Philip Johnson and John Burgee's 1984 AT&T Building, for many, signaled the arrival of Postmodernism onto the world scene. Now known as the Sony Tower, the 37-story skyscraper's deployment of historicity contradicted the glass and metal modernism of its neighbors, signaling a new architectural era that landed it on the front page of the New York Times, and it's architect, Philip Johnson, onto the cover of Time.
After housing one of world's largest companies for decades, AT&T, facing financial troubles, sold the building in 2002 to Sony who once again, sold the building to the real-estate developer Chetrit group in 2013. After deserting plans to convert the office tower into luxury condos and a hotel, Chetrit group sold the tower to Olayan America in 2016, who has since tapped international firm Snøhetta for the building's renovation.
The building has never been designated as a landmark, and whether or not it should is up for debate. Many consider the design to be a failure, particularly at street level, and even the building's importance in architectural history has been questioned by the likes of Barry Bergdoll and William JR Curtis. Even so, Snøhetta's plans should appease those sympathetic to the Postmodern icon. The firm has chosen to keep the recognizable top of the tower as is, focusing on updating interior space and transforming the base into an inviting street front.
According to the firm, the design approach "stitches the life of the building back into the street." The architects plan to replace the failed fortress-like base with an updated design featuring an undulating glass curtainwall at eye level.
"From the street, the reconceived façade dramatically highlights the multi-story arched entry while revealing the craftsmanship of the building’s existing steel structure. Scalloped glass references the sculpted forms of fluted stone columns, re-interpreting the building’s monumentality while creating a lively and identifiable public face for passersby. With this increased transparency, the activity within the lobby, atrium, and first 2 levels of the building will become part of the vibrant energy of the street" the firm said.
The renovation also calls for the conversion of the building's public space into an outdoor garden, with water features and trees, that nearly doubles the amount of publicly accessible space by removing the neighboring annex building.
As for the rest of the interior, office space will be modernized to meet the contemporary needs of tenants by adding high quality amenities, world-class retail and restaurants. The firm is targeting LEED Gold for sustainability, WELL-certification for healthy materials and well-being, and WIRED-certification for digital infrastructure. They will also employ a Dedicated Outdoor Air Ventilation System.
6 Comments
Is this a done deal? If so, it's ruining a beautiful and unique public* space that *should* be a landmark. Nice going, Snohetta. Jeezus.
*Probably actually a POPS, but still. Anyone can walk through and it's gorgeous.
I agree Donna. As cheezy as the original building is, you couldn't screw this up worse if you tried. My guess is they're still trying to reveal the "truth" behind the facade. Gotcha.
Personally, I'm not against updates like this one. But I think the arch and the uniformity of the granite on the first floor are part of what makes this building iconic. I don't see anything in Snohetta's design that can be as powerful as what is already there.
It’s not hard to give the building a respectful upgrade—brighten up the windows and lighting which are dark and obstructed now (can do the same with the nice interior space). Not sure why this requires going to Snøhetta in the first place (weird, I’m old enough to remember them doing nice projects in Norway, you’d think they would know what to do).
The weirdest argument I’ve heard is from the big urbanists arging the renovation opens up the space to the public. It’s already a public space! A decent one that could be better with obvious fixes. If anything the new transparency is false.. it will end up being much more private and commercial when the new tenant easily scratches that space out.
When money is involved, architecture is the last thing on big urbanists agendas. But it should be!
Well, the new design does sparkle more.
I already spent myself on PJ's mansard-roof thread.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.