Seagram Building, New York City

[Bobdreamz]

Seagram Building
375 Park Avenue
New York City,NY
515 ft./157 m.
38 stories
completed in 1957

http://www.OU.edu/class/arch4443/50's%20Minimalism/Seagram%20Building.jpg

http://www.theo.tu-cottbus.de/Wolke/X-positionen/Friesen/z01,%20mies%20van%20der%20Rohe,%20sergant%20building.jpg

http://www.thecityreview.com/seagram9.gif

http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/seagram/Seagram2.jpg

German American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was one of the leading architects of the 20th century. His sleek, unornamented glass-and-steel skyscrapers were especially influential. The 37-story bronze-and-glass Seagram Building (1958) in New York City, displays the simplicity and elegance that are characteristic of his style. The building was designed in collaboration with architect Philip Johnson.

I love this building!!..I am a huge fan of the International Style and this building set a precedent not only in NYC but around the world...the design is classic...you couldn't tell if it was built yesterday or 44 years ago...what do you think???

[Bobdreamz]

I'm sorry guys but I screwed up the polling question and couldn't fix it...anyways just post your opinions and rankings!

[Jasonhouse]

It's fixed...



As for the building, it is one of those stunning designs that transcends personal preference and time. Anyone who doesn't think that highly of this building simply needs to see it in person, because only then can you see the exquisite details and materials used in its construction, especially inside.

9.5/10

[SteelCity32]

It looks like you can pick it out of the skyline from far away. 8.5/10

[enzo]

Hey, so funny, I just walked by it an hour ago and thought about starting this very thread! ;)

Well, it's a box. It's a gorgeous box though, so clean and with the perfect tinting and interior lighting that makes it's windows glow soothingly yellow. It probably must be seen in person to be appreciated fully. Works very well in it's location, very classy with the raised plaza and subtle entrance canopy. I wish they had kept the bright yellow sculpture that stood in front last year for a short while (testing it out I guess), it seemed to complete it. Oh well.

9/10

[enzo]

Some more pics

http://www.thecityreview.com/seagram2.gif

http://www.greatgridlock.net/NYC_Images/861.jpg

http://www.jbb.com/images/seagramcolor.jpg

http://www.thecityreview.com/seagram4.gif

[250gto]

Only a few 'scrapers in the world deserve a 10. This is one of them.

[D-Mac]

I have a mini-version of this building just a couple blocks from where I live (well, three of them actually) - the Westmount Square complex by Mies. I walk by them twice a day and I always stare at them. I love them, and the Seagram Building alike. The design is so simple and perfect. It's not your average box - the workmanship is fantastic and there are lots of little details that can only be fully appreciated in person. 9.5/10

[Bobdreamz]

the lobby...courtesy of WiredNewYork!..

http://www.wirednewyork.com/images/seagram_building_lobby.jpg

and the front...

http://www.wirednewyork.com/images/seagram_building_front.jpg

[X-seed 4000]

Sorry to ruin your party but am I the only person here who doesn't really see the "special" in this building? Once a box always a box and a box is a box so I'll give this box what I give all my boxes... not a 10!:D











6/10

[Jasonhouse]

It is special X-Seed, because it is considered to be the culmination of the International style. Basically one of the "perfect" buildings created with this aestetic.

[RafflesCity]

7.5/10

This building is impressive when you consider when it was built.

[Muse]

I always remember my art teacher at the high school i attended in Sydney talking about Mies van der Rohe and the Seagram Building. i loved its simplicity then, and i love it just as much today.

"Less is more".

10

[AndrewC]

It looks like one of the best box buildings certainly but just doesn't say 10/10 to me. Reflected colours nice.

7/10

[D-Mac]

More pics! Hey! :banana:

http://data2.artifice.com/gbc/images/cid_2921866.jpg

http://www.esto.com/galleryimages/41t1.jpg

http://www.vitruvio.ch/arc/gallery6/foto/g_seagram.jpg

http://www.sru.edu/depts/artsci/ges/urban/seagram.jpg

http://www.staleywise.com/collection/matter/matter_seagram_b.jpg

[Bobdreamz]

awesome pics DMac!!...the photo were the Seagrams disappears into the sky is incredible!!...thanks for posting!

[X-seed 4000]

The pics DMac posted changed my mind a bit its now an 8/10. This building is very good, but its not all that great to be called a freakin 10/10. But thats just my opinion.

[Sunflower]

No-one can say that a boxy skyscraper can never look good...simple but very, very effective.

It's aged well too.

9.5/10

[Fabian]

3.5/10

The design is very dissapointing. Very plain and dull.

[AG]

Too plain and dull, just looks like a mini version of Trump World Tower.

4/10

[SUNNI]

short, stubby, boxy..

but ill b kind, 7!

[ERAS]

"Manifeste" Building that mark the History of Architecture, and give the example of what is International Style

Directly Built by the "Master", one of the former Bauhaus professor Mies van der Rohe, that was with the former Head of Bauhaus School Walter Gropuis exiled on the states.

