[fdaforum]

SEAGRAM BUILDING,
375 Park Ave, New York, NY, United States 1958

This 39-story, 516-foot tall office building was commissioned by Joseph E. Seagram & Sons Corporation, purveyors of Seagram liquors.

The floor of the Seagram's, as in the Lake Shore Drive, a rectangle of 5x3 squares structural modules. But the elevation of the building achieves its expressive perfection, simulating a column with its three constituent parts classic.

His typology shows clearly the structure in front, meeting both an ornamental role, consisting of steel beams and columns of bronze, that without a structural role fits perfectly the large windows that are the most visible epidermis of the work.

[anjali]

[anjali]

The Seagram Building, like virtually all large buildings of the time, was built of a steel frame, from which non-structural glass walls were hung. Mies would have preferred the steel frame to be visible to all; however, American building codes required that all structural steel be covered in a fireproof material, usually concrete, because improperly protected steel columns or beams may soften and fail in confined fires. Concrete hid the structure of the building — something Mies wanted to avoid at all costs — so Mies used non-structural bronze-toned I-beams to suggest structure instead. These are visible from the outside of the building, and run vertically, like mullions, surrounding the large glass windows. This method of construction using an interior reinforced concrete shell to support a larger non-structural edifice has since become commonplace. As designed, the building used 1,500 tons of bronze in its construction.

Another interesting feature of the Seagram Building is the window blinds.It is the world’s most expensive skyscraper at the time, due to the use of expensive, high-quality materials and lavish interior decoration including bronze, travertine, and marble

http://www.oldarchitecture.com/2012/03/1...rohe-1957/