146. Seagram Building. New York City, US. Ludwig Miles van der Rohe and Philp Johnson. 1954-1958 CE Steel frame with glass curtain wall and bronze.

• Function
  • 38-story corporate headquarters of the Seagram Liquor Company
• Form
  • Bronze veneer gives the skyscraper a monolithic look; bronze is maintained yearly to keep the same color
  • Set back from Park Avenue on a wide plaza balanced by reflecting pools
  • Interplay of vertical and horizontal accents
  • Mullions stress the verticality of the internal frame
• Context
  • Minimalist architecture
  • Monolith style expresses corporate power
  • Mies’s saying of “Less is more” can be seen in this building with its great simplicity, geometry of design, and elegance of construction
  • Mies also said, :God is in the details;” truthful buildings express their structure, not hide it
  • Steel and glass skyscrapers and curtain wall construction became the model after WWII
  • A triumph of the International Style of architecture