Company type | Private company |
---|---|
Industry | Architecture |
Founded | 1941 |
Founder | Wallace Harrison J. André Fouilhoux Max Abramovitz |
Defunct | 1976 |
Headquarters | New York, New York |
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.
Max Abramovitz was an American architect. He was best known for his work with the New York City firm Harrison & Abramovitz.
Welton David Becket was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California.
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Hugh Asher Stubbins Jr. was an architect who designed several high-profile buildings around the world.
1251 Avenue of the Americas is a skyscraper on Sixth Avenue, between 49th and 50th Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is owned by Mitsui Fudosan. The structure is built in the international style and looks like a simple cuboid devoid of any ornamentation. The facade consists of alternating narrow, vertical stripes of glass and limestone. The glass stripes are created by windows and opaque spandrels, forming continuous areas that are washed by machines sliding down the facade. A seven-floor base wraps around the western portion of the building, and there is a sunken plaza with a large two-tier pool and fountains facing Sixth Avenue. In the plaza stands the bronze statue named Out to Lunch by John Seward Johnson II—of the same series as the one standing outside 270 Park Avenue.
PNC Tower is a skyscraper in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky, and located at 101 South Fifth Street. It was completed in 1972 and was originally named First National Tower.
1221 Avenue of the Americas is an international-style skyscraper at 1221 Sixth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 51-floor structure has a seven-story base and a simple, cuboid massing. The facade has no decoration and consists of red granite piers alternating with glass stripes to underline the tower's verticality.
Carson & Lundin, later known as Carson, Lundin & Shaw and Carson, Lundin & Thorson, was an American architectural firm based in New York City and active from 1941 until 1996. It was formed initially by the 1941 partnership between architects Robert Carson and Earl H. Lundin.
525 William Penn Place is a skyscraper located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was completed in 1951 for the Mellon National Bank and the U.S. Steel Corporation. At 520 feet (160 m) tall, it was the second-tallest building in Pittsburgh until 1970, and the third-tallest until 1984. The building has 41 floors and approximately 950,000 square feet (88,000 m2) of office space. Presently it is the third-largest office building by square feet in downtown Pittsburgh. In 2016, BNY Mellon sold the building for $67.65 million.
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 12th 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.
Starrett & van Vleck was an American architectural firm based in New York City which specialized in the design of department stores, primarily in the early 20th century. It was active from 1908 until at least the late 1950s.
Tower on the Maumee is a skyscraper at 200 North Saint Clair Street in Toledo, Ohio. Constructed in 1969, the 400 feet (120 m) building is an example of the international style of architecture. In 2012, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places under the name "Riverview".
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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1211 Avenue of the Americas, also known as the News Corp. Building, is an International Style skyscraper on Sixth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Formerly called the Celanese Building, it was completed in 1973 as part of the later Rockefeller Center expansion (1960s–1970s) dubbed the "XYZ Buildings". Celanese, its primary tenant, later moved to Dallas, Texas. The building is owned by Ivanhoé Cambridge as of 2023.
The Springs Mills Building is a 21-story office building at 104 West 40th Street in Manhattan, New York City, just west of Sixth Avenue and Bryant Park. The Modernist building sits on an L-shaped lot that extends back to 39th Street and rises to a thin glass hexagonal tower. An early example of the International Style in New York, the building was designed by the architectural firm Harrison & Abramovitz and built in 1961–1963. Its northern facade on 40th Street is designed to comply with the 1961 Zoning Resolution, enacted soon after the building's construction started, while its southern facade on 39th Street conforms to the older 1916 Zoning Resolution.
Campustown is an area within the 1st and 2nd City Council Districts in Champaign, Illinois. Centered on Green Street, the district contains about eight city blocks occupied by various small businesses, restaurants, bars, and apartment buildings which mostly house university students. Campustown is located along the west side of the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign campus.
The Socony–Mobil Building, also known as 150 East 42nd Street, is a 45-story, 572-foot-tall (174 m) skyscraper in the Murray Hill and East Midtown neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It occupies the block bounded by 41st Street, 42nd Street, Lexington Avenue, and Third Avenue.
Mills, Rhines, Bellman & Nordhoff was an architectural firm founded in Toledo, Ohio in 1912. Renamed Bellman, Gillett & Richards in 1944, Richards, Bauer & Moorhead in 1962 and Bauer, Stark & Lashbrook in 1979, it closed in 1999.