IAC Building

New York City, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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The IAC Building, headquarters of the media company IAC in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, stands at 555 West 18th Street as Frank Gehry's first full-building design in New York City. Completed in 2007, the 44-meter structure exemplifies deconstructivism with its distinctive appearance of stacked, twisted tower-sections resembling honeycomb cells, each skinned with sail-like forms of smooth glass. The façade features full-height windows that fade from clear to white at the edges of each story, creating the visual impression of two imposing levels despite the building's actual ten-story structure. Barry Diller, IAC's head, mandated the smooth glass exterior over Gehry's original titanium design and selected the architect specifically to create an open, collaborative workspace that he felt typical rectangular buildings could not provide. The lobby originally housed the world's largest high-definition screen of its time.