Seagram Building: Pioneer of Modern Commercial Building

The time is 1958. Work on a building at 375 Park Avenue in the heart of New York City has been completed. Although seemingly simple, the 38-story, the 516-foot-tall building changed the design of commercial buildings throughout the United States and later around the world.

The name of this building which is far ahead of time is the ‘Seagram Building.’ And the chief architect of this building is Miss Van der Rowe, one of the five greatest architects of all time. Philip Johnson accompanied him.

In 1954, Seagram Industrial Company bought a plot of land approximately 60,000 square feet between the 52nd and 53rd streets of Manhattan. The company was one of the largest producers of alcohol in the world at that time. Their goal was to establish a spectacular headquarters for their company in Manhattan. Miss Van der Roe was hired to design it.

Prior to the design, Miss Van Der Rowe, like the architect, closely observed the area around the land. He noticed that none of the buildings in the vicinity of the land had any vacant space around them. At that time, it was rather normal, and the buildings were built with a lot of sidewalks, leaving little space.

He prepared his design with all thought. But when he presented his design to the owners, their eyes were filled with tears!

Van der Ro designed the building about 100 feet behind the road. He left space for a huge plaza between the road and the building. The plaza is designed to be a little higher than the road, covered with granite slabs and surrounded by a low, green marble boundary where people can sit. And two huge reservoirs on either side, with small fountains.

The owner objected to this plaza because Miss Van der Row gave almost half of the land for the plaza! If half of the land can not be used to buy so much money, then what is the benefit! They wanted to leave the plaza, but Rowe refused. He explained to the owner that in the end, it is their interest, that is the owner. Because one of the main purposes of commercial buildings is to attract people.

Although the Seagram Building was the headquarters, Seagram’s office then had a perimeter from the ground floor to the thirteenth floor. The rest of the floors will be used for commercial purposes. So if you want to attract people’s attention, you have to make a design that will make the Seagram building different from all other buildings.

In this case, the plaza was in the design of the row, which is called ‘Ekamevadvitiyam’! Because, at that time, in the vicinity of Seagram, there was not a single tall building in the whole of New York with such a large plaza in front of it. Moreover, if there is a tall building next to the sidewalk, people have to look high enough to see it. If the building is moved a little farther away and placed in the so-called ‘Eye Level’ in the language of architecture, the building will be easily visible to pedestrians from the road.

Following Van der Ro’s argument, the Seagram authorities gave permission for the construction of the building along with the plaza. When the building opened, the results were higher than expected.

There was not much space in front of any building in the vicinity of the Seagram building. So, starting from the pedestrians, the workers of the nearby commercial buildings and office courts also started gathering at the plaza of the Seagram Building for a little open air in the space of work.

The boundary of the building has also been made with the predominance of the seating height of the people. So there is no obstacle to sitting for hours. The commercial value of the Seagram building also increased manifold due to the constant influx of people. Later, many buildings in New York and America began to be built in imitation of Seagram.

Realizing the importance of the public place, New York passed a law in 1961 that certain parts of private land must be left to the general public. Thus, Miss Van der Rowe changed the face of major American cities with her single tallest building.

Not that Miss Van der Roe only bet on the plaza. The building is also impeccable in terms of structure. The way he thought about building the building, in architectural terminology, it could be called ‘Less is more.

At that time, the beam columns of high-rise buildings were covered with concrete. Seen from the outside, it looked like the windows were peeking through the middle of all the thick stone frames.

Van der Ro designed the entire structure of the Seagram building in bronze frames and even used bronze in the beam-columns. When it was customary to cover the structures of the building, he did just the opposite. The entire structure of the building was designed in such a way that it could be easily seen from the outside. And put the windows a little inside. It looks like a sack that encloses with a drawstring.

The whole look of the building changed. Where the Seagram building used to give a feeling of heavy rock, it looks like it was made of glass-frame, which made everyone feel very light.

At the time, it was the most expensive Highrise globally, mainly because of its interior design. The interior of the building was designed to match the exterior structure. Lots of bronze, travertine, and marble were used.

Since then, a huge change has taken place in Highrise construction. Everyone started constructing buildings in light metal frames instead of heavy concrete buildings in imitation of the Seagram building. Advances in technology led to the creation of taller and more beautiful skyscrapers.

Many new buildings are being constructed all over the world at present, all of which are probably much more advanced and visually pleasing than the Seagram Building in all respects. It should not be forgotten, however, that it was through the Seagram Building that Miss Van Der Rowe taught the technique of making Highrise’s in different ways. Carol Willis, the founder of the New York Skyscraper Museum, said:

“The Seagram Building has brought a kind of modern corporate identity to a city that is turning from rocky to glass in building infrastructure.”

If anyone were to visit the Seagram Building these days, they might think, what else! This is like other buildings! But to be honest, Seagram Building does not look like any other building, but other buildings look like Seagram Building!

About sixty years ago, Seagram started a new era in the idea of ​​building a Highrise. Sadly, in our country, we have not yet caught the tune of that new age. We still don’t want to leave any space on our occupied land for house building. But we should understand that having extra space in front of the house is as good for the residents as it is for any area or city.