Hoffman Auto Showroom New York by Frank Lloyd Wright

Hoffman Auto Showroom (now Mercedes-Benz Manhattan)
430 Park Avenue (at 56th Street)
New York NY 10022

Frank Lloyd Wright 1954

This tiny showroom on Park Avenue can hold only five cars - but positioned around a circular and sloping ramp, and reflected in extensive mirrored surfaces, they give the showroom an atmosphere that is spacious, exciting, not at all cramped.

The positioning of the 'exhibits' around the circular, sloping ramp was a small-scale forerunner of Wright's later Guggenheim museum some thirty blocks up the street.

The geometry of the large circular mirror in the ceiling exploits the three-pointed star of Mercedes-Benz. This part of the design was not executed originally, but was part of a restoration of the building by Taliesin Architects, part of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, in 1981.

The cars have changed somewhat since Wright's day, but the mixture of high-tech glass and rounded white plaster continue to complement them.

Simon Glynn 2001

How to visit

The showroom is on the west side of Park Avenue at 56th Street, part of the ground-floor of a multi-occupancy office building. Mercedes-Benz Manhattan, who continue to operate the showroom, are commendably receptive to visitors coming for the building and not the cars.

To check opening hours call +1 212 629 1666 or visit www.mercedesmanhattan.com.

Books and other web sites

Click the book titles to view and to order direct from

	Understanding Frank Lloyd Wright's Architecture Donald Hoffmann A highly readable, generalist account of the influences, development and innovations of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture, well illustrated.
	Wright Sites : A Guide to Frank Lloyd Wright Public Places Arlene Sanderson (editor) A practical visitors' guide to thirty six publicly accessible Frank Lloyd Wright sites, with a straightforward one or two page description of each, with black and white photographs.
www.geocities.com/SoHo/1469 provides both its own Frank Lloyd Wright content and a set of links to other Frank Lloyd Wright sites on the web. All links outside galinsky will open in a new window. Close it when you've finished, or use the Window menu on your browser, to return to galinsky.