Modern Marvels
I was in New York this week, and I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with two buildings I've long wanted to see up close and personal. I braved being arrested for using my camera phone to take pictures of landmark buildings -- and proudly present the results of my short trip below:
As per usual, I was staying at my suite at the Waldorf. As I strolled up Park Avenue I was surprised to see, kitty corner from each other, both the the Seagram Building and the Lever House (for some reason, I thought the Seagram building was on Lexington).
I was also surprised to be disappointed with the Seagram Building. I had recently spent a day of touring Mies van der Rohe's high-rise residential buildings in Chicago (I might have moved to 880 N. LSD if it weren't for the $700 assessments), and it seems to me that his Chicago work is much purer in form than the Seagram. The Seagram is pressed up against the buildings in back of it, and, walking around to the north, I noticed that the rectangular form was marred by a hump on the back, adding more space and more corner offices, but not much to the form of the building. I'd read that the Seagram is widely regarded as Mies' masterpiece, but my amateur opinion would give that award to either the IBM building (which won't be the IBM building for long, unfortunately), 860 and 880 LSD or Crown Hall at IIT.
Here are my camera phone pics of Seagram:
The Lever House was breathtaking, however -- I walked around it quite a few times, just staring up at the clean lines of the glass wall:
I tried to get a picture of the sign that says "Lever House" on the front, but it didn't come out too well:
On my way back to the hotel, I also walked over to Lexington to see the Citibank building, and the security presence was palpable. Cops and cameras all over the place. I didn't take any pictures!
As per usual, I was staying at my suite at the Waldorf. As I strolled up Park Avenue I was surprised to see, kitty corner from each other, both the the Seagram Building and the Lever House (for some reason, I thought the Seagram building was on Lexington).
I was also surprised to be disappointed with the Seagram Building. I had recently spent a day of touring Mies van der Rohe's high-rise residential buildings in Chicago (I might have moved to 880 N. LSD if it weren't for the $700 assessments), and it seems to me that his Chicago work is much purer in form than the Seagram. The Seagram is pressed up against the buildings in back of it, and, walking around to the north, I noticed that the rectangular form was marred by a hump on the back, adding more space and more corner offices, but not much to the form of the building. I'd read that the Seagram is widely regarded as Mies' masterpiece, but my amateur opinion would give that award to either the IBM building (which won't be the IBM building for long, unfortunately), 860 and 880 LSD or Crown Hall at IIT.
Here are my camera phone pics of Seagram:
The Lever House was breathtaking, however -- I walked around it quite a few times, just staring up at the clean lines of the glass wall:
I tried to get a picture of the sign that says "Lever House" on the front, but it didn't come out too well:
On my way back to the hotel, I also walked over to Lexington to see the Citibank building, and the security presence was palpable. Cops and cameras all over the place. I didn't take any pictures!
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