GALLERY
Precisely, the structural problem that sprung after the inauguration of the building in 1977 was in fact in relation to the danger of the wind. During a discussion between LeMessurier and a student of Princeton University, he found out that he hadn’t calculated the structural strength the building could show when facing strong diagonal winds, since he only had taken in consideration the wind when it came north, south, east and west. The calculations showed that since the joints of the building were assembled in a cheaper and less resistant way than originally planned, if the wind reached enough strength, the building could collapse.
Aside from its base, the other important aspect of the buildings is of course the top of the tower, designed with 45º of inclination. It was originally meant to hold a series of attics, but the city’s normative didn’t allow it. The idea of installing solar panels to supply the building with solar energy was then brought up but, again, the normative didn’t allow it since the orientation on the roof made it impossible for the panels to reach enough sunlight to properly work. Finally, the roof was used to hold machinery, like the Mass Synchronizer, a pioneer technology during that age that helps the building on its stability when there are strong gusts wind.
Although the Citigroup Center (or Citicorp Center), originally designed by architect Hugh Stubbins and the structural engineer William LeMessurier as the headquarters for Citibank, one of the most important banks in the United States, became one of the most recognisable towers in the city of New York thanks to its post-modern style, what’s commonly associated to it is the architectonical problems that were found out after its construction and that could have made the building collapse in the middle of Mahattan.
However, this building is much more than an anecdote about its construction, since the Citigroup Center was one of the first buildings to introduce the post-modern style to the city of New York and is still one of the few that shine over the rest of the midtown thanks to its unique style.
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There are several things that are highlightable from the building, being one of them its famous base, which holds the tower by a central nucleon and four 35-meters-high columns situated in the middle of each of the sides, instead of its corners. However, this design was not what we could call an original idea for the building. In fact, it was created as a solution for the construction of the Lutheran St. Peter’s Church, whose original emplacement had been the corner where the building was constructed since 1905. The church accepted to sell the ground and to demolish the old buildings, but stablished that a new one had to be built in the same corner, which is the reason why the columns are not situated in the corners. By placing them in the middle of the sides, the church could have enough space to be built.
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CITIGROUP CENTER
Although the wind that was necessary to bring the building down happened only once in every 55 years, LeMessurier rushed to fix the structural problems welding all the 200 joints in the building through 6-cm-thick plaques in less than three months, since they found out about the problems in the beginning of tornado season.
TEXT-SOURCES:
Wikipedia - Citigroup Center
Jose Miguel Hernández's Blog - Citicorp Center
Wikiarquitectura - Citigroup Center
IMAGES-SOURCES (Article):
Image 1: Tumblr
Image 2: WikiArquitectura
Image 3: ArchiTravel – Citigroup Center
IMAGES-SOURCES (Gallery):
Image 1: Tumblr
Image 2: GG (Tumblr)
Image 3: © Ryan Kenward on Flickr
Image 4: Tumblr
Image 5: © Nicolas Janberg
Image 6: © Axel Drainville on Flickr
Image 7: Unknown
Image 8: Adam Kane Macchia Photography © 2016
Image 9, 11: © Chris Schroeer-Heiermann on Flickr
Image 10: © Steven Henry
Nevertheless and since the problem was fixed in such short time, the press did not find out until 1995 through an article in The New Yorker since LeMessurier thought that as the danger had been fixed, there was no need to worry the population. Either way, an evacuation plan for the whole district was arranged just in case there was a collapsing danger.
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Anyway, the building is still one of the most beautiful and avant-garde constructions in New York thanks to the clean appearance of the façade, built through white blind aluminium panels and translucid glass. It is one of the highest buildings in the city, and a true icon that goes far beyond the issues on its construction.