The Seagram Building
The Seagram Building is prime example of the international style of design in the 20th century. The building is a true landmark of the city having an open plaza at the base of the building with high ceilings, floor to ceiling tinted windows and bronze mullions. Its imperious design, set in a plaza with fountain, was imitated many times and became an icon of North American corporate design. Mies is known as the father of the steel and glass structure. Mies designed many buildings during his life however none of the would be as popular and famous as the Seagram Building.
In real estate and architecture, some dreams need a lot of staying power to get realized. The Seagram Building is the realization, some three decades late, of Mies van der Rohe's dream of a glass-covered, high-rise office tower that would provide a stunning monument to the International Style's faith in simplicity and clarity.
The Seagram building is the prime example of Mies' masterful use of steel. The bronze sheathed skyscraper soars thirty-eight stories high from its 90-foot deep pink granite plaza. Volume is everywhere apparent in this building, from the great columns that bring the structure to the ground to the welded bronze mullions holding the glass sheets in place. As enormous of a project this was, great attention was paid to purity and precision of design, following the fundamentals of the style. Details from doorknobs to stainless steel furniture throughout the building, spacious layout and functional use of all elements from interior office space to shower rooms, the Picasso backdrop signaling the entrance, the cantilevered portico entrance, and the luminous ceiling, make this one of the worlds most elegant skyscrapers. More importantly, pertaining to the International Style, Mies has expressed his elegant use of materials, and technological perfection throughout the building.
Mies' well known theory of "less is more" is apparent by the spaciousness and functional quality
In real estate and architecture, some dreams need a lot of staying power to get realized. The Seagram Building is the realization, some three decades late, of Mies van der Rohe's dream of a glass-covered, high-rise office tower that would provide a stunning monument to the International Style's faith in simplicity and clarity.
The Seagram building is the prime example of Mies' masterful use of steel. The bronze sheathed skyscraper soars thirty-eight stories high from its 90-foot deep pink granite plaza. Volume is everywhere apparent in this building, from the great columns that bring the structure to the ground to the welded bronze mullions holding the glass sheets in place. As enormous of a project this was, great attention was paid to purity and precision of design, following the fundamentals of the style. Details from doorknobs to stainless steel furniture throughout the building, spacious layout and functional use of all elements from interior office space to shower rooms, the Picasso backdrop signaling the entrance, the cantilevered portico entrance, and the luminous ceiling, make this one of the worlds most elegant skyscrapers. More importantly, pertaining to the International Style, Mies has expressed his elegant use of materials, and technological perfection throughout the building.
Mies' well known theory of "less is more" is apparent by the spaciousness and functional quality