Mies van der Rohe, Seagram Building

[@danielwright7257]

It is a beautiful building, if you notice just inside the entrance way, you will see the listings for the tenants. They are old school, back lit gallies (sp) with the names and the floors type set and black letters and white paper. In the late 80s I was in charge of keeping these up-to-date. That meant updating the new tenants, getting them printed, cutting them to size, and installing them in the building. I also worked on the signage for each individual unit in the building. No matter how big and prestigious the company was all the signs we are required to be exactly the same as per the building’s standard. At times it seemed monotonous, but it was also an honor to work and have your work hang inside such an iconic building, even though I was not credited publicly for the work. Thank you for posting. ✌🏼

[@scottscottsdale7868]

I used to work in this building. It was great to work in. Original bathroom fixtures. The ceiling lights. And not to mention two great restaurants and bars in the building. Very old school. It was great.

[@RayNLA]

Wow! I love hearing about these type of details. Thank you for sharing this information!

[@matthewcole4753]

My dad worked for over 20 years across the street from this building. In Summer I would go into the city and sit near the one of the fountain to have lunch with him or visit an attraction like Rockefeller Center before walking towards Park Avenue to go home with him. It's a beautiful building and plaza. I wish I had gone to the Four Seasons although I was too young and it would never be the kind of place my parents would go nor could afford. I definitely could see why Rothko made those controversial Seagram Mural paintings. Its nearly an unobtainable beauty. The building has never been perfectly replicated.

[@Heiko_Cochius]

Thank you for this very intelligent and informative discussion.

[@SebastianJArt]

Glad there was a lot of comparisons to classicism. Thank you!

[@Sasha0927]

I know absolutely nothing of architecture, so there was a lot to learn here. I'm impressed by the inspiration that went into this building and the thoughtfulness of its execution. "I think it depends where you come from" was a perfect note to end on too. I can't think of a building like this one in my native Miami, so to me... I can't appreciate this the way a New Yorker would.

[@finnersmcspeed5646]

It's incredible what a difference the change in video style makes

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Thank you. Hopefully, if you do something for a while, you get a little better at it. And of course there is the small matter of resolution, the old Seagram video was 480p, the best resolution KZbin then allowed. This video is 4k. Our very first videos were really just audio with a still image, we were so excited when we could stream video at 280p!

[@A0A4ful]

The setback from the main road, for the viewer to pause at the plaza, and take in the sight of the building (unlike having to walk past and crane the neck to look directly upwards), was always the main aspect of the Seagram building design. As taught in most Architecture schools world wide. What was not told was the Racquet & Tennis Club opposite too had an earlier and similar siting.

[@markmcginn8012]

I always liked that building. Now I know why! Thanks!

[@howardstein9565]

Great short gulp of Mies. I love this building in Manhattan, and pass it frequently always amazed at how light it seems. I did not know it was bronze! What a revelation. Thanks. Will check in on your videos frequently.

[@burgerslayerrr]

brilliant conversation, thank you for the video. How can this only have 554 likes as of this writing. Underappreciated.

[@tigerphid9677]

During the mid-1990s, I worked at Lexington and 52nd and spent many hours, like before and after work and during lunch, sitting on the Seagram Plaza. I knew exactly what it was. The settees along the edge are green swirled marble. The building is also known as 375 Park Avenue and it has a plaque. I always enjoyed the triumvirate of Seagram - Racquet Club - Lever House. At 270 Park Avenue was Skidmore, Owings and Merrill's Union Carbide Building (where I worked for 2 years when it was Manufacturer's Hanover). And then at the head of Park Avenue behind the Beaux Arts New York Central (Railroad) building was Walter Gropius' Pan Am Building (now Met Life), which could be described as "brutalist". 270 Park Avenue is now being dismantled(!) and replaced with a mega-skyscraper.

[@Morsiki]

In fact, at the time of your writing, the new 270 Park Avenue building was well on the way, having topped out a few weeks ago. The Union Carbide Building failed to win approval by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, in part due to similarity to Seagram and the former Time Life building (I don't recall the current occupants). It was not as impressive but the array of these similar buildings did form an imposition of awe - the new building will be bigger but has a stepback-esque ziggurat design. Is it bad? or good - our city is still alive and keep evolving and growing with the times. Seagram too replaced a number of tenement buildings that could arguably have been renovated and repurposed, as many of them have been around the city, some with impressive facades.

[@stevenikitas8170]

@@Morsiki Yes, I was in Manhattan recently and saw the progress at 270 Park Avenue, by Norman Foster. He also designed the new 425 Park Avenue. And Norman Foster is no Mies Van Der Rohe. Not in a million years.

[@jamesslate1026]

It would be wrong in any discussion of the history of Mies van der Rohe to skip over his Lake Shore Drive apartments in Chicago, specifically 860, 880, 900, and 910, which were all commissioned and built in the early to mid-Fifties. These high-rise buildings established the visual iconography of his "exposed structure", the decorative I-beams which became the hallmark of his design. Also, in regard to the Seagram Building, the windows were tinted to reflect the colour of the Seagram whiskey.

[@scottscottsdale7868]

Used to live in Chicago. Great buildings.

[@mauricioochoa4179]

Exactly. Those buildings significantly predate the Seagram Building.

[@thomasfry4053]

Love this, love the building

[@lucianolizana446]

The plaza and water mirrors were really popular and full of people back at the 60's a very sucessful place

[@septube26]

Good stuff. I learn something new every time I watch a video 🙂

[@philippesauvie639]

The first time I visited New York City in the mid-1980s my architectural history teacher told me before I left that it is possible to walk right past the Empire State building. I said no way! Sure enough, I walked right past it! On the other hand, I did not walk past the Seagram building. That plaza is such a visual relief to that form. The only thing that threw me was the way it steps down in the back. That is not a view that I was used to seeing at all. I thought maybe I was looking at a knock off. Of course I found a ‘Noll’ sticker under the portico roof and that reassured me that I was looking at an authentic Mies van der Rohe building! 😂

[@TrainsFerriesFeet]

One of my favorites.

