I.andrnarks Preservation Corrnnission October 3, 1989; resignation List 221 IP-1664 SEAGRAM BUILDING, INCWDING THE PIAZA, 375 Park Avenue, Manhattan. resigned by I.udwig Mies van der Rohe with Philip Johnson; Kahn & Jacobs, associate architects. Built 1956-58. Landmark Site: Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 1307, Lot 1. On May 17, 1988, the I.andrnarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation as a I.andrnark of the Seagram Building including the plaza, and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site (Item No. 1) . The hearing had been duly advertised in accordance with the pro visions of law. 'IWenty-one witnesses, including a representative of the building's owner, spoke in favor of designation. No witnesses spoke in opposition to designation. The Commission has received many letters in favor of designation. DFSCRIPI'ION AND ANALYSIS Surrnna:ry The Seagram Building, erected in 1956-58, is the only building in New York City designed by architectural master I.udwig Mies van der Rohe. carefully related to the tranquil granite and :marble plaza on its Park Avenue site, the elegant curtain wall of bronze and tinted glass enfolds the first fully modular modern office tower. Constructed at a time when Park Avenue was changing from an exclusive residential thoroughfare to a prestigious business address, the Seagram Building embodies the quest of a successful corporation to establish further its public image through architectural patronage. The president of Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Samuel Bronfman, with the aid of his daughter Phyllis I.arnbert, carefully selected Mies, assisted by Philip Johnson, to design an office building later regarded by many, including Mies himself, as his crowning work and the apotheosis of International Style towers. The innovative, modular design of the building was a feat furthered by a coalition of talented consultants, a successful collaboration rarely realized in twentieth-century architecture, and by pioneering efforts of research and fabrication. The juxtaposition of the structural members, articulated by extruded bronze, with the transparent glass surfaces of the elegant curtain wall creates the balance between solid and void which typifies International Style design. Still virtually intact due to the foresighted maintenance plan of the Seagram Company, the building and plaza have inspired the work of many subsequent designers, affected New York's zoning regulations and real estate tax assessment, and provided a favorable environment for work and repose. History of the Sitel The history of Fourth (now Park) Avenue begins with the advent of the railroads. In 1834 the New York and Harlem Railroad first carried passengers 1

along grade-level tracks down the center of Fourth Avenue from 42nd to 96th streets. By 1848 the New Haven Railroad entered Manhattan along Fourth Avenue. As railroad traffic increased, the avenue was widened to permit additional tracks, and the city mandated depressed tracks to minimize problems of noise, smoke, and the danger of fire and injury. By the 1880s, Fourth Avenue officially became known as Park Avenue and was lined with one- and two-story commercial buildings and carriage houses serving the brownstone residences on nearby side streets; the trains ran in an open cut below grade to the Grand Central Depot. 'Ihe east side of Park Avenue between East 52nd and 53rd streets contained the finishing nanufactory of the renowned Steinway & Sons piano company; erected in the 1860s, it was a large brick building of five stories. 'Ihe remainder of the site which would eventually be occupied by the Seagram Building was divided up into brick faced tenements on East 53rd Street and brick- and brownstone-fronted rowhouses on East 52nd Street. In conjunction with the reconstruction of Grand Central Terminal (1903- 13) and the electrification of the railroad (1903-07), Park Avenue was rebuilt solidly with a planted mall and the open wells were c

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