The exterior skin of the modern office/institutional buildings we visited has improved to support the buildings quality structurally and aesthetically. The Lever House, the Seagram Building, the Citi Corp, the Lipstick Building , the Ford Foundation and the United Nations relates each other by some features that made these buildings to be the perfect buildings for their functions.

During  the trip, I noticed that besides the fact this  buildings are designed  to serve as private  office/institutional building, it provides  open spaces for the public and the people whom work in them  have the access to space where they can relax and hang out after work. The open places are surrounded by vegetation and sitting areas.

we visited the lever house designed by Gordon Bun shaft is one of the office buildings which was very influential to other architects in the neighborhood. Like, the very famous architect Mies Van who built the Seagram Building which is located across the Lever House. The Seagram Building façade is curtain wall with a yellow visible glass and black stainless mullions; the spandrel glass is dark solid black. In relation to the Lever House which curtain wall has transparent light green glass, stainless silver mullions and dark green spandrel glass that covers the floor and ceiling structure. The ground floor is an open space plaza with a garden open to the public. The Seagram Building, the Ford Foundation and the lipstick building have open spaces similar to the Lever House that provides people an unique place to gather in public. Furthermore, The Seagram Building and the Lipstick Building also connects to the Lever House since the architects of both buildings adopted the idea of having columns lifting their buildings just like Bunshaft did for the lever house by being inspired by Le Corbusier’s idea. The massing of the Seagram Building was similar to the Lever House, the UN Building and the ford foundation that were rectilinear. In contrast to the Lipstick Building that has a circular massing.

Even though each offices and institutional buildings were built in different years, they connect each other by performing similar structure functions and similar features.