Charles Azzue, a late-20th Century designer and contractor on Staten Island, built houses and commercial buildings that were so unusual they stopped traffic – and still do. Azzue, 79, died August 26 in Boca Raton, Fla., his home since 2014. A part-time fine artist, “He was still painting until the day he died,” said daughter, Roma Azzue.

Among his signature designs, the Physicians and Surgeons Building on Victory Boulevard (opposite Clove Lakes Park) causes rubbernecking after 50 years. It’s not surprising. A long, narrow triple swoop of white stucco, the building is unlike anything nearby; some observers have suggested that its top curves deliberately recall the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.