Seagram Building

Manhattan, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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Rising 515 feet above Park Avenue between 52nd and 53rd streets in Midtown Manhattan, the Seagram Building stands as a masterwork of International Style modernism. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson—with Ely Jacques Kahn and Robert Allan Jacobs—and completed in 1958, the 38-story tower exemplifies functionalist corporate architecture. Its defining exterior features a glass curtain wall with bronze vertical mullions and Muntz metal horizontal spandrels. A distinctive pink-granite plaza with two fountains fronts the building on Park Avenue, leading to a soaring elevator lobby that echoes the plaza's design. Originally housing the Seagram Company headquarters, the building's lower floors contained restaurants—initially the Four Seasons, along with the Brasserie—while upper stories provided modular office space. Phyllis Lambert, daughter of Seagram's CEO, significantly influenced the design after objecting to an earlier scheme. Upon opening, the building was widely acclaimed and became one of New York's most copied structures, influencing modern architecture globally. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a New York City Landmark.

Architect

Philip Johnson Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Movement

International Style

Built: 1958
Type: skyscraper, office building
Heritage: New York State Register of Historic Places listed place, New York City Landmark
Height: 157 m
Place: Manhattan, United States

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Location

40.75844, -73.97214