Emery Roth was a Hungarian-American architect of Hungarian-Jewish descent who designed many New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 1930s, incorporating Beaux-Arts and Art Deco details. His sons continued in the family enterprise, largely expanding the firm under the name Emery Roth & Sons.
This World Columbian Exposition pavilion, designed by the young Roth alone, housed a temporary shop for the Menier Chocolate Company. Its design is a direct quotation of the ancient Roman Temple of Vesta, a visual trope that would later cap some of his most famous skyscrapers.
The Ritz Tower is a luxury residential building at 465 Park Avenue on the corner of East 57th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It was built from 1925 to 1926 as an apartment hotel and was designed by Emery Roth and Thomas Hastings for journalist Arthur Brisbane, who was the developer. The Ritz Tower is about 541 feet (165 m) with 41 stories, making it the tallest residential building in New York City upon its completion. Because it was initially classified as an apartment hotel, the building was constructed to a greater height than was usually permitted.
Seen from across Park Avenue (2019)
Looking west at the Ritz Tower from the south side of 57th Street west of Lexington Avenue
The building's commercial base, as seen in April 2021