How Midcentury Architects Solved the Scale Problem

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In this video, we journey through the unique intersections of architecture and furniture design. Have you ever seen a building and thought, "that looks just like my dresser!"? Well, you're not alone. Learn more about the iconic Chippendale Skyscraper at 550 Madison Ave and why it's often likened to a piece of antique furniture. We’ll dive deeply into the connections between skyscrapers and their furniture counterparts, using the Civic Opera Building in Chicago and mid-century modernism as prime examples.
Highlights:
+ Origin & history of the Chippendale Skyscraper
+ Post-modernism & embracing design controversy
+ Mid Century Modernism: Spoons, chairs, and cities
+ Mies van der Rohe & Eero Saarinen's contributions
Don't forget to check out our other video on the recent construction of a Mies building for Indiana University! As always, remember to LIKE, SHARE, and SUBSCRIBE for more explorations into design and architecture.
_CREDITS_
Video co-produced and edited by Evan Montgomery.
Stock video and imagery provided by Getty Images, Storyblocks, and Shutterstock.
Music provided by Epidemic Sound
_Membership_
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_About the Channel_
Architecture with Stewart is a KZbin journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.
_About Me_
Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.
_Contact_
FOLLOW me on instagram: @stewart_hicks & @designwithco
Design With Company: designwith.co
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture: arch.uic.edu/
#architecture #urbandesign

[@thomaseboland8701]

My father was the Project Manager for AT&T for the 550 Madison project. He signed Philip Johnson's contract. Philip Johnson did know that it looked like that, and it was his intention. "Every building needs a top". So, he was happy enough with the Chippindale moniker from the beginning. BTW, I took the first site survey photos of the location because my father couldn't afford for any information about AT&T building on the site leaking out until all the properties were purchased. That's another fun story.

[@jenn976]

Thank you, I always wondered if the design was intentional or not.

[@WestVirginia1959]

Would love to hear about and see it.

[@mubashirtariq9305]

Nice to know

[@kennethhymes9734]

See my comment above... case in point.

[@jonw999999]

Classical skyscraper design, like all classical design, is about base-middle-top. That's very much not the case for modern design, which is more about mechanized repetition.

[@beckerderbacker4976]

Would you ever consider doing a video on the design of office furniture in the 20th century? From typewriters to computers, office chairs to desks, etc? And how those designs jive or don't jive with the skyscrapers/buildings they are installed in.

[@chrispark187]

Please this!

[@stewarthicks]

Great idea!

[@magicknight13]

Yes please! 🎉

[@JackMason-oq8lf]

Dekkerbakker: You might visit the Museum of Modern Art to inquire if they have any books that explore those written about Skyscrapers that incorporated internal chairs. MOMA sells souvenirs in their Souvenir Shop. It's possible they carry metal miniatures of example chairs that found their way indoors. PBS recently aired a show about Typewriters. Perhaps they have programs in the pipe line devoted to buildings in the 20th Century that featured furniture. It's an un-explored phenomenon.

[@brennymcphees7557]

Jibe, not jive.

[@JohnFromAccounting]

I went to a furniture exhibition in the Tasmania Museum, and there were a lot of "chairs" that were totally dysfunctional as household objects. It's important for architects to understand how humans interact with an object in order to understand how they interact with a built space.

[@barryrobbins7694]

I highly recommend the book, The Chair: Rethinking Culture, Body, and Design by Galen Cranz (Professor of the Graduate School, Architecture at the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley). The author has back problems that spurred her interest in chair design. She writes extensively about design versus comfort. What looks comfortable and what actually is comfortable do not necessarily coincide. It is a great read.

[@roccobierman4985]

The history on the Civic Opera House is just fantastic. Chicago spiting New York and building grand architecture over that snub is something you'd expect royalty from days of old to do.

[@buckswamp1]

I would love to see you do a video on the architecture of Detroit. Many great buildings designed by notable architects such as Albert Khan, Wirt Rowland, and even Mies Van der Rohe.

