St. Peter church@Citigroup, New York City USA, 1977

Name: Xiaoyu Zeng

ARCH161 – M21 LEC(2587)

St. Peter church@Citigroup, New York City USA, 1977

Modern Building

Architect(s): Hugh Stubbins / KlingStubbins, Emery Roth & Sons

［Introduction］

Citigroup Center (Citicrop Center) is one of the most magnificent skyscrapers in New York City. It stands 279 meters high, with a unique 45 degree roof, towering over the city skyline. It consists of 59 floors, and it also has three million square feet for office. The 45 degree view from the top of the building is intended to contain the solar energy, but the idea has been abandoned. Citigroup Center is the headquarters of Citigroup, and it also is the world’s largest and most profitable. Also, It is the highest and one of the most complete business categories of financial services group. It was the merger between Citigroup and travelers group in 1998, and it also went public in the same period.

[Architectural Design]

It is one of the excellent buildings in this world about function. It also is the number one to use the high-rise office building, churches, with the atrium of the multi-storey retail stores, restaurant and a green garden plaza. People not only can take rest and get other needs in here, but also enjoy the atrium space. The base of center is set up with four winds architecture square columns that make the building is above the street level. It become an open and flow space in city. It looks creative and modern sense.

Otherwise, the unique architectural appearance of the city center has attracted the interest and recognition of the modern city for people. Secondly, the facility and function of Citigroup Center fitted people’s colorful life.

Citigroup Center is one of the most successful design of New York in 1970S, It brought a new breath to the city center in Manhattan, where it used to be a very common but very large church. It created a new indoor Plaza, built in Multi-storey shops, restaurants and places.

Paul Berg, the president of New York architectural criticism and he also is the president of Parsons design school, expressed his feelings about the building. He said: "It is in 70s New York's most important building is the city center the last century. It is not only the first class to make people remember it forever, but also because it is a combination of local and city." Now the center of the 914 foot skyscraper at the slope of roof has become the city of New York horizon, evaluation of Gao De Berg can be said without exaggeration: "it is like a line that had been spun into the city of latitude.




Reference :

1. http://www.architectureweek.com/2006/0830/news_3-3.html Web

Hearst Tower

Hearst Tower

          Hearst Tower is a 42-story office tower whose landmark six-story cast stone base is ornamented with columns and allegorical statues, while the tower portions' diagrid cladding is profiled stainless steel and low-E clear glass. Hearst Tower is located on 8th Ave between 56th and 57 Streets. The former six-story headquarters building was commissioned by its founder, William Randolph Hearst, and awarded to the architect Joseph Urban. The building was completed in 1928. Because the building is a designated landmark site, the original cast stone facade has been preserved in the new. Originally built as the base for a proposed skyscraper, the construction of the building was postponed because of Great Depression.

          Hearst tower is the Platinum LEED certified global headquarters of Hearst. The exterior of Hearst Tower boasts an innovative glass and steel diagrid design, which makes for a modern look that is unlike any other skyscraper in North American, and from top to bottom the Tower has an emphasis on modern technology and sustainable design.

          Hearst Tower is the first building to receive a Gold LEED rating (points across several areas that address sustainability issues, there are four LEED rating levels, Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum) for core and shell and interiors in New York City. In 2012, Hearst Tower earned a Platinum LEED Rating for existing buildings becoming the first building to receive both Gold and Platinum certifications.

         The Three story atrium filled with the sound of cascading water from Ice-fall, a three story sculpted water feature-creates a sense of calm on grand scale. The exterior honeycomb of steel keeps the interior works area uncluttered by pillars and walls. The Tower include: a broadcast newsroom run by Hearst Television; the Hearst App Lab, a media lab and interactive learning center; a professional digital photo studio, Studio D, 9,000-square-foot fitness facility and wellness center; the sleek cafe57; meeting and dining rooms on the 44th floor, with arresting views of New York City; and a state-of-the-art 165-seat theater.

Source: Skysrapers, Chris Van Uffelen, 2012 by Braun Pulishing AG
             http://www.tishmanspeyer.com/properties/hearst-tower

             https://www.hearst.com/real-estate/hearst-tower 

             https://skyscrapercenter.com/building/hearst-tower/2245 

             https://archpaper.com/2006/09/the-crystal-method/

             http://www.e-architect.co.uk/new-york/hearst-tower-new-york

One World Trade Center, 2013, New York, NY

September 11, 2001 will forever be a tragic event to ever happen in New York City. But it changed our nation for the better. We have new security in placed and new building construction development. By examining the collapse step-by-step, experts are learning how buildings fail, and discovering ways we can build stronger structures. Like most buildings, the Twin Towers had redundant design, which means that when one system fails, another carries the load. They needed to design a building more secure, so this event can be less damaging if were to happen again.

