To celebrate the centennial of its 1911 Beaux-Arts main building, the NYPL commissioned the first comprehensive exterior restoration of the structure. Workers repointed bricks using hydraulic lime mortar and applied protective treatments. More than 2,000 marble sculptures were restored, and unsympathetic alterations made over the years to bronze windows, grilles, and doors were undone.
Jury: “There is a high level of professionalism from everyone that worked on this project; everyone was a strong player, from the craftsmen to the design team.”
Client: “The most successful aspect of the project is the one that is most obvious to the eye: This brilliant Beaux-Arts masterpiece by Carrere and Hastings looks as gorgeous now as it did when it was completed in 1911. A century of grime, wear and tear, and poor restoration work has been swept away by the great work of our architects and by all the craftsmen and women who labored with such devotion on the project.” —Paul LeClerc, president emeritus, New York Public Library
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