Fran Leadon

Fran Leadon, architect and professor at City College’s Spitzer School of Architecture, coauthored the fifth edition of the American Institute of Architects Guide to New York City along with Norval White, who passed away prior to its publication in 2010. The Guide, published by Oxford University Press, is a comprehensive, and compulsively readable, handbook to the City’s architecturally significant buildings and spaces. It was created in 1968 by former Landmarks Preservation Commission Vice Chair Elliot Willensky, and architect and professor Norval White. The Guide offers opinionated descriptions of important buildings spanning architectural styles, interspersed with historical tidbits, editorials, and advice for the reader. Sitting on the Brooklyn promenade with a view of the Manhattan skyline, Leadon spoke with CityLand about the Guide, historic preservation, and his concerns about development trends in the City.

Involvement with the Guide. Leadon describes the Guide as “taking a snapshot every ten years of what the City is like.” He became involved in the Guide through mutual acquaintances of Norval White at City College, where White had chaired the architecture program, and where Leadon teaches design studio and architectural history. Although White retired two years before Leadon joined the faculty, many of Leadon’s colleagues had been former students of White.  (read more…)