Chinese Style: Rediscovering the Architecture of Poy Gum Lee, 1923-1968

In this survey exhibition, architectural historian Kerri Culhanedocuments and explores Poy Gum Lee’s (1900-1968) nearly 50-year long career in both China and New York and examines Lee’s modernist influence in New York Chinatown. This project is the first-ever comprehensive list of Lee’s projects in New York. Lee’s hand is visible in the major civic architecture of Chinatown post 1945, which blends stylistically Chinese details with modern technologies and materials. Lee was the architectural consultant for the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association’s building on Mott Street (1959) and the On Leong Tong Merchant’s Association at Mott & Canal Street (1948-50) – the most prominent Chinese modern building in Chinatown. Among his highly visible commissions, Lee designed the Chinese American WWII Monument in Kimlau Square (1962), a modernist take on a traditional Chinese pailou, or ceremonial gate; the Lee Family Association (ca. 1950); and the Pagoda Theatre (1963, demolished).

Kerri Culhane spent the last 15 years focusing on documenting the historic immigrant neighborhoods of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, including Two Bridges, Chinatown, Little Italy, and The Bowery. Kerri holds a Master in Architectural History and Historic Preservation from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a Master of Science in Ecological Planning and Design from the Conway School in Massachusetts. She is currently the Associate Director ofTwo Bridges Neighborhood Council on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.