Designed by Philip Johnson for the 1964 World’s Fair, the New York State Pavilion featured three observation towers and the vast Tent of Tomorrow, whose floor contained a terrazzo map of New York State. Andy Warhol’s commissioned mural, 13 Most Wanted Men, was controversially covered before the fair opened. After several years of post-fair use, the pavilion was abandoned and became one of the most recognizable ruins remaining in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

I photographed the New York State Pavilion repeatedly over the years and eventually interviewed its architect, Philip Johnson, when he was in his nineties. I asked him what it was like to have his own ruin. He complained that it wasn’t much of a ruin because there was no ivy, so I later planted ivy at the base of several columns; it climbed about fifty feet before the Parks Department cut it down. I still wish I had asked him better questions.