[@philipprenner4829]

Living in the tropics I really was astounded by the possibility of ice falling from a roof, you never stop learning, thanks for your interesting videos.

[@siahsargus2013]

Oh yeah, it’s a real concern. You can notice sharper angles on roofs up north to stop ice from accumulating

[@ohhgodineedmoore2845]

According to Wikipedia, Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). A building also supports human activities, therefore a building is a massive concrete furniture.

[@edramirez1240]

I always liked 550 Madison. This is especially true given that surrounding neighborhood is full of Art Deco and International Style buildings. I remember how the critics lambasted Johnson and AT&T (the original owner and tenant). Now, its a landmark and iconic feature of NYC.

[@aurelienf284]

Thank you for this video, the Barcelona chair is by far my favorite piece of furniture. It is also important to acknowledge the major role of Lilly Reich in its design (assistants and especially women are often forgotten)

[@nineteenfortyeight6762]

Same for Charlotte Periand

[@Stammer6]

I was really curious how you were going to compare and contrast the design of skyscrapers and furniture for a full 15 minutes, but I was enthralled the whole time. I'd never think of stuff like this, but when you point them out, it seems crazy obvious.

[@aes53]

Great video Stewart, I’m a devoted modernist. I was living in New York when the AT&T building was built. To say I was appalled is an understatement, though over time it’s become a familiar part of the architectural landscape.

[@christopherstephenjenksbsg4944]

I've never been a fan of Johnson's AT&T Building, for all the reasons I generally dislike Post-Modern architecture. However, I'm glad it was preserved, and that the horrible plans for remodelling it were never put in place. Like it or not, it is too important a work of architecture to be monkeyed around with. I also really like the base of the building. I liked it when it was an open arcade, although even then I realized that feature was problematic. It wasn't a pleasant place to hang out, and after dark it was kind of creepy. I think the current infill stores were very well done. I also like the interiors of the main lobby and sky lobby, although I understand those were both remodelled in the recent work, so I don't know what they look like now. Regarding chairs, I'll take Saarinen over Mies any day. They both had their problems as architects, but Saarinen worked very hard to make his buildings and his furniture warm and human-scaled, while Mies's buildings tend to be cold and lifeless, and his famous Barcelona chairs are beautiful to look at, but God help you if you try to sit in one. There's such a thing as being too pure.

[@christophercasey7388]

One of your best videos (IMO): great presentation and sequencing, lot of great images to literally illustrate points, and pacing was great too!

[@kaylamanor]

This is extremely informative and detailed, and you use amazing references. Showing us what a chair of the day looked like next to the mid modern chair is such a good detail that most videos miss these days.

[@de-fault_de-fault]

The magic of early postmodernism was that all you had to do is say “no more plain rectangles” and everyone would be impressed, no matter how dumb your alternative was.

[@jakecavendish3470]

It wasn't hardwoods that made the swan neck possible, it's actually easier to execute it in softwoods and fruitwoods: it was the improvements in steel tooling

[@philipfrancis2728]

Good Lord! I absolutely LOVE listening and learning from you! As a Chicago architecture buff it’s great to see first hand so much of your content!

[@raylopez99]

From the few times I've watched, this channel tells a story to non-specialists and I like that, since I don't study architecture. Also it gives a capsule history. Well done to interest casual viewers. Subscribed.

[@raylopez99]

Request: when you have time a video on office furniture makers who employ architects would be interesting, for example MLKN - MullerKnoll office furniture maker (see also the company they merged with a few years ago which was similar and from Boston I think). Am somewhat interested in investing in this company, based in the USA. thanks

[@magicknight13]

What an excellent video!!!! I could replay this 20 times and never get bored and always learn something new. I can't wait to watch this many more times

[@KurtAspaas]

Stewart! I love your channel!!! You and your gal make deep, entertaining, polished and professional videos. I look forward to them every fortnight. Thank you.🙏

[@PhotonBeast]

Okay, that throne skyscraper was/is kinda dope.

[@themoviedealers]

The story of Samuel Insull and the opra house of spite was one of the few stories incorporated into the movie Citizen Kane that wasn't about William Randolph Hearst.