There is the mix of US skycrapers tradition, with the european avant-garde, and the result of the new "Chicago Scholl" that have influenced Worldwide Modern Architecture, especialy thru S.O.M. , the "General Motors of Architecture" ;)

Without the work of Mies most of skyscrapers would not look the same

For this, and as a major step in history of skyscraper, it deserves IMO the maximal mark 10/10 :colgate:

but is not an esthetic mark, either it is still looking great :D

[Chewbacca]

10!

[Eriq]

Love it, especially after seeing it up close. A box, but this one pulls it off elegantly.

gave it a 9.5 :D

[DrumCorpsAlum]

8/10. It's a box, but something about it intrigues me.

[BoresvilleMcYawn]

some of you people just dont understand...
9.5/10

[Liz L]

9/10 - Maybe the pure Modernist style will never warm my heart quite as much as Art Deco, but Seagram is one of its masterpieces. You're spot on about that, Jasonhouse! The tower is slim enough to have good height, helped very subtly by the slender mullions, and that wonderful facade can really dance with the light. And the contrasting spandrels, I think, keep monotony at bay and give a sense of scale (especially important with the building's very simple shape). Even the flat roof is relieved by the detailing surrounding it.
The building has a sleek, understated elegance which proves that not all boxes are created equal. If more modernist buildings looked as good, the style would be a lot more popular, I'm thinking...Which is probably about the same as saying, If there were more modernist architects as good as Mies, I guess...
I'd like to see the inside sometime...

[Pablo]

wat a huge box:?

[TYW]

5/10

boring big box

[SeeMacau]

I like this type of building
9/10

[Evergrey]

7 Simple, elegant, BRONZE

[weirdo]

neat box. but i've seen lots of better and more "interesting" boxes. i like boxes though

[The Messiah]

I always liked this building.
8.5/10

[Chi-town]

<table cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=98% class="quoteBox">
<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by TYW </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>5/10

boring big box</td></tr>
</table>

<table cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=98% class="quoteBox">
<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by Pablo </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>wat a huge box:?</td></tr>
</table>

<table cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=98% class="quoteBox">
<td align=left valign=center> <smallfont> <b>Quote</B> <I>originally posted by X-seed 4000 </i></b> </smallfont> </td>
<tr><td align=left valign=top>Sorry to ruin your party but am I the only person here who doesn't really see the "special" in this building? Once a box always a box and a box is a box so I'll give this box what I give all my boxes... not a 10!:D
</td></tr>
</table>
All of you need to study architecture.

I know some people just don't "get" or don't like boxes, but just compare this box to the boxes next to it. Look at the Seagram Building, and then the building to the right...

http://www.greatgridlock.net/NYC_Images/861.jpg

The Seagram Building is the ultimate example of the International style. It is the perfect "box", and a pure expression of the structural form of the skyscraper. It has perfect proportions and a very delicate and subtle facade.


It was also the most expensive building ever built per square foot, at least at the time.

[freson]

Originally posted by X-seed 4000

Sorry to ruin your party but am I the only person here who doesn't really see the "special" in this building? Once a box always a box and a box is a box so I'll give this box what I give all my boxes... not a 10!:D


6/10

maybe because it was the FIRST skyscraper box??? anyway, another 20/10 and as jasonhouse says, is the culimination of the international style a truly masterpiece

[New Jack City]

9.5/10...One of, if not the best box in the world. You can't match the classy, professional, elegant look with the new boxes these days. Also, take a look when it was built! The Seagram building paved the way for the new boxes of the future that we see today.

[Chi-town]

Originally posted by freson

maybe because it was the FIRST skyscraper box??? anyway, another 20/10 and as jasonhouse says, is the culimination of the international style a truly masterpiece
It wasn't the first, actually. That distinction, I think, belongs to two of Mies' other buildings in his adopted home city of Chicago, 860 and 880 North Lake Shore Drive. They were built in 1949. :D

small pic:
http://www.cityofchicago.org/Landmarks/images/landmarks/num/860lsd1a.gif



People giving this building a 5 or less should just have their votes thrown out, honestly. Stop thinking your pathetic, uninformed opinion matters, study architecture, and then come back and vote.

[Chi-town]

Originally posted by ERAS
There is the mix of US skycrapers tradition, with the european avant-garde, and the result of the new "Chicago Scholl" that have influenced Worldwide Modern Architecture, especialy thru S.O.M. , the "General Motors of Architecture" ;)
Yes... many consider early Modernism like the work of Mies to be the "Second Chicago School" (the style of Louis Sullivan, Daniel Burnham and others in the 1880s-1910s being the first Chicago School).

He moved here in 1938 and spend 20 years as the head of the Illinois Institute of Technology school of architecture, while running his practice out of Chicago. His grandson, Dirk Lohan, has a firm here currently. There are 19 skyscrapers by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in Chicago, in addition to the university campus of IIT and many other smaller buildings.

[renell]

7.5/10 one of the early works of modernism. i must say the first ones were the best ones too.

:applause: to the momma of all boxes.

