GALLERY
This building represents Saarinen's idea of the simplest skyscraper and has been classified by some experts as a Brutalistic style building (Brutalism was an architectural style really used around the 1950's). Lots of characteristic of "optical architecture" can be found on the CBS, not only because of its combination of Canadian Black granite and the grey-tinted glasses that gave it the "Black Box" nickname, but also because of the absence of set blacks that gives the building the appearance of an massive slab of granite. This optical techniques give the building the appearance of changing as one walks towards it.
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Overall, this building might not be a masterpiece because of its proportions or it's simplicity, but still nobody can't deny that this building has an elegance that was needed for this avenue, and being next to central park or buildings like the Hearst tower it is definitely a place worth visiting.
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CBS BUILDING
The CBS Building (also known as Black Rock or Black Box because of its dark cladding) can be found on the sixth Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd streets and is the headquarters of the CBS Corporation (an American media producer focused on publishing and television production). The tower was originally built after William Samuel Paley (founder and CEO of the CBS company) decided that the company needed a new headquarters that could compete architecturally with NBC's building. Eero Saarinen, was the designer choose for the creation of this building and had the help of Frank Stanton (president of the CBS at the time), Florence Knoll (an American architect) and Mario Salvadori (an structural engineer) who developed its structural system. The building is 38 story and 490 feet tall approximately and was originally opened in 1965. In the followin
g years this building became the home of CBS Corporation until it was relocated at 345 Hudson Street the past 2011.
TEXT-SOURCES:
Wikipedia - CBS Building
Wikipedia - CBS Corporation
Wikipedia - Florence Knoll
The Midtown Book - CBS Building
DoCoMoMo_us - CBS Building
Colubia University - Mario Salvadori
Britannica - Frank Stanton
Diseño y Arquitectura - Eero Saarinen
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IMAGES-SOURCES (Gallery):
Image 1, 4, 9, 10: Knoll Archive
Image 2: No Sleep NYC on Tumblr
Image 3: © Photography Louis B. Schlivek (1965)
Image 5: © Joseph Molitor. From Architectural Record. (July 1965)
Image 6: © Building by rena5
Image 7: © Mick Andreano
Image 8, 11: MiMoA – CBS Building