Seagram Building

"Seagram Tower" redirects here. For the structure in Ontario originally named Seagram Tower, see Tower Hotel (Niagara Falls). For the structure in Montreal, Quebec, that formerly served as Seagram's headquarters, see Seagram House.

Seagram Building
A tall glass tower, as viewed from across Park Avenue. There are two other buildings to the left and right.
The Seagram Building as viewed from across Park Avenue
Map
General information
TypeOffice
Architectural styleInternational Style
Location375 Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York 10152, U.S.
Coordinates40°45′31″N 73°58′20″W / 40.75861°N 73.97222°W / 40.75861; -73.97222 (Seagram Building)
Completed1958; 66 years ago (1958)
OpenedMay 22, 1958; 66 years ago (1958-05-22)
OwnerAby Rosen
Height
Roof516 ft (157 m)
Top floor465 ft (142 m)
Technical details
Floor count38
Floor area849,014 sq ft (78,876.0 m2)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Ludwig Mies van der Rohe; Philip Johnson
EngineerJaros, Baum & Bolles (MEP)
Structural engineerSeverud Associates
DesignatedFebruary 24, 2006[1]
Reference no.06000056[1]
DesignatedDecember 14, 2005[2]
Reference no.06101.010696[2]
DesignatedOctober 3, 1989[3][4]
Reference no.1664[5]
Designated entityFacade
DesignatedOctober 3, 1989[3][4]
Reference no.1665[6]
Designated entityInterior: Lobby
DesignatedOctober 3, 1989[3][4]
Reference no.1666[7]
Designated entityInterior: Four Seasons Restaurant

The Seagram Building is a skyscraper at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe along with Philip Johnson, Ely Jacques Kahn, and Robert Allan Jacobs, the high-rise tower is 515 feet (157 m) tall with 38 stories. The International Style building, completed in 1958, initially served as the headquarters of the Seagram Company, a Canadian distiller.

Phyllis Lambert, daughter of Seagram CEO Samuel Bronfman, heavily influenced the Seagram Building's design, an example of the functionalist aesthetic and a prominent instance of corporate modern architecture. A glass curtain wall with vertical mullions of bronze and horizontal spandrels made of Muntz metal form the building's exterior. On Park Avenue is a pink-granite public plaza with two fountains. Behind the plaza is a tall elevator lobby with a similar design to the plaza. The lowest stories originally contained the Four Seasons Restaurant, which was replaced in 2017 with the Grill and Pool restaurants, and the Brasserie restaurant, which was superseded in 1995 by the Lobster Club. On the upper stories are modular office spaces.

Seagram revealed plans for the building in July 1954, when it announced construction of its headquarters on the up-and-coming commercial strip of Park Avenue. After Lambert objected to Pereira & Luckman's original design, Mies was selected as the architect that November. The building's construction began in late 1955 and finished in 1958, although the official certificate of occupancy was not granted until 1959. The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) purchased the building in 1979, and it remained Seagram's headquarters until 2001. TIAA sold the building in 2000 to Aby Rosen's RFR Holding LLC, which has continued to operate the structure.

Upon opening, the Seagram Building was widely praised for its architecture. Described in The New York Times as one of "New York's most copied buildings", the Seagram Building has inspired the designs of other structures around the world. Within New York City, the Seagram Building helped influence the 1961 Zoning Resolution, a zoning ordinance that allowed developers to construct additional floor area in exchange for including plazas outside their buildings. In 1989, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Seagram Building's exterior, lobby, and The Four Seasons Restaurant as official city landmarks. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference nris_2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. November 7, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference nyt19891004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference newsday19891004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Breiner 1989b, p. 1.
  6. ^ Breiner 1989a, p. 1.
  7. ^ Breiner & Urbanelli 1989, p. 1.