The new One World Trade Center building itself is 1,362 feet, the height of the original WTC South Tower. The building and the observation deck is 1,368 feet, the height of the original WTC North Tower. The whole building altogether is 1,776 feet, the year the Declaration of Independence was signed. The base is 200 feet square, the same as the original twin towers. The building is 104 stories high. With gigantic triangles in each façade to create a circular wind motion.

In fall 2001, The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) formed to plan the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site. By August 2002, the LMDC invites architects from around the world to submit ideas for the World Trade Center site. On February 2003, Architect Daniel Libeskind's "Memory Foundations" is selected as the new design plan for the World Trade Center site. On May 4, 2005, New York Governor George Pataki announces that Freedom Tower will be redesigned due to security concerns. By April 27, 2006, the construction begins on Freedom Tower. On March 26, 2009, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announce that the skyscraper will no longer be referred to as Freedom Tower. It will be called by its legal name and address, One World Trade Center. On May 10, 2013, construction workers bolt the last pieces of a 408-foot spire into place, bringing the building to a height of 1,776 feet. On May 29, 2015, The One World Observatory opens the three upper floors of the tower. The Observatory is a 360 degree view of New York and New Jersey from about 1,250 feet up in the air.

The One World Trade Center is a remembrance of a tragedy, but also that we can come together as a nation to pick up the pieces. The reconstruction of the One World Trade Center reminds us of strength and our hope.

Source: Dupré, Judith. One World Trade Center: Biography of the Building. New York: Little, Brown, 2016. Print. "One World Trade Center Fast Facts." CNN. Cable News Network, 4 Aug. 2016. Web. 02 Oct. 2016.

New York Life Insurance Building; New York, NY

New York Life Insurance Building, New York

  Cass Gilbert.

New York Life Insurance Co.

 

The New York Life Insurance building was designed in 1926 by Architect Cass Gilbert- renowned for his detailed skyscrapers, the construction ran from 1927 to 1928. Located on Madison Avenue between 26th and 27th street stands the New York Life Insurance Building, a 40 story, 617 foot tall, neo-gothic office building sitting on nearly 2 acres of land. Looking up at the building you can see every detail covering every aspect of this building. The building appears to be set on a base with a row of arches and large streams of vertical windows that run throughout all sets of towers equally.

Pbase.com

Emporis.com

   A set of 3 towers of the same height inset off the first base, the center tower being squared and the two on either side of it being rectangular. Set above that is a set of 3 towers again, the center tower has slight inset as it doubles in height with the crowned top, while the pair beside remain at a similar height.

The building consists of thirty-four stories but the crown at the top adds another 6 stories creating the pyramidal roof. The tower is set well back from the base, and is capped at 187.5 m with an octagonal golden spire [2] which is covered in gold-toned tile making this feature the most prominent. Although the roof can be recognized and seen throughout the skyline, all of the other details of the building are just as thought out. Other detailing Cass Gilbert added was the building's exterior which is comprised of 440,000 cubic feet of Indiana Limestone, solid bronze was used to frame the building’s 2,180 windows, as well as using bronze in many other interior decoration forms such as on the buildings large ornate doors, 18 enormous hanging lamps. elaborate coffered and vaulted ceilings, the richly-molded surrounds of the entrance, window spandrels, and gargoyles at the roof line. [1, 3]

Transverse Section.
Chestofbooks.com

Plan of Piers.
Chestofbooks.com

        Although the design of this building is perceived to be detailed flawlessly, there were some challenges Gilbert faced. In April 1925 with the excavation over 60 percent complete and structural steel fabrication well underway, Gilbert was ordered to abandon the design because the bids on construction costs were much higher than anticipated. The building was redesigned and construction resumed the following year. The new design substituted limestone cladding for the original marble that had been proposed, incorporated more setbacks, and added the gilded pyramidal roof with six stories for mechanical services. [5] Gilbert melded the neo-Gothic embellishments of his earlier buildings with the cubic geometries of 1920s skyscrapers, making this building a significant transition from the historical revival-style skyscrapers of the 1900s to the Art Deco towers of the late 1920s. [3] The building is Gilbert's third and final version of the neo-Gothic skyscraper in New York City. [5]

Sources:

1 - https://www.madisonsquarepark.org/news/mad-sq-history-the-new-york-life-insurance-building

2 - https://www.emporis.com/buildings/115516/new-york-life-building-new-york-city-ny-usa

3- http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GRP/GRP020.htm

4- http://www.cassgilbertsociety.org/works/nyc-newyorklife/

5- http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2067.pdf