But this approach was easily mimicked by others who lacked a firm grasp of the esthetic dimension. A good modern building might indeed look business-like. But to practice architecture as business did not invariably produce good buildings. In the early 1960's, when he was hired to design the new Madison Square Garden Center for the site then occupied by Penn Station, Luckman's corporate ethos set him on a collision course with the burgeoning architectural preservation movement. His design for the Garden and adjacent office tower, without distinction in themselves, brought discredit on modern architecture throughout the United States.
Plans are now afoot to redevelop the Garden site.
In 1968, the year the Garden complex opened, Luckman went into the development business. He sold his firm to the Ogden Corporation, a major real estate developer in Southern California, and became president of its subsidiary, Ogden Development. His projects included major buildings in downtown Los Angeles, including the headquarters for the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange. In the 1970's, Luckman again dismayed preservationists when he recommended a new building to replace the Los Angeles Public Library, a downtown landmark designed by Bertram Goodhue in 1926. But, by then, partly because of the Penn Station controversy, cities had become more protective of their architectural heritage.