Rosario Candela: An Immigrant Architect in New York

Andrew Alpern

When Rosario Candela (1890-1953) left Palermo to come to America with his father, he was an 18-year-old laborer with virtually no knowledge of English. Yet he overcame his humble background, talked his way into the School of Architecture at Columbia University, and became an architect who designed many of the finest apartment houses in New York City. Architectural historian Andrew Alpern will discuss Candela’s unusually fast rise within his profession and the exceptional buildings he produced.