W.R.Grace Building

GALLERY

The most recognizable characteristic in the building’s aesthetic is the one that shares with the Solow Building: “the concave vertical slope of its north and south façades”. But, unlike this second one, the W.R.Grace has a distinguishable façade, as it is covered in white travertine marble, which is an especial form of limestone that is formed by mineral springs (especially hot ones). This bright colour contrasts with the dark one of the windows, giving a clearer image of it and more light to the street. The curve in the bottom of the building reminds us about a mathematical asymptotic, and one philosophical interpretation of this might be that the structure of the building wants to reach and be lost in the infinite.

The W. R. Grace Building is located in front of the American Radiator and the Bank of America Tower, as weel as opposite to Bryant Park, which makes it a really nice area to spend some time in and admire both the architecture and the delight of a little green zone.

So, even that this building isn’t as striking as other that we have reviewed in the web, we think that it deserves a visit, just to see the spectacular façade, and the prodigies of the architecture exemplified in the building’s curve.

The birth of the W. R. Grace Building is the product of an order from the chemistry company that shares its name, W. R. Grace and Company; although it has been also used by Deloitte & Touche, LLP. It was constructed between 1971 and 1974, and its actual use is to hold commercial offices, and its own by Brookfield Office Properties.

Entering in a technical analysis, the building is 192 meters high, which form a total of 50 floors. Its size has more or less 1.518.000 rentable square feet. The design of the building was made essentially by Gordon Bunshaft, who was an architect of the SOM group (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill). The bulding design is similar to one of Bunshaft’s works, the Solow Building. In fact, the W.R.Grace has the façade design that was rejected for the Solow Building. Its overall style it’s called “International Style II”. This can be identified by many features, such as: “Modern structural principles and materials: concrete, glass, and steel; occasionally reveals skeleton-frame construction, exposing its structure. […] High-rise buildings are boxy and completely devoid of ornamentation or other stylistic features other than the sleek appearance of steel, glass, and plastic. Hence the term, “anonymous glass box”.