488 Madison Avenue

Edit links
Coordinates: 40°45′32″N 73°58′31″W / 40.75889°N 73.97528°W / 40.75889; -73.97528 (Look Building)
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

488 Madison Avenue
Uris Brothers
Look Building
 No. 2376
Location488 Madison Ave.,
International Style
NRHP reference No.05000087[1]
NYSRHP No.06101.015024
NYCL No.2376
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 24, 2005
Designated NYSRHPDecember 18, 2004[2]
Designated NYCLJuly 27, 2010

488 Madison Avenue, also known as the Look Building, is a 25-story office building in the

Uris Brothers. The building was originally named for its primary tenant, the American magazine Look
.

The building largely contains a

facade of white brick, interspersed with horizontal strips of aluminum windows. The lowest two stories contain a main entrance on Madison Avenue as well as several glass-and-metal storefronts. The three sides are connected by curved walls. The exterior includes several setbacks to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution
. Each of the building's stories contain an average floor area of 19,500 square feet (1,810 m2), a feature intended to maximize usable office space.

488 Madison Avenue was constructed from 1948 to 1950 as a speculative real estate development, without a main tenant. By late 1949, the building was completely leased, and it was named after Look magazine, which had signed a lease for several floors. 488 Madison Avenue remained the headquarters of Look until the magazine stopped publishing in 1971, although it continued to be known as the Look Building for several years. The building has been owned by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and The Feil Organization since the 1970s. The Look Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated it as an official landmark in 2010.

Site

Refer to caption
Map of the site in 1955/1956

488 Madison Avenue is in the

St. Patrick's Cathedral to the south, Villard Houses and the Lotte New York Palace Hotel to the southeast, the CBS Studio Building to the northeast, and Omni Berkshire Place and 12 East 53rd Street to the north.[4]

In the 19th century, the site of 488 Madison Avenue was owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, which used the site for the Roman Catholic Asylum. The Archdiocese of New York built a boys' trade school on the site in 1893.[7][8] The school was housed in a four-story red brick building with turrets, as well as a main entrance with three doors.[9] The asylum sold off much of its land in 1902, and the trade school building became the Cathedral College,[7] which opened the following year.[10] The college moved from the site in 1942.[11] The surrounding stretch of Madison Avenue was largely residential until World War II, when commercial structures were constructed on the avenue.[12]

Architecture

488 Madison Avenue, originally the Look Building, was designed by

Uris Brothers between 1948 and 1950.[3][13] The two firms were extremely closely associated and collaborated on many projects in the mid-20th century,[14][15] and Emery Roth & Sons were particularly responsible for designing many of the modernist structures on Madison Avenue after World War II.[16][17] The contractors included steel supplier Harris Structural Steel Corporation and electrical engineer Henry Oehrig.[18] Some elements of the current design date from 1997, when Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates renovated the exterior.[13]

Architectural writer Robert A. M. Stern called the building among Emery Roth & Sons' "best postwar work".[8][17][19] Stern wrote that the building was influential in International Style Modernism because of its horizontal strip windows.[8][17] According to Stern, the Look Building was the first major design to be constructed by Emery Roth & Sons after its namesake, founder Emery Roth, had died.[17][20]

Facade

Rounded setbacks of the building's facade
Setback detail

488 Madison Avenue contains 23 stories, with two additional mechanical stories at the top. The building's facade contains setbacks to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution.[3][21] On the southern facade, there are setbacks at the eighth and 11th floors. There are additional setbacks on all three sides at the 13th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st, and 23rd stories.[3][5] 488 Madison Avenue measures 308 feet (94 m) tall from ground level to roof.[22][23]

The design of the base dates to a renovation in the late 1980s. The base is two stories tall and consists of a wall of glass panels, some of which are tinted black. The main entrance is on Madison Avenue, at the center of that side, which slopes down toward 52nd Street.[3][24] The main entrance contains a revolving door between two swinging glass doors. These doors are recessed inside a passage paved with granite in light and dark gray shades.[25] Above the entrance is a marquee sign with the number "488". A row of cast stone panels runs above the base on all sides.[3][24] On either side of the main entrance, and on 51st and 52nd Streets, are aluminum storefronts.[25]

