Socony-Mobil Building

Last updated
Socony-Mobil Building
The Socony-Mobil Building.jpg
General information
Type Office
Architectural style International and Moderne Style
Location 150 E. 42nd Street
New York
NY 10152
United States
Construction started 1954
Completed 1956
Cost US$45,000,000
Management JLL (company)
Height
Antenna spire 572 ft (174 m)
Roof 572 ft (174 m)
Technical details
Floor count 42
Floor area 102,192 m2 (1,099,990 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect Harrison & Abramovitz, John B. Perkin
Developer Peter B. Ruffin (Galbreath Corporation)
References
[1] [2]

The Socony-Mobil Building is a skyscraper at 150 East 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that was built in 1956. The 42-story New York City Landmark building stands 572 feet (174 m) tall and is known for its exterior walls that are completely clad with stainless steel. [3]

Skyscraper tall building

A skyscraper is a continuously habitable high-rise building that has over 40 floors and is taller than approximately 150 m (492 ft). Historically, the term first referred to buildings with 10 to 20 floors in the 1880s. The definition shifted with advancing construction technology during the 20th century. Skyscrapers may host commercial offices or residential space, or both. For buildings above a height of 300 m (984 ft), the term "supertall" can be used, while skyscrapers reaching beyond 600 m (1,969 ft) are classified as "megatall".

42nd Street (Manhattan) street in Manhattan

42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square in Midtown. It is also the name of the region of the theater district near that intersection. The street has held a special place in New Yorkers' imaginations since at least the turn of the 20th century, and is the site of some of New York's best known buildings, including the Headquarters of the United Nations, Chrysler Building, Grand Central Terminal, New York Public Library, Times Square and the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Midtown Manhattan central business district in New York City

Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Midtown is home to some of the city's most iconic buildings, including the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the headquarters of the United Nations, Grand Central Terminal, and Rockefeller Center, as well as Broadway and Times Square.

Contents

History

The building, designed by prominent New York architects Harrison & Abramovitz, was completed in 1956. [2] Mobil Oil Corporation was the anchor tenant, occupying half of the building from 1956 to 1987. [4] The company had their previous headquarters on 26 Broadway.

Harrison & Abramovitz was an American architectural firm based in New York and active from 1941 through 1976, a partnership of Wallace Harrison and Max Abramovitz.

In 2003 its facade was designated as a Landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, considered as "one of New York City's most striking skyscrapers". [5] [6] It was first skyscraper to have its exterior wall completely clad with stainless steel. [3] When opened, it was also the largest air-conditioned building in the world. [7]

The building was acquired in April 2016 by real estate investor David Werner for $900 million. [8] It was previously owned by Hiro Real Estate Co., a Japanese investment firm, [9] who put it on the market in 2014. [10]

Architecture

At the center of the block, atop a three-story base, is a 42-story tower, oriented from east to west, flanked by thirteen story wings. [6]

According to Cobb, the facade consists of approximately 750,000 pounds (340,000 kg) of 0.038-inch (0.97 mm) thick pleated chromium nickel stainless steel Type 302. [3] Up to 7,000 panels embossed with pyramidal forms in high relief, [5] are combined with blue opaque glass windows. [11] A contemporary office building that also made generous use of this material was the Inland Steel Building in Chicago, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in 1956–1957. [6]

Stainless steel steel alloy resistant to corrosion

In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French inoxydable (inoxidizable), is a steel alloy, with highest percentage contents of iron, chromium, and nickel, with a minimum of 10.5% chromium content by mass and a maximum of 1.2% carbon by mass.

Inland Steel Building

The Inland Steel Building, located at 30 W. Monroe Street in Chicago, is one of the city's defining commercial high-rises of the post-World War II era of modern architecture. It was built in the years 1956–1957 and was the first skyscraper to be built in the Chicago Loop following the Great Depression of the 1930s. Its principal designers were Bruce Graham and Walter Netsch of the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architecture firm.

Chicago City in Illinois, United States

Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in Illinois and the third most populous city in the United States. As of the 2017 census-estimate, it has a population of 2,716,450, which makes it the most populous city in the Midwestern United States. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States, and the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area, which is often referred to as "Chicagoland." The Chicago metropolitan area, at nearly 10 million people, is the third-largest in the United States, the fourth largest in North America, and the third largest metropolitan area in the world by land area.

According to architectural historian Christopher Gray, "By using steel panels on the 1.6 million square foot building, the team gained several inches of floor space on the inside wall, greatly reduced labor costs on the skin, and saved weight—the panels weighed two pounds per square foot as opposed to 48 pounds per square foot for brick". It remains the largest stainless-clad skyscraper in the world. [12]

A considerable amount of stainless steel was also used in the lobby and for the elevator doors. The panels were press formed into a trihedral pattern to prevent waviness and to break up reflections. The appearance of the Socony-Mobil Building led critics to call it "The Waffle Building." However, in 2003, the building near Grand Central Terminal was named "one of New York's most striking skyscrapers" by the Landmarks Preservation Committee.

The building was cleaned for the first time in 1995. [3]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Socony-Mobil Building at Emporis
  2. 1 2 "Socony-Mobil Building". CTBUH Skyscraper Database .
  3. 1 2 3 4 Cobb 2010, p. 204.
  4. ↑ Matthew A. Postal; Andrew Dolkart; New York Landmarks Preservation Commission (3 December 2008). Guide to New York City Landmarks. John Wiley & Sons. p. 109. ISBN   978-0-470-28963-1.
  5. 1 2 "POSTINGS: The Socony-Mobil Building on 42nd Street; A Landmark, Measles and All". The New York Times. 2003-03-02. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2016-04-30.
  6. 1 2 3 "Socony-Mobil Building" (PDF). Landmarks Preservation Commission. 25 February 2003.
  7. ↑ National Research Council (U.S.). Building Research Institute (1957). Windows and Glass in the Exterior of Buildings: A Research Correlation Conference Conducted by the Building Research Institute, November 14 and 15, 1956, at the Chamber of Commerce of the United States in Washington. National Academies. p. 118. NAP:15299.
  8. ↑ Grant, Peter (2014-04-17). "New York Investor Swoops In and Snags 42-Story Trophy Mobil Building". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2016-04-30.
  9. ↑ Gupta, Rapti (17 April 2016). "Socony-Mobil building in New York City sells for $900 million". Realty Today. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  10. ↑ Levitt, David M. (18 March 2014). "NYC's Socony-Mobil Tower Said on Market for $900 Million". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  11. ↑ Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel (1 September 2011). The Landmarks of New York, Fifth Edition: An Illustrated Record of the City's Historic Buildings. SUNY Press. p. 652. ISBN   978-1-4384-3771-2.
  12. ↑ Nancy B. Solomon (2008). Architecture: Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future. Visual Reference Publications. p. 150. ISBN   978-1-58471-162-9.

Sources

Coordinates: 40°45′02.98″N73°58′33.33″W / 40.7508278°N 73.9759250°W / 40.7508278; -73.9759250

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