This is a building near my office. If the rumors are true, by July 1st we won't be so near since we're supposed to be moving. The people who run this office are all about the moving. I hate moving.
Moving on.
Heh.
I believe this building is called The Lipstick Building. It doesn't look all that much like a tube of lipstick to me. What do you think? Kitty is our resident architect, I'm hoping she'll have some expert insight for us.
It's kind of cool looking, whatever it is.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Lipstickery
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I had thought that it was the headquarters of some cosmetic company, but apparently it's just a boring old office building.
ReplyDeletehttp://nymag.com/listings/attraction/lipstick-building/
Yes, it is the 'Lipstick building', yet another of those iconic buildings by Philip Johnson. (Others include the Glass House, a high rise on Central Park West cloaked in bronze glass, and the AT&T building, which was compared to a Chippendale highboy when it was built in the 80's).
ReplyDeleteIt's an ellipse in plan, I believe. An ellipse is symmetrical about both axes. An oval is symmetrical only about the 'Y', or longer axis, meaning the rounded ends differ.
Tall buildings are all about giving a distinctive shape from faraway along a skyline. Johnson was able to make the building curved, but as you can see, the facade is made of straight segments.
Not one of my favorite buildings, but I suppose it's elegant!
I love have smart people reading around here, you ladies are awesome! I may start posting pictures of cool buildings all the time.
ReplyDeleteI like the Grace Building and I like the one that's at 9 West 57th (used to work in there, too).
I've always loved the Lipstick Building, and I don't even wear lipstick :-)
ReplyDeleteIt does remind me of lipstick. I love the color and the materials and the shape.
The Grace Building is one of two buildings that are exactly alike. I just googled 9 West 57th, which is its twin. The original design was done by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
ReplyDeleteThe design is quite nice because the swooping facade integrates a gutter. Water courses down the front but goes into a gutter, rather than dump on people entering the building.
I worked at Skidmore for 9 months when I first got out of graduate school. It's a huge office, and they're known for doing skyscrapers all over the place.