[Wu-Gambino]

10/10

[de flatneuroot]

10/10

:drool: :drool: :drool:

This is one of my favourist building in the world.

[Kommentare]

5.5/10 :)

[Chi-town]

This thread is a perfect example of why you can't take the polls on this site seriously.

We might as well have a poll asking whether or not you people believe that Einstein's theory of special relativity is correct... most of you don't have a fucking clue about architecture. You vote by what you think "looks cool".

[Fabio]

8/10


nice box

[flex]

a nice urban building 8,5/10

[Tazmaniadevil]

I gave it an 8.0. Many people have raved about this building since it went up. But it just encouraged all those other boxes that went up in New York in the 60's and 70's. It's a nice box with a large plaza area, but it's still a box.

[Jules]

It's a nice box. 8.

[Ashram]

9/10 Only Jin Mao Building impresses me more than this building. Almost the complete opposite of Jin Mao Building, this building is simple elegance. It's shape and facade marking the true pinnacle of the international style. They don't build them like this anymore. I must comment on the way the lights in the offices compliment the facade, making it warm and inviting.

[james2390]

Not bad, pretty sleek. 7/10

[Shafick]

Nice building.....9 points...!!!

:)

[Schroedinger's Cat]

7/10

[Justadude]

I think it's really funny that someone would go on a freakin' INTERNET MESSAGE BOARD and start griping about how there isn't enough credibility in the room.

If I wanted to chat with architectural experts, going on a public message board wouldn't be my first step in that direction. When I come here, it's to chat with EVERYONE who has an opinion... even if they're "stupid" or "uneducated".

Some of the geeks on here need to get a life. Some people think this building is plain ugly, no matter what it might mean to the trade. I'm one of them. There was someone on the Chrysler Building page who said it was ugly. Who am I to argue?

After all, it's just a damned message board.

[SChristopher]

7.5

[DRAKKO]

6/10

[Latoso]

8.5/10

[El_Greco]

9.5/10

[SoboleuS]

It's the king of all boxes :D
9/10

http://www.achievement.org/achievers/joh0/large/joh0-023.jpg http://www.nyc-architecture.com/UES/UES002AA-03.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/28787056.jpg

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/fa267/20th/seagram9801.jpg

[Petr]

Classy! 10/10

[forvine]

7.5/10

[Sinjin P.]

9/10

[Buse]

It's the king of all boxes :D
9/10

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/UES/28787056.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/UES/UES002AA-03.jpg

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/UES/UES012-LeverHouse.jpg

Nice mistake, the last building is actually the Lever House, the first International Style (II) building in NY. Seagram Building is probably the most praised International style building in NY.
The Lever House I like, the Seagram building a lot less. Maybe if there wouldn't have been so many cheap copies,... but there are.

So architectonic importance: 9/10
How much I, ignorant observer from a distance, like it: 6,5/10

I'm going to give it 7/10 though :)

[Bitxofo]

7/10
;)

[DecoJim]

I generally HATE the international style but yes this is an important building. I do like the very thin vertical beams and the tall windows. The problem is that many of the numerous copies of this structure did not have its elegant proportions.
I give it 6 points plus 3 more for historical/architectural significance = 9/10

[Spearman]

I know it's blasphemy to hate such a significant piece of architecture, but for me this is, for just that reson, worse than morst. Not really because it's unusually ugly for a box, but to me it signifies the end of an era of supreme skyscraper design, and the beginning of the hayday of the uninventive and boring "international style". And, yeah, I know, it's not fear to blame it soley on this building, but it had a hand in the game. Perhaps it's not fear either to let the influence it had give it a poorer rating, but anything else would be letting it off easy. 1/10

[Taller, Better]

I think anyone who has studied architecture at any point of their life will understand
and appreciate this building as one of the finest in the world. I expect a lot of
teenagers will look at it and just see a box, though.
I rate it a solid 10 out of 10 and think there are a great many cities in the world
that would benefit more from having this structure, than a band-wagon twisty
toaster/hair-dryer concoction.

[lbjeffries]

10/10

One of the greatest in the world.

[EtherealMist]

hahaha, I love it.

Anyone who knows anything about architecture give it a 7+. Anyone who doesn't know anything will give it below a 5 and say something like "its a box".

With some exceptions of course to people who gave creditable reasons.

[Pelha]

7/10 ;)

[CrazyCanuck]

Reminds of the TD Centre in T.O., an amzing building. 9/10.

[clarky]

8/10

[(((myx)))]

8.0

[delmaule]

8.5/10

[gutooo]

7/10

[ZZ-II]

great building, 8/10

[W!CKED]

1.1578624/10

[Skyman]

7/10

[marpa]

8/10

[Jim856796]

9.5/10

[kon133]

9,5/10 ^^

[Astralis]

6.5/10

[incognito_rn]

ok cladding.

[meds]

8/10

[Prince Victor]

9/10

[Der wahre Heino]

10/10
I love boxes anyway

[Taller, Better]

This was no ordinary box! ;)

[Gregor]

5/10