Another Norman Jaffe Gem Gets Bulldozed—and Everything Else You Need to Know About This Week

I.M. Pei's Dallas City Hall is declared an endangered building, the near-collapse of Pfizer’s former New York headquarters reignites safety concerns, and more.

• In May of 2025, Norman Jaffe’s Stern House in East Hampton Village was demolished, adding to a growing list of significant homes by the modernist architect that have met the fate of a bulldozer. Now, the Bliss House in Southampton, New York, has been demolished, too. Here’s how the celebrated example of organic modernism ended up a "pile of rubble" despite years of preservation efforts. (The Architect’s Newspaper)

• At the former Pfizer headquarters in Midtown New York, inspectors found buckled structural columns that were "bending like cigarettes," which prompted an emergency evacuation. Records show the building had already racked up numerous safety violations and worker injuries before the near-collapse. (The City Reporter)

• Plans from the 1980s for an unrealized 60-story "Trump Castle" in New York City by Philip Johnson and John Burgee have resurfaced, detailing an extravagant design complete with spires, drawbridges, and even a moat. The drawings foreshadow some of Trump’s grand architectural ambitions today. (The New York Times)

• Dallas City Hall, the brutalist landmark designed by I. M. Pei, has landed on both the World Monuments Fund and Preservation Dallas lists of the nation’s most endangered places. But it might not be enough to save it: Preservation advocates warn that pressure from private developers and hefty rehabilitation costs are putting the building at risk of abandonment, and even demolition. (The Dallas Morning News)

• A recent investigation revealed that a mafia-like network of unlicensed food trucks has taken over stretches of the National Mall in D.C., operating with alleged food safety violations, majorly inflated prices, and aggressive tactics that have driven out many licensed vendors. Authorities say the operation is tied to a group of repeat offenders who use shell companies to stay under the radar. (Washingtonian)

Top photo by Tim Godbold