Costas Kondylis (1940 – August 18, 2018) was an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. He designed over 85 buildings in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, many of them for real-estate developer and later U.S. president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, through his eponymous architectural firm. Kondylis was born in Burundi, where his parents were European colonists who came from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, Vassiliki and Andreas Kondylis, who opened a chain of general stores in East Africa. Kondylis attended a boarding school there and attained master's degrees in Europe and the United States, respectively at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

and at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. After receiving his master's degrees in 1967, Kondylis worked at Davis, Brody & Associates, and then at Philip Birnbaum & Associates. In 1989, Kondylis created Costas Kondylis Architects; the firm's work was featured in several magazines and was the subject of a television documentary. The company was renamed Costas Kondylis and Partners LLP in 2000, when several of the firm's architects became partners in the organization including Alan Goldstein, L. Stephen Hill, Marta Rudzka, and David West. The company, which was headquartered in

, dissolved in 2009. Afterward, he created another firm called Kondylis Design. Kondylis died on August 18, 2018, of undisclosed causes.

Works

Kondylis was known for his conventional designs of skyscrapers in Manhattan, at a time when developers were either building low-rises or unconventional high-rises. He created 86 residential towers in Manhattan over the course of his career. From 2000 to 2007, it was estimated that he designed one residential building in Manhattan every six weeks on average. A 2007 ''New York Times'' profile noted that Kondylis had designed 75 projects in New York City and was designing 15 more at the time. Some of Kondylis's projects were controversial. The 90-story

Trump World Tower Trump World Tower is a residential condominium building in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The tower is located at 845 United Nations Plaza, on First Avenue between 47th and 48th Streets. It was developed ...

Turtle Bay, Manhattan Turtle Bay is a neighborhood in New York City, on the east side of Midtown Manhattan. It extends from roughly 43rd Street to 53rd Streets, and eastward from Lexington Avenue to the East River's western branch (facing Roosevelt Island).Gine ...

, New York City, was opposed by nearby residents and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, whose headquarters were located nearby. However, the tower was built without further controversy.

New York metropolitan area projects

* Riverside South *

Silver Towers The Silver Towers are twin residential buildings in the Hell's Kitchen (also referred to as Clinton) neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The 60-story buildings stand on the west side of Eleventh Avenue between 41st Street and 42nd Stre ...

(2009) *

Trump International Hotel and Tower Trump International Hotel may refer to: Current Five buildings are named Trump Hotels with four owned/operated by the Trump organization: * Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago) * Trump International Hotel and Tower (New York City) * Tru ...

(2001) *

Trump Park Avenue Trump Park Avenue is a residential building on the southern border of Lenox Hill at 502 Park Avenue in Manhattan, New York City. The 32-story building, designed by Goldner and Goldner in 1929, today contains 120 luxury condominium apartments a ...

* The Caroline * Trump Plaza * 279 Central Park West * The Anthem * The Strathmore * One Riverview (Newark) * The Grand Tier ( Glenwood Management) * 1049 5th Avenue * Manhattan Place

References

External links

*
A conversation with Costas Kondylis
' - Hellenic News of America

- illustrated list of buildings
Costas Kondylis Design
list of buildings on The Skyscraper Center -

CTBUH The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States ...

database
1 Man, 86 Stories, Building Stories
1940 births 2018 deaths Architects from New York City American people of Greek descent Business career of Donald Trump Culture of Manhattan Year of establishment missing {{NYC-stub

Works

New York metropolitan area projects

See also

References

External links