The remainder of the facade is mostly made of white brick with aluminum windows wrapping in a continuous ribbon around each floor. The windows are arranged into three horizontal rows of panes[5][19] and do not contain any columns behind them.[26] The design was intended to place an emphasis on the horizontal axis, as well as give a "light and cheerful" effect to the occupants by having continuous windows.[27][28] According to Percy Uris of Uris Brothers, "if a building has good lines, its simplicity will add to its beauty".[28][29] Curves at the building's corners connect each facade.[3][21] The curved corners contain a radius of 3.5 feet (1.1 m). Marv Rothenstein, an employee of Uris Brothers, stated that curved motifs were used frequently in the design.[21]

Features

Refer to caption
Main entrance

The average office floor is designed with 19,500 square feet (1,810 m2) of office space, more than ninety percent of the lot area.[18] Richard Roth of Emery Roth and Sons believed that, in general, there were relatively few "good tenants" who were willing to occupy smaller floor areas. Accordingly, he sought to maximize usable office space in the company's buildings.[29][30] Harold Uris of Uris Brothers believed similarly, saying, "We had a policy of creating the greatest amount of space for the lowest cost."[31][32]

The materials in the lobby have been replaced, but its layout remains largely unchanged from the building's opening. The lobby floor is clad in white and black granite, and the walls are clad in limestone and contain terrazzo decorative elements. The original coved ceiling was replaced with a lower ceiling of a similar style. There are stainless steel doors on the elevators, which date from the original design.[33] Percy Uris sought to arrange the elevators so no patron would have to wait more than 35 seconds for a cab, and he also aimed to reduce pedestrian traffic congestion in the lobby.[28]

History

Development

The old Cathedral College at Madison Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, was sold in October 1948 to the Uris Brothers for $2.6 million.[6][7] The following month, plans for 488 Madison Avenue were filed with the New York City Department of Buildings.[34] At the time, there was high demand for office space in Midtown Manhattan;[7] the new structure was one of eight ongoing projects in Manhattan that added a collective 3.628 million square feet (337,100 m2) of office space.[35] Uris Brothers publicly announced plans for 488 Madison Avenue in February 1949 as Cathedral College was being demolished.[9][17][34] When the building was announced, Architectural Forum said of the design, "Advocates of the strip window can chalk up another recruit to their ranks".[17][18][36] By that April, before construction had begun, tenants had already leased nine stories.[27][37][38]

St. Patrick's Cathedral
parish house is at left.

The first steel arrived at the site on June 1, 1949. The construction of the steelwork was difficult because the facade's corners were curved, which required specially made steel parts.

Prudential Life Insurance Company in May 1950.[44]

Early tenants

Among the largest tenants was Cowles Magazines, the parent company of Look magazine, which initially took the 10th through 12th floors.

speculative development.[45] Esquire magazine, which took the third and fourth floors, sought to prevent the building from being named after Look in June 1950. Esquire argued the building's renaming would make it appear as though Esquire's publications were associated with Look.[48][51] The lawsuit did not result in any significant action, as 488 Madison retained the "Look Building" name for decades.[48]

The other early tenants included the

Remick Music, and Witmark & Sons, also had space in the building.[5] One visitor to the company's fifth-floor music studio was Bob Dylan, who created some demo tracks in the early 1960s.[5][59]

Later use

The 51st Street facade
Seen from 51st Street, with the Olympic Tower at left

The Look Building was purchased by the

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in April 1953[60] and leased back to Uris that August.[61][62] In 1963, Cowles Magazines expanded its space in the building by 78,000 square feet (7,200 m2). Prior to the expansion, Cowles was already 488 Madison Avenue's largest tenant, with 125,000 square feet (11,600 m2).[63] At one point, the company had six stories in the building.[64] Look magazine ultimately went defunct in October 1971.[65] The leasehold for the building, excluding the land, was conveyed by Charles Benenson to John D. MacArthur in November 1973, although ownership of the land was not affected.[66] Around that time, ownership passed to a joint venture between John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and The Feil Organization.[5][19][67] By the late 20th century, the Institutional Investor magazine and Abbeville Press had also become tenants of 488 Madison Avenue.[5]

Despite Look magazine's closure, 488 Madison Avenue continued to be referred to as the Look Building.