[@xanderbtv]

Great video! Easily my favorite of yours, keep it up!

[@philipmurphy2]

Great video by Stewart Hicks, Always worth the alert

[@jpmojo]

What about a video about buildings looking like other objects? The Comcast Building in Philadelphia has always reminded me of a USB memory stick.

[@claudiamann7111]

Chicago has fantastic architecture. Thank you so much for sharing such an informative video with us. Always look forward to new ones.

[@stevencipriano3962]

I see 35 West (Leo Burnett ) and 77 West Wacker drive as examples of this

[@moxielouise]

Wonderful thinking points. Thanks and keep them coming

[@jackmccourt1541]

I love your videos. I haven't taken any classes on architecture or anything but I'm always very fascinated by your videos, you are very good at presenting these ideas in a way that I feel a wide audience can learn from.

[@brianholmes1812]

I could only think of 2 things during the segment on the Barcelona chair: The fact that it doesn't look particularly comfortable, and how odd it is that a design school that extoles the virtues of displaying an object's structure goes to such great lengths to hide how the metal bits of the structure are actually consteucted. I like Saarinen's style of mid-century modernism a lot better. Its much more human centred. The first thing I think when I see the womb chair is that I want to sit in it. The interior of the TWA building is so comfortable and inviting. Anyway I'm not particularly familiar with modernism so what the heck, might as well engage with it

[@Freddie_Dunning-Kruger_Jr.]

Great video Stewart ❤

[@esra_erimez]

I learn so much from your videos. This is one the *the* best essay channels on KZbin. Some hipster channels can really learn a lesson from you.

[@CheeseDud]

Really enjoyed this video! Learned a lot! 1) I’m from High Point NC where we have literal buildings constructed to look like furniture. Thought this was about those at first 😂 2) The womb chair is one of the most comfortable chairs I’ve ever sat in. I miss the ones at my alma mater greatly

[@BGTuyau]

Nice descriptions of the Mies and Saarinen chairs -and the shout-out to the Eames.

[@sygad1]

Damn these videos are awesome, love the content, pace and delivery. Absolutely 1st rate

[@danielbirchfield8552]

ive always thought in my head that a chess board would be an amazing grouping of skyscrapers. Just imagine all the chess pieces being skyscrapers and the bottom tiles being beautiful marble/granite, with the "black" tiles being grass.

[@ntatenarin]

When I was younger, I always thought the glass of the Leo Burnett building in Chicago looked like a game board.

[@Josh-yr7gd]

I'm still reeling over that $8000 chair. Are you kidding me?!

[@mrg0th1er83]

Great video as always.

[@SlaughterDog]

On that Barcelona chair, the process of welding joins metal together on a molecular metal. It is not the same as soldering or otherwise adhering two separate pieces. So indeed, the two do become one intersecting piece, not just appear as such.

[@timmmahhhh]

I was fortunate to visit the Barcelona Pavilion in person a few weeks ago, now called the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, to the southeast of Plaza de España, well overshadowed by the adjacent neoclassical domed Catalan Art Museum but with a handful of enthusiastic visitors. It was nice to be able to explain to my daughter how Mies used to high quality materials in lieu of ornamentation. Of course we said it enjoyed the Barcelona chairs for a while which were cloud in a white leather where I expected black. Still a beautiful pavilion. Thanks for the great video!

[@TheJojo01902]

Stewart - this was/is a fantastic video!

[@stewarthicks]

Thanks! Glad you like it!

[@parparparmesan6368]

Interesting video Stewart as always :) ! You reminded me of an earlier video you have done about automobiles and architecture, how both gohand in hand with design and language of those creating it. There was/is a term called "carchitecture", and perhaps a certain term for this video of furniture and architecture can be called "furnitecture" (silly I know but hey I hope my silly verbage can be a new term on its own).

[@rosezingleman5007]

I just love me some Mies. His work was so much a part of my architectural education. Johnson was regarded as a bomb thrower with the Chippendale building because it was built during my final year of grad school. I really like the Saarinen family too. So lovely.

