LEVER HOUSE | Gordon Bunshaft
New York City, NY - United States
ACCESS:
Restricted: Access to the building is not permitted to the public, but the courtyard under the podium is accessible to the public.
ADDRESS:
390 Park Ave, New York, NY 10022
DISCRIPTION:
Lever House, designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, is a pioneering glass-and-steel skyscraper on Park Avenue. Completed in 1952, its curtain wall façade and horizontal slab form introduced International Style modernism to corporate architecture in New York City. Its sleek glass-and-steel curtain wall was groundbreaking, introducing a new aesthetic to the city's commercial landscape. The building consists of a slender 21-story slab elevated above a horizontal podium, creating an open public plaza at street level. This modernist approach emphasized transparency, lightness, and functional design. The use of green-tinted glass and stainless steel expressed a futuristic corporate identity. Lever House set a precedent for postwar skyscraper design and reshaped Midtown Manhattan's architectural character.
NOTES:
Kitty-corner is the Seagram Building. These two buildings are the most important international style buildings in New York. Access to the building is limited but there are often sculptural installations at the podium.
