Scandinavia House - The Nordic Center in America
Scandinavia House
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 Location of Scandinavia House in Manhattan
Location of Scandinavia House in Manhattan
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| Established | 2000 |
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| Location | 58 Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York 10016 United States |
| Coordinates | 40°44′58″N 73°58′48″W / 40.749451°N 73.980013°W |
| Director | Victoria McGann |
| Architect | James Stewart Polshek of Ennead Architects |
| Website | Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America |
Scandinavia House – The Nordic Center in America is the American-Scandinavian Foundation's cultural center at 58 Park Avenue (between East 37th Street and East 38th Street), in Murray Hill, Manhattan, New York, dedicated to preserving the history of the Scandinavian and Nordic countries in the United States through a wide variety of exhibits and programming. This cultural center hosts exhibitions of fine art, design as well as performing arts pieces from Nordic countries. The center also introduces the local population and guests with Scandinavian languages and customs by organizing courses.
The Nordic Center was designed by architect James Stewart Polshek and opened to the public in 2000 with a visit from King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden and their eldest daughter, Princess Victoria, Princess Martha Louise of Norway, and Princess Benedikte of Denmark.
Scandinavia House, located on 58 Park Avenue, Manhattan, was opened in 2000 by the American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF). The building was the first permanent location of ASF after a decade of moving between several addresses. Construction of the new building cost around $13 million.
According to the ASF website, more than 1.5 million people have visited since then.
The previous Scandinavia House in this location was a 1909 French neoclassical building finished with lime stone. It was owned by Grace Rainey Rogers until her death in 1943. Rogers was an avid philanthropist and an art collector;an auditorium in the Metropolitan Museum of Art was named after her. Her house was built by real estate developer Horace Trumbauer from Philadelphia. His chef designer was the first African American architect, Julian Francis Abele. There are three buildings in New York City designed by this architect. The other two are the James B. Duke House at Fifth Avenue and Adelaide L. T. Douglas home at 57 Park Avenue. Both are landmarks and thus protected by law. However, 58 Park Ave building was not. During the last decades of the 20th century, the house served as the United Nations mission of the German Democratic Republic. ASF bought it together with the plot of land for $5 million in 1996. In order to construct the new and modern Scandinavia House by Polshek Partnership Architects, the old building was destroyed. Unfortunately, there is no legacy left of this important work by Abele.
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