the seagram building was planned for the
seagram's distillery company.
this 160 m tall building was a further development
of mies's project from the 1951 lake shore drive
apartments in chicago and was
immediately hailed with critical acclaim.
the building is placed to the "rear" portion of the
end-of-block site, off the park avenue.
amid the bustle of midtown manhattan,
mies separated his architecture from the city,
the tower from the avenue by a pink travertine-clad
open plaza with twin fountain pools flanked by trees.
for the building’s exteriors, mies used unusually
luxurious materials:
dark bronze-tinted glass panels held in place,
by bronze I-profiled beams attached to the mullions
to emphasize the vertical rise of the facade.
this urban sophistication and material refinement
established the seagram building as a masterpiece
of skyscraper design.