Summary: Seventy-five years after the opening of Rockefeller Center and its 70-story RCA Building/30 Rockefeller Plaza, everyone loves the Rock in the middle of Gotham. It captured the first AIA Twenty-five Year Award in 1969 and last year was named one of the public’s 150 favorite buildings in the AIA’s “America’s Favorite Architecture” poll. (It is #56.) This gi-normous three-block, 15-building complex, now a beloved Big Apple icon, one of the first multisite mega-projects, did not always enjoy universal admiration and respect, even when it was merely a twinkle in John D. Rockefeller’s eye and a sketch on Raymond Hood et al’s drawing boards.

To mark Rockefeller Center’s 75th year, the Skyscraper Museum is telling its story by sponsoring “Rockefeller Center @ 75: Tribute to a Miraculous Mega-project” panel discussion, May 8, 6:30 p.m. at the Donnell Library Auditorium in New York City. An expert panel will explore a program of “historical reflection, critical evaluation, and sheer celebration of a unique New York landmark.” Among the noted panelists will be Carol Willis, the director of the Skyscraper Museum; William Pedersen, FAIA, architect and partner, Kohn Pedersen Fox; and James Sanders, architect, author, and co-writer with Ric Burns of "New York: A Documentary." The panel discussion is being presented in conjunction with the museum’s current exhibition, “New York Modern.” For more information, visit the Skyscraper Museum’s Web site.