An exhibition of architectural drawings and photographs, titled “Architecture = Art: The Susan Grant Lewin Collection,” is now on view at Paul Rudolph‘s Modulightor Building in Manhattan, New York. Hosted by the Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture (PRIMA), the collection brings together works by prominent architects, including Eileen Gray, Daniel Arsham, Frank Gehry, Jesse Reiser, Hani Rashid, Steven Holl, Aldo Rossi, Michael Graves, James Wines, Stanley Tigerman, John Hejduk, among others. The drawings are accompanied by a selection of photographs by architectural photographers such as Ezra Stoller, Robin Hill, Norman McGrath, Paul Clemence, and others. The exhibition opened on July 2 and will remain on view until September 20, 2025.
Approximately 50 architectural presentation drawings occupy two floors of the Modulightor Building, named for the lighting company Paul Rudolph founded with Ernst Wagner in 1976. The building is considered an example of late modernist architecture in New York City and was conceived as both a showroom and workspace for the company, while the upper floors were planned as rental apartment units. Rudolph became the project’s client, architect, and contractor in order to complete it in 1989. Featuring open, multi-level interiors and reflective surfaces, the building embodies Rudolph’s ideas about layered space, interlocking volumes, and light manipulation.
The exhibited drawings, whether hand-drawn or digitally rendered, are conceptual or presentation works. The selection, curated by Eshaan Mehta, reflects drawing as an essential part of the architect’s expressive process, while representing multiple generations and ideologies. The collection emphasizes the persuasiveness and imagination captured in the drawings more than their documentary value. The authors are thus considered to share a deep commitment to drawing as both a communicative tool and an artistic medium. The selection of photographs follows this same spirit, being described as “not merely records of completed buildings but carefully composed works that stand on their own as art.” The curatorial approach highlights their expression of atmosphere, intention, and the emotional experience of architectural space, underscoring the role photography plays in shaping our understanding of the built environment.
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I want to collect architects, photographers, and designers who are at the top of their game and contributing to the field. These drawings transcend function. They are personal, poetic, and often provocative. They show how architecture begins with a bold visual idea. – Susan Grant Lewin, architecture and design collector
Other exhibitions in New York City include one dedicated to Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa’s Nakagin Capsule Tower, hosted at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) from July 10, 2025, through July 12, 2026, and the reopening of the New Museum in fall 2025 with an exhibition exploring the very definition of humanity. Other upcoming events in the architecture and design field include the 18th Istanbul Biennial, Türkiye’s largest international exhibition dedicated to contemporary art, to be realized in three stages between 2025 and 2027, and the first edition of the Copenhagen Architecture Biennial, opening on September 18, 2025.