Fox & Fowle renovated the interior.[13] Following the end of the restoration, in late 1998, the Municipal Art Society hosted an exhibit on the building's restoration.[5]

The building was listed on the

Goldstein, Hill & West Architects.[70] The work was completed early the following year.[71][72] By the mid-2010s, the building's tenants included law firms and advertising agencies.[67] In addition, the Feil Organization leased space to some online menswear shops in 2018.[73] The building's tenants in the early 2020s included clothing stores Bonobos, Indochino, and Untuckit, as well as the Municipal Art Society and Shawmut Design and Construction.[74] The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York is scheduled to relocate its main offices into the building in 2025.[75]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places 2005 Weekly Lists" (PDF). National Park Service. 2005. p. 29. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  2. ^ "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. November 7, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g National Park Service 2005, p. 3.
  4. ^ a b c "488 Madison Avenue, 10022". New York City Department of City Planning. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 8.
  6. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 2.
  8. ^ a b c Stern, Mellins & Fishman 1995, p. 416.
  9. ^
    ProQuest 105775560
    .
  10. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  11. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  12. ^ National Park Service 2005, p. 8.
  13. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7
    .
  14. ^ a b Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 4.
  15. ISBN 978-0-316-78213-5. Archived
    from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  16. ^ National Park Service 2005, p. 9.
  17. ^ a b c d e f National Park Service 2005, p. 10.
  18. ^ a b c "Office Building Features Strip Windows" (PDF). Architectural Forum. April 1949. pp. 66, 70. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  19. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  20. ^ Stern, Mellins & Fishman 1995, pp. 50–51.
  21. ^ a b c Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 6.
  22. ^ "Look Building - The Skyscraper Center". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. January 21, 2019. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  23. ^ "Look Building". Emporis. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  24. ^ a b Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, pp. 13–14.
  25. ^ a b Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 9.
  26. ^
    ProQuest 1327491128
    .
  27. ^ a b c d e f National Park Service 2005, p. 11.
  28. ^
    ProQuest 105966002
    .
  29. ^ a b Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 5.
  30. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  31. ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 3.
  32. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on September 6, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  33. ^ National Park Service 2005, p. 4.
  34. ^ a b c d e f Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 7.
  35. ProQuest 105916009
    .
  36. ^ Stern, Mellins & Fishman 1995, pp. 416–417.
  37. ^
    ProQuest 105676243
    .
  38. ^
    ProQuest 1325130172
    .
  39. ^
    ProQuest 105616784
    .
  40. ^ Stern, Mellins & Fishman 1995, p. 417.
  41. ProQuest 1327161252
    .
  42. ProQuest 1326884005
    .
  43. ProQuest 105908244
    .
  44. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  45. ^ a b Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 7; National Park Service 2005, pp. 11–12.
  46. ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 7; National Park Service 2005, pp. 7–8.
  47. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  48. ^ a b c Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 7; National Park Service 2005, p. 12.
  49. ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 8; National Park Service 2005, pp. 11–12.
  50. ProQuest 1327156557
    .
  51. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  52. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  53. ProQuest 1335461213
    .
  54. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  55. ProQuest 1326884450
    .
  56. ^ a b c Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 8; National Park Service 2005, p. 12.
  57. ProQuest 111454073
    .
  58. ProQuest 1327502168
    .
  59. ISBN 978-0-06-052569-9. Archived
    from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  60. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  61. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  62. ProQuest 1322502876
    .
  63. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  64. ^ National Park Service 2005, p. 12.
  65. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  66. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  67. ^ a b "488 Madison Avenue - TRD Research". The Real Deal. March 13, 2019. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  68. ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 2010, p. 1.
  69. ^ Raftery, Isolde (July 27, 2010). "Look Building Is Named a Landmark". City Room. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  70. ^ "Feil Plans Lobby Renovation at 488 Madison Ave". National Real Estate Investor. March 29, 2012. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  71. ^ "The Feil Organization Completes Multi-Million-Dollar Renovations at Two Landmark NYC Properties". National Real Estate Investor. March 7, 2013. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  72. ^ "Feil Organization Completes $5M Renovations of Two NYC Offices". Northeast Real Estate Business. March 12, 2013. Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  73. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived
    from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  74. ^ "Newmark Secures 10,593-Square-Foot Lease for KTAP at Landmarked 488 Madison Avenue in Manhattan Real Estate Weekly". Real Estate Weekly. February 11, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  75. ^ "Cardinal Dolan Announces Relocation of New York Catholic Center". The Good Newsroom. January 16, 2024. Retrieved January 17, 2024.

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 488 Madison Avenue.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=488_Madison_Avenue&oldid=1201034625"