Oral history interview with Conrad Levenson, 2015

Biographical Note

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Conrad Levenson attended architecture school and eventually opened his own practice. Circumstances and changing realities of New York City in the late 1960s changed the focus of his firm to low-income housing. Levenson was introduced to Phoenix House through the acquisition of the Riverside Plaza Hotel. Levenson helped design the renovation of the space, and then went on to serve Phoenix House in the acquisition and renovation of other properties, most notably the Yorktown facility. He remained in private practice until, in 1991, he joined Phoenix House as the in-house architect and agency-wide buildings manager. He remained at Phoenix House until 2008

Scope and Contents

Conrad Levenson narrates his early childhood in Brooklyn and attendance at Columbia College and School of Architecture. He then describes his path into designing and overseeing low-income housing projects during the 1970s. Moving to Phoenix House, Levenson discusses at length his vision for the relationship between the therapeutic community method and the built environment of the facility, especially with respect to the Riverside Plaza Hotel. In this vein, he describes legal restrictions on this work by the state. He also speaks on his use of sweat equity with the Phoenix House residents

Subjects

• Architects--Interviews.
• Architecture.
• Conrad Levenson, Architects and Planners.
• Interviews.
• Levenson, Conrad--Interviews.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Phoenix House (Organization)
• Substance abuse--Treatment.
• Therapeutic communities.
• Thurner, Lance, interviewer.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2015