[@AlaskaSkidood]

The TWA Terminal reminded me that I recently traveled through Jordan and was struck by how beautiful the Queen Alia International Airport is in Amman. It is a large concrete structure that reminds me of a palace for aircraft.

[@TM10000]

There is something comforting about a building that transitions well from exterior to interior. I think those Mies chairs are perfect for the 900 N LSD building.

[@zhraa2601]

I would be glad to see you make videos about architecture theory, exploring some of postmodern paradigms. There is not a good amount of content on KZbin about this topic, and I think you have concrete understanding to architecture surely will make you stand out when talking about theory since it's uneasy. Cheers

[@mementomori4760]

Fabulously interesting!

[@mikethespike7579]

The Barcelona chair is probably one of the coolest looking pieces of furniture but its a bummer for comfort. I don't know anyone who can sit on one for an hour and not get backache.

[@billywallace1360]

Here in Glasgow, Scotland we have several buildings by Charles Rennie Mackintosh where he designed the building, the furniture and all the fittings, e.g. lighting, clocks, etc. It's all beautiful, but after an hour or so sitting in a Mackintosh chair in Cranston's tearooms, your sore back has you wishing he designed it for comfort rather than its architectural qualities!

[@ReallyNoAlex]

I got so excited to hear about the civic opera building lol

[@kbigdawg1]

Any video that can incorporate a relevant line from Mitch Hedberg is A+ in my book.

[@marquamfurniture]

Very charming of you to change image. Plaudits!

[@doppel5627]

I was never too keen about American English, but Stewart's accent is beautiful. Reminds me of the way actors spoke back in 1940s.

[@bartoszkranendonk495]

The architecture study at the university of Delft in the Netherlands has a big collection of chairs designed by architects

[@devynnharris4170]

Auto executives took inspiration from the Barcelona Chair in the late 1970’s-1980’s for the interiors of the “Brougham” model GM vehicles after being assigned the task of making the vehicle interiors more upscale.

[@AlanW]

You killed me with the Willhelm.

[@ejonesss]

1. some building designs may allow for occupiable space while keeping the wind loading and sway down. like the Burj Khalifa may be designed to minimize sway while maximizing occupiable space. 2. i think the swan necks can be done with structural woods like pine used to make standard lumber. of course carving a piece of 2x6 or even 2x10 used to make rafter beams in houses may not be as good as mahogany if you want good decorative quality but for cheapness even particle board would work.

[@gregegg-ef1kl]

those quirky things we did as kids, pencil = building, toy= building, table = building etc, damn I wasnt weird this entire time

[@mjf1036]

while the Barcelona chair is visually beautiful it is torture to sit in for any length of time. Cool info in this installment.

[@PatientTeacher]

It would be worth mentioning Oscar Niemeyer, the architect who designed Brasília. His shapes are very peculiar.

[@shadowbandit9785]

I pass by this building sometimes and what mesmerizes me is the scale of the entryway arch, it’s close to 3 stories high

[@willd4686]

I really like how this was shot

[@calebbirnbaum4605]

The Mies skyscraper’s structure is concrete as well, not steel. There is a steel cladding, but the main structural frame is concrete. Great video!

[@csmrfx]

"Skyscraper... chair." 😆

[@tommunyon2874]

I used the cap from a Stripe toothpaste tube to represent a miniature tower when I was a boy. Imagine my surprise at the similarity when I first saw cooling towers at a power plant.

[@markwhitney4580]

They should make a rocking chair building. That would shake things up.

[@Game_Hero]

Yeah for more postmodern architecture!

[@markrichards6863]

From the sidewalk, you don't even notice the fun bit, at the top. Anyplace else, it would be a huge building. In Manhattan, it's just lost amongst even taller buildings.

[@dantepinochet]

Santago does have 1 of these (i think) but the hole in the top is a logo of santader which is the owner of the tower.

