Post-Modern Manhattan: West 50s + 60s Preview

1

One and Two Worldwide Plaza

This four-acre complex (1985-89) consists of a 50-story office tower, a twin-towered apartment building, and a public plaza. Though criticized by some for being aesthetically "bloated," the twin elliptical passages that connect the mid-block plaza with Eighth Avenue are unusual and worth a visit. Skidmore Owings & Merrill (David Childs, partner in charge of design) planned the project and was responsible for the peach-colored office tower, which rests on a monumental granite base. Frank Williams, who was particularly active in midtown during the 1980s and 1990s, designed the more reserved residential complex that faces the side streets and Ninth Avenue. The half-acre plaza incorporates a fountain centerpiece of the Seasons by sculptor Sidney Simon. Part of the city's privately-owned public space program, known as POPS, this leafy space allowed the developer William Zeckendorf to erect considerably larger structures.

2

750 Seventh Avenue

Kevin Roche, architect of the Ford Foundation and 1+2 United Nations Plaza, designed this jagged office tower in 1990. Faced with dark grey glass and ceramic-coated panels, the stepped elevations terminate in a mansard-like roof with a slender, off-center spire. As required throughout the Times Square entertainment district, the lower floors are wrapped with advertising.

3

AXA Equitable Center

Designed by Edward Larabee Barnes for the Equitable Life Insurance Company in the mid-1980s, the soaring skylit Seventh Avenue lobby contains a colorful mural, "Mural With Blue Brushstroke," by the pop artist Roy Lichtenstein and semi-circular seating by sculptor Scott Burton, while the mid-block arcade, linking 51st and 52nd Street, displays artworks by Sol Lewitt and Barry Flanagan.

4

Paley Center for Media

The mid-block Paley Center (originally the Museum of Televison + Radio) was designed by Philip Johnson (with John Burgee). Completed in 1991, it is named for the founder of CBS Television, William S. Paley. The 16-story limestone exterior has a slightly cartoonish air (particularly the arched portal) and is one of Johnson's lesser works. The center also operates a Los Angeles branch, designed by another New York architect, Richard Meier.

5

Deutsche Bank / EF Hutton Building

Kevin Roche designed this glass and granite-clad office building with a mansard roof for developer Gerald Hines in 1984. With mid-block entrances on both 52nd and 53rd Streets, it features a theatrical -- almost Art Deco -- lobby with a mosaic ceiling supported by slender Egyptoid columns.

6

Museum of Modern Art + Tower

Various architects built MoMA, including the Argentine-born Cesar Pelli, who designed the 1984 expansion, incorporating a residential tower. Though Pelli did not embrace the kinds of classical quotations favored by many of his contemporaries, he did produce a blue grey and white skin that acknowledged the past, particularly the colored grids and abstract geometries of the early 20th century DeStijl movement in the Netherlands.

7

1325 Sixth Avenue

Kohn Pedersen + Fox, planner of Hudson Yards, built 1325 Sixth Avenue in 1989. Designed in a style that alludes to the Austrian Secession movement in early 20th century Vienna, this twin towered office building contains an especially handsome yellowish marble lobby (with Jeff Koons sculptures) and a silvery skylit arcade connecting 53rd and 54th Streets. Located mid-block, behind the Hilton, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, this elegant vaulted arcade is part of a series of pedestrian passages now officially known as 6 1/2 Avenue. While the quality of design varies immensely, these interior and exterior walkways (from 51st to 57th Street) offer a pleasant break from some of Manhattan's busiest avenues.

8

Cityspire

The Chicago architect Helmut Jahn designed this mid-block 72-story skyscraper, completed in 1989. Described by one critic as "high-tech historicist," the granite and glass elevations are crowned by a ribbed dome that was once notorious for whistling in high winds. Built with air rights transferred from City Center, a Moorish-style landmark on 55th Street, it contains an Art Deco-ish pedestrian arcade and rehearsal space for non-profit groups -- a penalty for exceeding the original height approved by City Planning Commission.

9

Carnegie Hall Tower

Carnegie Hall Tower, at 152 West 57th Street, was completed in 1991. Artfully designed by Cesar Pelli, the colorful stepped masonry façade complements the palette of the adjoining concert hall, a New York City Landmark. Though many would argue that the 60-story tower stands much too tall for such a slender site, the transfer of unused air rights has benefited this illustrious institution in many ways. In addition to providing much-needed operating and maintenance funds, the lower floors contain office and rehearsal space. The brown and green marble lobby, which also serves as a public passage linking 56th and 57th Streets, is illuminated by a vaulted faux skylight – a stylish feature during this era. If time permits, visit the Rose Museum on the tower’s second floor, devoted to Carnegie Hall’s remarkable cultural contributions.

10

St. Thomas Choir School

This understated example of Post-Modernism was designed by Harold Buttrick, of Buttrick White + Burtis, in 1987. It is located on a (relatively) quiet stretch of West 58th Street, near Seventh Avenue. Faced with brownish red brick and limestone trim, the simple symmetrical facade sets back in stages and incorporates understated neo-Georgian style details, including a central roof pediment. This famous boys school was founded in 1919 and the structure, which incorporates a dorm and faculty housing, was built as part of real estate swap with the developer Fisher Brothers who were erecting an office building on West 55th Street, its previous location. The occulus near the top illuminates the school chapel.

11

One Central Park West

Built as an office building in 1967, this 44-story tower was converted to a hotel-condominium by Donald Trump and investors in 1995-97. Re-faced with a bronze glass skin, the architect was Philip Johnson. Costas Kondylis, one of New York's most prolific architects, was responsible for planning the interiors. A silver copy of the Unisphere, from the 1964 World's Fair, sits at the south corner of the site, facing Columbus Circle.

12

15 Central Park West

Completed in 2008, this late Post-Modern apartment complex was designed by Robert A. M. Stern. Occuppying a full block, from Central Park West to Broadway, the French limestone elevations are particularly beautiful.

13

Park Laurel Apartments

Located steps from Central Park at 15 West 63rd Street, the Park Laurel is a blocky red brick 41-story apartment tower with a pyramidal crown. Designed by Beyer Blinder & Belle, a firm specializing in historic preservation, it was built on the site of the McBurney School, which was mostly demolished as part of the project. Cantilevered above the neighboring YMCA, a picturesque 1920s medieval-revival structure, like Carnegie Hall Tower it incorporates complementary materials and decoration.

14

ABC Headquarters + Studios

ABC Television occupies a multi-building campus between Central Park and Columbus Avenue. Designed by Kohn Pedersen & Fox, architect and planner of Hudson Yards, most of the structrues in this vaguely classical ensemble date from the late 1980s and early 1990s. Particularly impressive is the corporate headquarters at 77 West 66th Street, a 22-story rose-and-salmon-colored brick tower with a gently curved facade and an unusual roof. New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger called this crowning feature an "inverted mansard."