis Abele, Robert Venturi, and Richard Kelly. Taking the James B. Duke House, now home to NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, as its point of departure, this collection provides fresh perspectives on domestic spaces, urban forms, and social reforms that shaped early-twentieth century New York into the modern city we know today.

Jean-Louis Cohen is the Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts. Trained as an architect and an art historian in Paris, Cohen has curated many exhibitions and published more than forty books.

Daniella Berman is an art historian and curator specializing in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century art. Trained at NYU's Institute of Fine Arts, Berman has contributed to various exhibitions and their publications including Jacques Louis David: Radical Draftsman (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2022).

Jon Ritter is Clinical Professor in the Department of Art History, Urban Design and Architecture at New York University. President of the Society of Architectural Historian’s New York Chapter, Ritter holds a doctorate from NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts.