…To take a deeper look at NYC’s modern architecture, we turned to the experts at Docomomo New York/Tri-State, which works to “increase public awareness and appreciation of Modern movement architecture.” The group stresses that this isn’t intended to be a comprehensive list of the city’s modern structures, but rather a list of buildings that “remind us every day about the importance of good design in making great urban areas.” Let’s take a look, shall we?
Now known as 28 Liberty Street, [One Chase Manhattan Plaza] is one of many modernist masterworks from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architect Gordon Bunshaft (his name will appear on this list again, in fact).
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Built in 1952, the former headquarters of the British company Lever Brothers was the building that “brought fame” to SOM’s Gordon Bunshaft, according to Docomomo. Designed in the International Style, the skyscraper—which sits across the street from the Seagram Building—was among New York’s first structures to use a glass curtain wall.
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Also known as the Pepsi-Cola Building, this glass box is another SOM building designed by—you guess it—Gordon Bunshaft, though Docomomo notes that Natalie de Blois was given second billing, a rarity for female architects at the time. The “jewel box,” as Docomomo puts it, stands only 10 stories, and “the veil-like quality of the exquisitely detailed glass and aluminum curtain walls extended inside with then-innovative vertical blinds.”