[@chiptaylor7925]

I relay enjoyed this video like your others however I want to push back on 2 things you brought up in the video. Fiberglass wool dates back to the 1840's and the first US Patent for it was in the 1880's . The other issue I have was discussing the price of the Barcelona Chair It was always an extravagantly priced chair with a lot of hand finishing as you pointed out earlier in the video. I do agree with manufacturing prices becoming more expensive as workers sellers have increased, as they should, but that particular chair is is misleading to your point. From one Architect to another I really enjoy learning more about our industry in your videos. Thanks again

[@PitNeex]

I don't think that the Barcelona chair or any of the others was intended to be affordable. Also the construction process described earlier on the video wouldn't make it easily available. The deeper connection and the common factor between object design , building or city planning is the human body scale and interaction with those.

[@thomasmccabe6690]

The AT&T building was an attempt to reject the glass blocks that dominated the city! I think it’s beautiful.

[@adanactnomew7085]

The original lobby is amazing too

[@kentcurtisweakley7735]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Alvar Aalto, his furniture, the sanitarium, and how each of his projects relate to the others.

[@Trench_Rock]

The only reason I recognise the chippendale skyscraper is cuz they used the buildings unique rooftop in one of the original Spider-Man games that I played on pc lol

[@stevenikitas8170]

I was acquainted with a lady who had worked for Johnson so I took an interest in him when I didn't know much about architecture. Johnson took a lot of heat for the Chippendale, which I remember well since I was living in the City at the time. I am sure that it was tough for him; nobody in New York wants to be ridiculed. But then again, Johnson did design the PPG Place in Pittsburgh, which I see as something of a joke, with its gaudy castle-like profile. Johnson worked with Mies on the Seagram Building. That was a triumph for him, along with The Glass House in Connecticut, and the main theater at Lincoln Center.

[@rogeremmerson]

I write about such manifestations in my recent book Land of Stone: a journey through modern architecture in Scotland. Mike Davies calls these productions 'massive collectibles.'

[@johnstjohn4705]

I'm a retired architect, and Philip Johnson is one of my favorite architects. I and the architects I worked with loved the building from the beginning. I still do. It's stood the test of time.

[@johnnyxmusic]

It is literally stood the test of time because it hasn’t collapsed. But it’s been a bit of a hard since the moment of conception. The way it faces the street. The scale or lack of scale. It’s not a very good building at all.

[@MicaFarrierRheayan]

The 'broken' podium has been mirrored in Disney's building as well. But this is solely for humorous purpose

[@snarepusher]

Before mid century architects like Josef Hoffmann also designed furniture and other objects. The idea was that the building, most famously the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, should be a complete piece of art, where no object disturbs the whole experience. Adolf Loos criticised this approach of a cohesive "Gesamtkunstwerk", in his eyes a house or room has quality if it works with all sorts of objects in it. Yet also a lot of houses by Loos feature built in furniture designed by him.

[@PghPA81]

Michael Graves - Wheelchair (Stryker Transport Chair)

[@hermanhsu5994]

Love it. Frank Lloyd Right liked furniture more and looked good but uncomfortable.

[@BenDowney]

Wright also designed skyscrapers and towers

[@nineteenfortyeight6762]

The chair you attribute to le Corbusier was designed by Charlotte Periand

[@ekbergiw]

At least they didn't say that it looks like a big Bob Evens

[@TERRY13G]

A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier. That is why Chippendale is famous. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

[@gabrielarrhenius6252]

That throne is is king💯

[@miltonwelch4177]

@10:40 an art of an archie-talk (aka ability "to see" the connection in "womb" and monolithic features of the skyscraper). Still, immensely appreciate the videos.

[@stewarthicks]

Do you think my point wasn't well articulated or that the connection seems like a stretch? To me, it seems like an interesting way to see an underlying connection of thought between the two, that, while doesn't look similar, is an example of a similar kind of thinking. Let me know what you think. I'm genuinely curious about when the deep analysis loses people or seems interesting.

