Company type | Private company |
---|---|
Industry | Architecture |
Founded | 1941 |
Founder | Wallace Harrison J. André Fouilhoux Max Abramovitz |
Defunct | 1976 |
Headquarters | New York, New York, U.S. |
Harrison & Abramovitz (also known as Harrison, Fouilhoux & Abramovitz; Harrison, Abramovitz, & Abbe; and Harrison, Abramovitz, & Harris) was an American architectural firm based in New York and active from 1941 through 1976. The firm was a partnership of Wallace Harrison and Max Abramovitz.
The firm, founded in 1941 by Wallace Harrison (1895–1981), [1] J. André Fouilhoux (1879–1945), [2] Max Abramovitz (1908–2004), [3] was best known for modernist corporate towers on the East coast and Midwestern cities. Most are straightforward. One notable stylistic innovation was the use of stamped metal panels on the facade, first at the 1953 Alcoa Building in Pittsburgh, and repeated at the 1953 Republic Center Tower I in Dallas and the 1956 former Socony–Mobil Building at 150 East 42nd Street in New York City. [4] [5]
The firm's first significant project was the United Nations headquarters in New York City (1947–52). [6]
Both Harrison and Abramovitz were design architects and worked independently. Some projects are clearly attributable to one or the other: for instance the buildings at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Abramovitz's alma mater, are his designs. Harrison's work at the Empire State Plaza "commanded his attention almost exclusively" for 15 years, from 1962 through 1976, [7] which implies the other work of the partnership in that period is primarily attributable to Abramovitz. After 1976 Abramovitz partnered with others.
The firm was also known as Harrison, Fouilhoux & Abramovitz from 1941 through Fouilhoux's death in 1945, then as Harrison, Abramovitz, & Abbe, and finally as Harrison, Abramovitz, & Harris.
The firm's credits include:
Wallace Kirkman Harrison was an American architect. Harrison started his professional career with the firm of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray, participating in the construction of Rockefeller Center. He is best known for executing large public projects in New York City and upstate, many of them a result of his long and fruitful personal relationship with Nelson Rockefeller, for whom he served as an adviser.
Urbana is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, which had 236,000 residents in 2020.
Max Abramovitz was an American architect. He was best known for his work with the New York City firm Harrison & Abramovitz.
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Chase Tower is a 357-foot-tall (109 m) skyscraper located at 100 East Broad Street in Columbus, Ohio. It was completed in 1964 and has 25 floors. It is the 13th tallest building in Columbus and was the tallest constructed in the 1960s. The building served as the headquarters of Bank One prior to its merger with First Chicago NBD, and was known as the Bank One Tower; it later became known as the Columbus Center. The building was designed by the architectural firm Harrison & Abramovitz and it follows the international architectural style. The building also employs a curtain wall facade system.
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The construction of State Farm Center, originally known as the Assembly Hall, at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign consisted of building a huge indoor arena with a 400-foot-diameter (120 m) concrete dome whose center height is 125 feet (38 m) above the center floor, and which weighs 10 million pounds. The building is considered an engineering marvel because of the unique method used to build the concrete roof. State Farm Center, the first-ever concrete dome arena, hosts the campus's teams in men's and women's basketball, numerous concerts and other events. It holds sentimental value for numerous alumni and fans alike and attracts attention for its design and construction. The construction of the Assembly Hall was conceived to provide UIUC with needed space for ceremonies and athletic events. The university’s population had outgrown the largest building on campus at that time, the Auditorium, and desired one building that could hold the entire university class. The design of the new building, by Max Abramovitz, called for the construction of one of the world’s largest edge-supported structure. The assembly hall was completed in 1963, and was dedicated on Honors Day, Friday May 3.
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Woollen, Molzan and Partners (WMP) is a U.S.-based second-generation architecture, interior design, and planning firm that Evans Woollen III founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1955. The firm was previously known as Evans Woollen and Associates and Woollen Associates. It remained in business for more than fifty-five years before closing its doors in 2011. Woollen began by designing mid-century modern residences, but the firm's design projects expanded to include a diverse portfolio of designs for libraries, worship facilities, museums, performing arts centers, private residences, public housing, and correctional facilities, among other projects.
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Hillel at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a Jewish university group, and was the first location of Hillel International. It was established in Champaign, Illinois, in 1923. As of 2024, the organization serves around 3,500 Jewish students and their peers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Parkland College.
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