[@musicsavage]

One of my favorite buildings: not the most impressive but so elegant.

[@user-zx8de8op9l]

I have never been to New York, it is a beautiful modern building

[@shyamdamodaran4160]

Such a beautifully timeless building. the "I" mullions need to be there to reflect as the actual columns in a steel building unfortunately get covered up with fire protection. Looking at the night view with light shining through the bronze glass, couldn't help thinking it also reflects on the warm golden glow of the Seagram's whiskies. Bronze was a color very rarely used on corporate facades.

[@davidkonevky7372]

This building walks the fine line that's between too cozy or too modern beautifully

[@GH-oi2jf]

It is completely, uncompromisingly modern.

[@ultraali453]

wow, those pillars reminded me of my house. the architect might have been a fan of Van Der Rohe's work.

[@Giorg189]

The new Acropolis museum in Athens has some astonishing architecture, please consider making a similar video.

[@ivanasazdov8008]

Thank you!

[@lizj5740]

It reminds me strongly of the Bechtel Building in San Francisco completed in 1967, just in time for me to start working there.

[@clydelaz]

I would love for you to do a video on my Mies Van Der Rohe apartment building in Newark.

[@leandrodiaz4514]

Please make a video talking about the Parque Central Urban Complex in Caracas, Venezuela.

[@danielp.52]

What is inside the two small buildings behind the main famous tower? I can't find the answer anywhere.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Both "small buildings" are actually contiguous parts of the Seagram Building though they do seem distinct. On the East 54th Street (uptown) side, the back section of Seagram contains the entrance to an underground parking garage and more importantly for older New Yorkers, a restaurant which was formerly the Brasserie, a wonderful lunch spot that stayed open till quite late at night. It opened in the 1950s and shut c. 2015. Like its more famous and far swankier sibling, the Four Seasons restaurant on the downtown side (East 53rd Street), its interior was designed by Philip Johnson, though it didn't have the polish, the Picasso, or the A-list clientele. Above both restaurants are offices.

[@danielp.52]

Thanks for the answer. So, Mies van der Rohe decided to locate the restaurants in the back of the building. I don't live in the Big Apple, so I don't know all the corners of the city. I read on internet that the Four Seasons and the Brasserie were closed in 2015 to be renovated. The Brasserie had been renovated by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in 1999 after a fire in 1995. The Four Seasons reopened as The Grill in 2022. I don't know if the Four Seasons / The Grill is an expensive restaurant, if it is affordable, I'll try to go on my next trip to NYC.

[@FujikkoJP]

@@smarthistory-art-history*It looks like old 5 World Trade Center.*

[@smarthistory-art-history]

@@danielp.52 Yes, and there was a change in ownership as well. The Grill is quite pricey, maybe $150 and up per person for dinner. But the architecture is priceless (and free).

[@smarthistory-art-history]

@@FujikkoJP Minoru Yamasaki's bulding had its own character with its curving supports and narrow windows. Though there was certainly a strong and clear nod to Mies.

[@UsualSuspect404]

Simple, Timeless & Classic. Not easy to do!

[@nyx4081]

Very interesting. Thanks

[@udomatthiasdrums5322]

love it!!

[@qwaqwa1960]

And soon thereafter, several similar appeared in Toronto...

[@floxy20]

New York requires setbacks for tall buildings. That is why the Empire State Building's lower floors are not built very tall. But did this building exceed these requirements?

[@smarthistory-art-history]

The plaza met the setback law requirement.

[@Funes5]

This was an education!

[@hifijohn]

Back then buildings had to have setbacks, mies bypassed that by setting the entire building back.

[@joelrebollar7055]

Though I absolutely despise modern architecture, I do deeply respect Costanza's respect for classical architecture.

[@Djamil97D]

Legend..

[@baldwintheanchorite]

"depurposed" - word of the day x

[@baldwintheanchorite]

this was fantastic, *snaps for you two*

[@eduardoortega2505]

Interviewer: we think of the modern movement as wanting to strip away the unnecessary and decorative... I think that's a stereotype... Ok - Great stuff Thank you for sharing. Beautiful building and great commentary

[@maurice73]

Not only are the referenced classical sculptures bronze in color, so is Seagram's 7 whiskey. Perhaps Mies had a sense of humor...

[@rodgerollins]

The brown colors were in homage to their main product of whisky

[@edthoreum7625]

1:58 bronze ,,, Patina 4:36 depurposed?

[@rpfigueiredo]

First curtain wall in Manhattan was the UN Building, by Niemeyer, Harrison and Corbusier

[@smarthistory-art-history]

The UN Secretariat building was completed the same year.

[@KoobaKoobs]

If you want to see a modern skyscraper with a classical theme, look up the Comerica Bank Tower in Dallas. I think it does an excellent job of combining the styles

[@JaimeValladares00]

International Style > all

[@bfranklin3777]

Too posh for Rothko...

[@spikedpsycho2383]

Modernism critics convey sense mundane uniformity but replicating a greek/roman temple everywhere isn't? When 1st classical skyscrapers went up in NYC they began RIGHT at the edge of sidewalk, as they got taller, expanse to encompass the entire block. Setback zoning allowed more light from above; but the end result was the same; the claustrophobic canyons of stone, The ornate details are impossible to see from the ground level. The Modernists introduced "Corporate plaza" Corporate chic; made 500 mini-parks Open space available public enjoyment.