[@miltonwelch4177]

@@stewarthicks I was probably triggered by resemblance to an onslaught of "design-inspiration-archi-talk- justifications " that vast majority of projects at, say, dazeen site are plagued with. Again, I immensely appreciate your videos despite my of-hand remark.

[@katrinauchitel]

4:10 thats crazy🥹imagine your husband being rich enough and creative and supportive enough for that

[@barryrobbins7694]

Housing can also be seen as a fashion item: padded shoulders in a suit and brickwork that is only on the front side of a house.

[@brianstarnes2718]

I had a professor describe tall Modern buildings as Skyscrapers, because that scraped the sky. Anything after that was a Skypuncher.

[@roberttucker1527]

The bedroom furniture was inspired by a broken pediment from antiquity so it's full circle

[@rtbinc2273]

I've sat in a bunch of those chairs - oh man they do not work as chairs. You should really do a video on how Ikea effects modern buildings. Here is Brooklyn NY you see lots of facades that are just stryofoam cut to a template on houses.

[@walterzielinski6654]

In keeping with the chorus of praise for this latest edition of your mini lectures (or tutorials? -- to me "videos" just doesn't sound right) I'd like to add my voice. As an architecture buff they provide an absolutely vital forum for learning. With regard to the ATT Building, I remember well the general reaction to the design when it was first released, most especially the sharp division of opinion engendered by its broken pediment. Full disclosure, I am not a skyscraper fan and I concur fully with the statement (in the case of ATT Building) that Johnson had run out of ideas. Remove the top and what you have on the street facade perspective is a clone of the Seagram tower clad with the textured fabric of granite. What made the design a real hoot during the controversy following its unveiling was Johnson's claim that the circular broken pediment functionally served as an outlet for the steam generated by the building's HVAC system. As at least one other commentator has already noted herein, the sheer numbers of skyscrapers that have emerged in the past century, coupled with a seemingly evolutionary tendency to giant scale megastructures makes it difficult to see the grand design human scaled buildings situated between and below them. As for the Modernist archectect designed chairs, not all are particularly comfortable and some of them are even pratfalls. A well made fabric covered club chair is preferable anyday for its enveloping embrace and lumbar support. By contrast, Mies' lounge chair can even be painful experience if the sitting is a prolonged one. As someone captivated by architecture from the age of 11, I want to say I really do enjoy these topical programs.

[@user-to2gh7sg3l]

Never seen furniture that... Perhaps more for the sock suspender and hankerchief crowd?

[@AlRoderick]

Oh Mitch, we miss you so much.

[@mdhazeldine]

The Line of Spoons. I see what you did there ;)

[@karigrandii]

8:50 glass reflects the city and kills birds

[@marksandoval5361]

There's a skyscraper in Denver that's called the "cash register" skyscraper because it looks like an old fashioned mechanical cash register.

[@CrankyHermit]

It should prolly be mentioned that the design of furnishings and fixtures by architects certainly did not begin with Modernism. Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Frank Lloyd Wright are notable examples, who inherited the tradition from earlier Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts architects, who were in turn reviving the panoramic decorative-arts practices of Renaissance architects. It does seem that nearly every Modern or contemporary architect experiences some strange compulsion to produce an iconic chair. It's almost a rite of passage - a symbol of Arrival to the big leagues. You're pretty much nobody until you've done a chair. (Goldsmiths and potters all have to make a teapot at some point.) Most architects also have ego-dreams of going the other way (bigger) - of planning a town, a city, or - why not a continent? They really shouldn't.

[@JackMason-oq8lf]

I don't think there was one damn design diva on Madison Avenue who didn't grin at Philip Johnson's cheeky AT+T joke. We weren't ignorant as today's young quiet quitters are, those geniuses who also kept it quiet that they ever started. 70s boomers were raised with Chip & Dale in the dining room. High Brow, to us, meant more than another Botox injection. In case you don't know, much, it was Philip Johnson who taught Darian Diva homeowners that throwing rocks at the walls in Connecticut was considered bad form. Can't wait for the next video exploring all the ways The Wheel reminds millennials of Krispy Kreme.

[@PullstartRipcord]

good video