CONTEMPORARY NY
Original cantilevered entrance at 57th Street & Madison Avenue New York Architecture Images- Midtown

IBM Building

architect

Edward Larrabee Barnes Associates 

location

590 Madison Avenue, at E57. 

date

1983

style

International Style II

construction

 

type

Office Building

 

 

images

View of tower and atrium of former IBM Building, right, and Trump Tower, left, from 56th Street entrance to Sony Plaza on 56th Street
  Plaza District skyline from south
  Original cantilevered entrance at 57th Street & Madison Avenuetop of tower from Fifth Avenue and 57th Street
  "Artsy" redesign of atrium at 590 Madison Avenue

 

Special thanks to Carter B. Horsley of the  www.thecityreview.com

notes

An example of late modernism, this wedge-shaped structure is clad in polished black stone that emphasizes its sheer mass. To make a visual pun regarding its bulk, the ground-level entrance is set back at the angle of Madison Avenue and 57th Street. With a piece of the building cut away, the corner of the tower is left dramatically cantilevered over the street, seeming to defy its height and weight. In contrast to the heaviness of the 57th Street facade, a glass-enclosed plaza along 56th Street contains a cafe and a winter garden landscaped with delicate bamboo and other plants. A public exhibition space is located on 57th Street as a sympathetic (if corporate) gesture to the private, upscale galleries located in close proximity to the tower.

contact

nyc-architecture.com