Architect Charles Gwathmey is the second of the New York Five to die. Made famous in the 70s, Gwathmey's work over the years was extremely erratic in quality. Unfortunately, he will forever be remembered for the awful, hideous Astor Place Tower installed in New York City's East Village a few years back, except not for "forever" because it will probably be torn down within ten years, thank God.

His firm's other buildings include:

The David Geffen Foundation building in Beverly Hills. Which: eh.

The outrageous de Menil residence in East Hampton. Holy excess!

But look back at his gorgeous work of the early 70s, such as the Cohn residence on Long Island.

Though it was over-influenced by the high modernist style of the time, a mode in which a number of architects were working at the time (up to and including Saarinen), it was still gorgeous, not overly grand, and fitting. His early works on Long Island, including his first home, for his parents, were not at all as original as Gwathmey himself thought.

His firm executed a rather stunning number of buildings, including the unsightly visual arts museum and library at Harvard, a truly drab IBM headquarters in North Carolina, the rather fabulous Morgan Stanley headquarters in New York, the ridiculous W hotel in Hoboken (HOBOKEN), the super-fantastic Pepsi HQ in Purchase, NY...

... and the "eh, almost" Sony building in Manhattan. (Sky lobby! Honestly! So irritating!)

The firm is currently at work on the U.S. mission to the U.N., the exterior of which looks to be singularly unattractive, and it is a shame that his difficult legacy will be burdened with that as well.