CBS Building
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Identification
Name
CBS Building
Alternative name
Columbia Broadcasting System Building, 51 West 52nd Street
Emporis Building Number
115556
Location
| Main address |
|
| 1300-1316 6th Avenue |
| Side address |
|
| 51-69 West 52nd Street |
| Virtual address |
|
| 52-66 West 53rd Street |
Address as text
*
ZIP
*
Block
1268
Lot
100003
Neighborhood
District
City
State
Country
Map and Surrounding Area
Technical Data
Height (tip)
*
Height (architectural)
149.66 m
Height (roof)
*
Floors (above ground)
38
Construction start
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Construction end
*
Gross floor area
*
Construction costs
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Structure in General
Construction type
skyscraper
Current status
existing [completed]Structural material
concrete
Facade material
granite
Facade system
exposed structure
Architectural style
modernism
Usages
Main usages
commercial officeSide usages
restaurantFeatures and Amenities
City landmark
Facts
On the Sixth Avenue side there is a shallow sunken plaza. |
The lobby is clad in white travertine, with dark granite columns as a contrast. |
The facade of the building is characterized by the massive, Canadian black granite-clad columns that point the facets of their triangular form to the outside. |
CBS Building is set back 8 meters from each plot line, partly to isolate it from the neighbouring buildings, partly to take it clear of the subway line running underneath the north-western corner of the plot. |
The 38-storey building was the only skyscraper designed by the Finnish-born Saarinen (whose father, Eliel, had designed the influential second-place entry in the Chicago Tribune Tower competition in 1922). |
The columns soar all the way from the ground to the top of the building and also the spandrels are of black granite, creating an effect differing much from the glass-curtain wall high-rises of that time. For its imposing appearance, the building was dubbed the "Black Rock". |
The tower was built for the Columbia Broadcasting Company on this Sixth Avenue strip housing several TV network and publishing company headquarters. |
This was the first skyscraper in New York City to be built in reinforced concrete, rather than with a steel frame. |
The architects were recognized with an Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects in 1966. |
The New York Inside Guide website lists this building as standing 494 feet in height. |
Companies involved in this building
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Architect: Eero Saarinen Other companies: Weidlinger Associates, Inc., CBS, Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., Granicor Inc., George A. Fuller Company, Alan G. Davenport Wind Engineering Group BLWTL |