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400 Madison Avenue
400 Madison Avenue is a 22-story office building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is along Madison Avenue's western sidewalk between 47th and 48th Streets, near Grand Central Terminal. 400 Madison Avenue was designed by H. Craig Severance with Neo-Gothic architectural detailing.
The building was erected within "Terminal City", a collection of buildings located above Grand Central's underground tracks, and as such, occupies the real-estate air rights above these tracks. 400 Madison Avenue's lot is relatively narrow, being about 200 feet (61 m) long and less than 45 feet (14 m) wide, but contains a "veneer" of offices along its three primary facades and a small office core at the center. The building contains several setbacks to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution. The cream-colored terracotta facade was meant to reflect light.
The building was constructed from 1927 to 1928 by the George A. Fuller Company. Despite being relatively narrow, the building attracted businessmen who sought small, imposing offices. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated 400 Madison Avenue as an official landmark in 2016.
400 Madison Avenue is in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is bounded by Madison Avenue to the east, 48th Street to the north, and 47th Street to the south. The land lot covers 8,987 square feet (834.9 m2) with a frontage of 200 feet (61 m) on Madison Avenue and 44.75 feet (13.64 m) on 47th and 48th Streets. Nearby buildings include the old New York Mercantile Library to the west, Tower 49 to the north, 270 Park Avenue to the east, and 383 Madison Avenue to the southeast.
The completion of the underground Grand Central Terminal in 1913 resulted in the rapid development of Terminal City, the area around Grand Central, as well as a corresponding increase in real-estate prices. Among these were office buildings such as the Chanin Building, Bowery Savings Bank Building, and New York Central Building, as well as hotels like the Biltmore, Commodore, Waldorf Astoria, and Summit. By 1920, the area had become what The New York Times called "a great civic centre". Irwin Chanin, who had developed the Chanin Building, believed the area around Grand Central Terminal had potential for growth because of the construction of hotels and apartment buildings at Tudor City, Sutton Place, and Lexington and Park Avenues. Before 400 Madison Avenue's development, the building's site was occupied by the Ritz Chambers and Carlton Chambers, a pair of apartment houses immediately north of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
The building was designed by H. Craig Severance and erected by the George A. Fuller Company. It consists of 22 stories, including the attic. The building measures 241 feet (73 m) tall to its roof. The building's 15th, 17th, and 20th stories contain setbacks to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution. The land lot is within a "2X" zoning district, allowing the first setback to be 160 feet (49 m) above ground. Unlike similar structures on small lots, such as the Fred F. French Building, 400 Madison Avenue is symmetrical.
George Shepard Chappell, writing in The New Yorker under the pseudonym "T-Square", lambasted 400 Madison Avenue's shape as "distressingly pretentious" with "entirely unnecessary" detailing on the facade. However, the design was praised in Architecture and Building magazine as "a distinct ornament" to Madison Avenue, with an "exceedingly interesting block front".
The design of 400 Madison Avenue was meant to contain a French motif, but in practice, the design emphasis was on the vertical piers of the facade. The exterior is made of cream-colored architectural terracotta with Neo-Gothic decorative details. William LaZinsk, an architect for Severance's company, explained that cream terracotta was used because it was able to both absorb and reflect sunlight. According to LaZinsk, cream terracotta could be used to form highlights and shadows that "vary with the changing position of the sun", even as these details maintained the same general effect throughout the day. The three facades are relatively similar in design, with most ornamentation on the lowest and highest stories. The lowest five stories contain large windows, while the other stories contain smaller windows.
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400 Madison Avenue
400 Madison Avenue is a 22-story office building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is along Madison Avenue's western sidewalk between 47th and 48th Streets, near Grand Central Terminal. 400 Madison Avenue was designed by H. Craig Severance with Neo-Gothic architectural detailing.
The building was erected within "Terminal City", a collection of buildings located above Grand Central's underground tracks, and as such, occupies the real-estate air rights above these tracks. 400 Madison Avenue's lot is relatively narrow, being about 200 feet (61 m) long and less than 45 feet (14 m) wide, but contains a "veneer" of offices along its three primary facades and a small office core at the center. The building contains several setbacks to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution. The cream-colored terracotta facade was meant to reflect light.
The building was constructed from 1927 to 1928 by the George A. Fuller Company. Despite being relatively narrow, the building attracted businessmen who sought small, imposing offices. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated 400 Madison Avenue as an official landmark in 2016.
400 Madison Avenue is in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is bounded by Madison Avenue to the east, 48th Street to the north, and 47th Street to the south. The land lot covers 8,987 square feet (834.9 m2) with a frontage of 200 feet (61 m) on Madison Avenue and 44.75 feet (13.64 m) on 47th and 48th Streets. Nearby buildings include the old New York Mercantile Library to the west, Tower 49 to the north, 270 Park Avenue to the east, and 383 Madison Avenue to the southeast.
The completion of the underground Grand Central Terminal in 1913 resulted in the rapid development of Terminal City, the area around Grand Central, as well as a corresponding increase in real-estate prices. Among these were office buildings such as the Chanin Building, Bowery Savings Bank Building, and New York Central Building, as well as hotels like the Biltmore, Commodore, Waldorf Astoria, and Summit. By 1920, the area had become what The New York Times called "a great civic centre". Irwin Chanin, who had developed the Chanin Building, believed the area around Grand Central Terminal had potential for growth because of the construction of hotels and apartment buildings at Tudor City, Sutton Place, and Lexington and Park Avenues. Before 400 Madison Avenue's development, the building's site was occupied by the Ritz Chambers and Carlton Chambers, a pair of apartment houses immediately north of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
The building was designed by H. Craig Severance and erected by the George A. Fuller Company. It consists of 22 stories, including the attic. The building measures 241 feet (73 m) tall to its roof. The building's 15th, 17th, and 20th stories contain setbacks to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution. The land lot is within a "2X" zoning district, allowing the first setback to be 160 feet (49 m) above ground. Unlike similar structures on small lots, such as the Fred F. French Building, 400 Madison Avenue is symmetrical.
George Shepard Chappell, writing in The New Yorker under the pseudonym "T-Square", lambasted 400 Madison Avenue's shape as "distressingly pretentious" with "entirely unnecessary" detailing on the facade. However, the design was praised in Architecture and Building magazine as "a distinct ornament" to Madison Avenue, with an "exceedingly interesting block front".
The design of 400 Madison Avenue was meant to contain a French motif, but in practice, the design emphasis was on the vertical piers of the facade. The exterior is made of cream-colored architectural terracotta with Neo-Gothic decorative details. William LaZinsk, an architect for Severance's company, explained that cream terracotta was used because it was able to both absorb and reflect sunlight. According to LaZinsk, cream terracotta could be used to form highlights and shadows that "vary with the changing position of the sun", even as these details maintained the same general effect throughout the day. The three facades are relatively similar in design, with most ornamentation on the lowest and highest stories. The lowest five stories contain large windows, while the other stories contain smaller windows.