American International Building

Identification

Map

Structure in general

Usage

Facts

• World headquarters of American Int'l Group.
• The 70 Pine Street Building is constructed of portal framing.
• The limestone-clad tower sets back to a white-coloured top, like a snow cap on a mountain. The "mountain" had an open-air platform with an enclosed glass observatory above, offering undoubtedly the best views of Downtown before being closed from public.
• The observatory at the top is still used, albeit only as an executive oasis during lunch hours.
• This Gothic-like, spire-topped skyscraper was the tallest building in the Downtown area until the completion of the World Trade Center.
• Originally equipped with double-decker elevators -- ie. ones that serve two floors at the time -- in order to provide sufficient vertical service for the narrow tower, these were nevertheless removed due to their unpopularity. The Citigroup Center, however, adopted the idea in the 1970s, to maximize the core usage as well as an energy-conscious choice.
• American International was the last skyscraper to be built in Financial District in the pre-WW II years. It took until 1961 that another tall skyscraper rose to the area, in the form of the One Chase Manhattan Plaza.
• The 66th-floor observatory is now a private domain for executive employees of the American International Group.