This post was written by WHSAD 9th grader Edson Lopez. It details, from a student’s perspective, a walking tour of Rockefeller Center that was conducted by WHSAD’s newest partner, The Art Deco Society. This walking tour was the culminating activity of a 9th grade unit of study on art deco that was co-taught by The Art Deco Society and 9th grade Architecture and Design teachers Mr. Geringer and Mr. Rodriguez.
Rockefeller Center Walking Tour
by Edson Lopez
In March 29, Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Geringer hosted a trip about Art Deco. We went to the Rockefeller Center to learn about the Art Style called Art Deco. Art Deco is a type of Art Style that originated around the 1920’s. It uses mostly geometric shapes and strong colors.
When we got to the Rockefeller Center we were waiting for a lady named Sybil. She was going to be the person who will give us a tour around the Rockefeller Center. She talked about the buildings and some of the designs the buildings had. She told us that the buildings used Spandrels in between the windows. Some buildings have designs such as people or words on it saying something such as “Wisdom and Knowledge should be the Stability of thy times” to catch the viewers attention. The main lobby of the Rockefeller Center it has a painting the represents the improvements of men. It was also a tribute to the workers who built the Rockefeller Center.
There was other buildings we saw around the Rockefeller Center such as Radio City. Radio City had some nice designs on the side of the building. One of the other buildings had a small statue of Charles Lindbergh, who was the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Paris. In the middle of two buildings in the Rockefeller Center there’s these gardens called the Channel Gardens. Throughout the year it changes, such as this week there was an Easter bunny in the middle. The Channel Gardens represent equality between the British and the French.
