Combining Beauty with Efficient Design

The Seagram Building located in New York City is a perfect example of the International Style.  The structure has had an immense influence of later American architecture.  The International Style can be seen in its simple geometric shape and because of its large open granite plaza and inspiring design, it is an iconic symbol of the typical New York skyscraper.

The Seagram Building has a simple design which makes it appear to be a capital letter “I”.  The Seagram Building’s rectangular shape was completely covered with bronze I-beams and opaque glass windows, making the building seem very futuristic in the eyes of all who saw it.  The Seagram is a bronze beauty during the day because daylight shines upon the city below giving the streets a gorgeous amber glow.  The overall design would be later replicated in many other buildings later, but at the time it was a symbol of the International Style.  Unlike the surrounding buildings, during the time of its construction, the Seagram Building stands straight up and is not stagger-stepped to the top.  This was a big deal because according to New York law, all of the high rise buildings must not “wall-in” its residents.  The architects, Miës van der Rohe and Philip Johnson, got around this by using less than half of the plot for the building. The remaining land was paved in granite and turned into a vast and beautiful plaza.

The first all glass curtain walled building on Park Avenue came with a one of a kind plaza.  The unprecedented open plaza in the middle of Manhattan stood out because there was nothing like it before in New York.  This plaza has been the site of many New Yorkers lunch break dates because even in a crowded city there they can find a place of free space.  The plaza contains two huge rectangular reflecting fountains and sometimes a sculpture. Such a plaza may have seemed out of place during the time of its construction but that has changed.  Many other buildings in the area now have plazas and that has made the Seagram Building seem less unique but it is still a masterpiece of corporate modernism.

Many buildings now copy the original design of the Seagram Building, mainly corporate offices.  The Seagram Building has been the direct influence on the building of the Arts Tower, which is exactly half of the height.  The Art Tower did not cost nearly as half much as its big brother the Seagram, because of the lack of bronze usage in the I-beams.  It is no wonder why such a unique and beautiful building could have been the standard of today’s high rise buildings.  The Seagram Building is seen as the original New York skyscraper. It has been the inspiration of many buildings build after it but none of them has been as iconic as the Seagram Building. 

The Seagram Building proved that the International Style of building skyscrapers is the perfect mix of beauty and efficiency.  The Seagram has been the model of modern office buildings. Seagram’s plaza still receives daily visitors who may sit in awe of the building that has cast the mold for the corporate office building.  The countless number of reproductions and inspired building show that that the International Style just plain works.  It is the best design that can be used to make any low or high budget office building ascend to the heavens.