“Less is More…”
The Seagram Building is one of the many buildings in NYC that have a curtain wall. In the beginning days of skyscrapers, it was all about that one tower after many setbacks that made the skyscraper. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that a new technique was introduced; the curtain wall and with that came the International Style.
The Seagram Building by Mies van der Rohe with Phillip Johnson can be located on Park Ave and 52nd Street. The streets of NYC were known to have this rigidity to them having all the buildings constructed begin right on the property lines. The International Style broke the rigidity and many other “rules” such as eliminating ornamentation from the buildings. The thing I like about the Seagram Building is its simplicity. Sometimes simple is better, in terms of decoration.
I mentioned the curtain wall being introduced in the International Style and that helped the “new” skyscrapers. The curtain wall for the Seagram Building is made of bronze steel and is high maintenance. As an architecture student, I love using curtain walls or a lot of glass in my designs because I like the feeling of “being outside”. I learned that the ceilings of the building use a special type of lamp so that when looked at from the outside at night or evening, the building looks as if it is glowing. I think this is a cool effect on and sort of draws a person’s attention. And isn’t that what architecture is about?
I did mention previously (in a different post) that I’m not that crazy about square/ rectangular shaped buildings because I feel it lacks creativity in a way. I understand that we are in NYC and there are codes as to what can be built on the plots. I believe that one should not be limited to designing based on these constrictions. I think that the introduction of the curtain wall allowed for so many opportunities and that’s why I like the Seagram Building.
