AT&T HEADQUARTERS

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Title	AT&T HEADQUARTERS
View	General view, from the south on Madison Avenue, depicting the base (after restoration by Sony)
Notes	administrative
Work Type	office building skyscraper city landmark
Style/Period	Postmodern
Creator Name	Johnson, Philip
Creator Nationality	American
School of Creator	Modern Postmodern
Date.Creator Birth	1906
Contributors to Project	John Burgee, Henry Simmons
Major Design Aspects	historical reference vertical thrust innovative avant-garde
Elements & Spatial Types	porthole window open ground floor
Climate Type	temperate
Country	United States of America
City	New York
State/Province	NY
Architectural Material	steel, pink granite
Structural System	steel frame unpolished pink granite curtain wall
Dates	1979-1983
Century	20C
Designation/Awards/Inscriptions	city landmark, city icon
Photographer	Scott Gilchrist, Archivision
Date Photographed	00/00/00
Subject Information	Designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee in association with Henry Simmons. This is considered one of the first Post-Modern structures. / The announcement of this project made the front page of The New York Times not because of its size or economic impact, but because of its heralding of a new architectural era. With its eye-catching, Chippendale-style, broken-front roof pediment, the tower became the most famous 'Post-Modern' building in the country. It was not the first building of its time to base its style on historical allusion, of course, but it was the most prominent and most publicized. Because Johnson and Burgee were the nation's most favored corporate architects at the time and because A. T. & T. was not a minor company, the design took on even greater significance and clout. The considerable height of this 37-storey building is belied by its entrance which is about 7 stories tall and was specifically designed to accommodate and house the spectacular, large gilded statue, 'The Spirit of Communications,' by Evelyn Longman Batchelde. Johnson/Burgee devoted a great deal of their design efforts in many major projects to fenestration experimentation. Here, they stressed the tower's verticality by recessing the narrow windows and their spandrels and omitting corner windows to let the handsome and finely detailed pink granite facade convey a powerful sense of monumentality. While the fenestration pattern is a bit fussy, the overall effect of the shaft portion of the tower is quite attractive because the minimalization of windows augments its substantiality. The famous Chippendale-like top is simple and very bold and even better at night when its curved cutout is well-illuminated, adding a kind, emanating mystery, and occasionally steam'. Source: www.thecityreview.com/sonyatt.html
Credit Line	Archivision Inc. (all images copyright Scott Gilchrist / Archivision.com)
Collection Title	Archivision (architecture, urban design, gardens, landscapes and public art)
Collection information	Collection administered by the Visual Resources manager, Architecture Library, (402) 472-1193

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