Skyscraper Museum | CBS Headquarters
Earlier tonight — Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. — I learned all about skyscrapers and CBS Headquarters. Hosted by the Skyscraper Museum in Manhattan, NY, the talk CBS Headquarters: A Modern Concrete Skyscraper focused on “Black Rock”, a building regarded as the first concrete office tower in New York City, NY. Giving the talk was internationally acclaimed architect Matthys Levy, who assisted with the construction process of Black Rock and boasts an impressive design portfolio. As principal architect at Weidlinger Associates, Inc. (WAI), an American structural engineering company that merged with a similar but larger firm, Thornton Tomasetti, back in 2015, his influence is evident on several great cultural venues that I have visited, including the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, NY; Art of the Americas Wing at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA; and the Giant Ocean Tank at the New England Aquarium in Boston, MA. Additionally, Levy is a prolific author with specific concerns about how buildings react to global warming.
Levy began his talk by reviewing the history of skyscrapers in the United States. Most early skyscrapers of New York City were built of steel. In 1890, the now-demolished New York World Building was 200 feet high. Fifteen years later, in 1905, the Singer Building stood 612 feet high. Levy had a special attachment to the building, as his uncle worked here and hired Levy as an office boy during the summer. Unfortunately, the building was demolished in 1967 to make way for One Liberty Place, completed in 1974. In contrast to these steel buildings, the first reinforced concrete skyscraper in the United States was the 16-story Ingalls Building of Cincinnati, OH, built in 1903 and now on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Many years later, the concrete Seagram Building in Manhattan, New York City, NY, was designed by Mies van der Rohe constructed between 1955 and 1958.
When Levy assisted with “Black Rock”, so called for its dark, granite façade, he collaborated with many other extraordinary architects and designers. Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen was instrumental in the design of the building. He last appeared in this blog as a furniture designer for the Gropius family at their family home in Lincoln, MA. Hungarian-American engineer Paul Weidlinger, who had founded his firm in 1948, worked with architect Gordon Bunshaft to receive the contract from Saarinen. Early in the construction of the CBS Building, which ran from 1961 to 1965, Saarinen died unexpectedly at 51 years old. Fortunately, the firm Roche Dinkeloo of Hampden, CT — run by two former Saarinen employees, prizewinning Irish-American designer Kevin Roche and University of Michigan graduate John Dingaloo — were able to take over the project. Their contractor was George Fuller, a Worcester County native who popularized the modern skyscraper contracting system.
The first issue faced by the firm was the subway running diagonally underneath the planned footprint of the skyscraper. Workers encased the subway tube in concrete and placed steel girders above for protection. The horizontal slabs of concrete averaged 17 inches thick and required no steel beams. At the top, the slabs were a mere 12 inches thick but reached 28 inches at the bottom. The concrete floors were about 25% lighter than average, with a 3 inch layer of cement to enclose wiring. Before his death, Saarinen had selected the black granite slabs on the side of the building for the distinctive color and texture.
Levy designed the floor plan of the office space, creating a clever 5 foot module system. Walls consisted of 10 feet of concrete interrupted by 5 feet of darkened window. Offices were 10, 15, or 20 feet in size. 35 feet separated the outside of the building from the core of the building, which contained the elevator. Upon its completion, it was variously called dignified, classic, aloof, and elegant. The building was designated as a New York City Landmark in 1997.
Architects in the United States and around the world continued to build massive skyscrapers during and after Black Rock. A 1963 addition to the Art Deco style Southern Bell Telephone Company Building in Atlanta, GA brought the structure to a height of 677 feet and earned it a spot on the NRHP. Completed in 1964, Tour de la Bourse in Montreal, Quebec, Canada stood 48 stories and 620 feet tall, making it the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world until Lake Point Towers in Chicago, IL was completed in 1968 and reached 645 feet. Nearby, the concrete Brunswick Building of Chicago, IL was completed by SOM in 1965 and frequently compared to Black Rock for its similar style. Around this time, from 1966 to 1968, Levy worked on the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building or HUD (Housing and Urban Development) in Washington, D.C. His team suggested a poured concrete technique for the floors that saved millions in taxpayer dollars but cost the firm in design fees, as these were paid based on construction cost. Roche constructed the egg-shaped IBM Pavilion at the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair. For frequent readers of the blog, that is the same event leading to the construction of the Arch now kept at Rocky Point State Park. Roche was very busy, as Roche Dinkeloo completed the Ford Foundation Headquarters in 1967.
Skyscrapers have changed their roles and their shapes since the 1960s. After the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when stay-at-home mandates were in place, many office workers no longer want to commute into the city to spend their days in crowded high rise buildings. As a result, many skyscrapers have converted into hotels and apartments. The 1907 Cleveland Trust Company has been a hotel and apartments since 2013. Constructed from 1964 to 1968, the lower 10 stories of 33-story, 445 tall One Main Place in Dallas, TX are now a Westin Hotel. In contrast, the concrete and steel New York Marriott Marquis building in Time Square, New York City, NY was built in the 1980s as a hotel. Skinny skyscrapers are the latest building trend. Steinway Tower at 111 West 57th in New York City, NY overlooks Central Park. At 1,428 feet and 82 stories high, the building has a ratio of 1:24 and sways as much as 3 feet in the wind, causing Levy to refer to it as “a fragile flagpole”.
This well-paced talk led by an expert and accompanied by plenty of images was a perfect primer to learning about skyscrapers, especially those in New York City and Chicago. The Q&A ran long, and the moderators would benefit from asking fewer questions. Otherwise, this was an enjoyable and informative talk.
Watch the full talk here: