This 60-story skyscraper resulted from the forward-looking vision of David Rockefeller, who was willing to construct the first International Style building in Lower Manhattan. At the time of its completion, the tower's rectilinear shape stood in stark contrast to the 19th-century spires of downtown, and its expansive plaza provided much-needed open space in the area. The Chase Tower unarguably served as a high point of urban transformation during the 1960s.
Clad in aluminum and tinted glass, the tower contains open office areas positioned around a central core with columns outside the exterior wall and within the core. Short ends of the floors are cantilevered beyond the end columns. A circular open court on the plaza admits light to a large banking room below.
In addition to the banking room, the building's multilevel basement includes a branch bank, a restaurant and cafeteria, shops, a trucking level, mailroom, storage, a print shop, mechanical equipment rooms, check-handling equipment, bank vaults, and parking. The plaza features the exuberant Jean Dubuffet sculpture, Group of Four Trees.
One Chase Manhattan Plaza
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Project Facts
Location: New York, New York
Project Completion: 1961
Site Area: 2.50 acres
Project Area: 2,240,000 ft2
Number of Stories: 60
Building Height: 813 ft
Market: Commercial + Office
Service: Architecture, Tall Buildings
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Awards
1970
Silver AwardAIA – Long Island Chapter1967
First Prize Bronze PlaqueChamber of Commerce of the Borough of Queens1965
Honorable Mention: Design and CraftsmanshipArchitectural League of New York1962
Office of the Year AwardAdministrative Management MagazineSee Also...

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