Seagram Building

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Phillip Johnson

375 Park Avenue
New York, NY

Technical Case Study

Andrew Meyer

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 This case study will analyze the structural systems used in the Seagram Building
in New York City. The Modernist ideas of truth to materials in this structure allows for a
simple visible structure which also creates the desired aesthetic for this project.
Following the idea that “Less is More,” Mies van der Rohe has created a relatively
minimal structure that demonstrates the capabilities of the collaboration of steel and
glass.

Context:
The Seagram Building is
located at 375 Park Avenue on the
upper east side of Manhattan.
Construction was completed in 1958
and this was immediately
recognized as one of the finest
skyscrapers in the International
Style. Amidst several other tall
buildings, the Seagram building
steps back from the street line to
provide a small plaza in front of its
entrance. Mies van der Rohe
intended this to create ‘breathing
room’ in a densely urban area. To
avoid the required setback enforced
to buildings in New York City, the
Seagram building also utilizes the
plaza in front to preserve the
vertical lines in its design. The
simple façade follows the principles
of ancient columns with a base
made of pilotis, the shaft of office
spaces, and a capitol distinguished
©1993 Lawrence A. Martin
by a change in façade. As shown in
this photograph, the plaza and the three features
of the façade are visible.
Structure:

Figure 1

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 Following from
his design of the Lake
Shore Drive Apartments
of Chicago in 1951, Mies
used a similarly simple
column grid in the
Seagram Building. As
seen in Figure 1, the
column grid is set at
square intervals
allowing regularity and
continuity in the
structural system. Mies
uses a steel frame on
the interior of the
curtain wall, but adds
a second structural Figure 2
façade on the
exterior. On the
exterior surface of
the Seagram Building
there is a false
structural system of
bronze columns
which are used to
allude to the steel
structure behind it.
Figure 2 show how
the structural column
is hidden within the
corner of the
structure and cladded
with the bronze T-
brackets to the
exterior. This shows
how Mies has
departed from the
‘truth to materials’ Figure 3
aesthetic championed
at the Bauhaus in Germany from which Mies came from before emigrating to America.
This departure is not very drastic, Figure 1

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as Mies has reconciled this
with the exposure of the
false bronze columns to the
exterior. Aesthetically the
Seagram Building still
displays a structural quality,
which holds in truth with
earlier themes from Mies’
buildings. In order to seal the
joints where the glass curtain
wall meets the structural
members, welded angles
form pockets to seat the
glazed panels as shown in
Figure 3. Gray Topaz glazing
was used in order to provide
sun and heat protection.
These floor to ceiling panels
were so important for the
aesthetic Mies was
attempting to create that the Venetian blinds installed were only able to be set at one
of three heights while in use. Strictly regulating the heights of the blinds would restrict
the ‘clutter’ detracting from the clean glazed skin applied to the Seagram Building.

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 Structure for each floor was required to be concealed within the gaps between
floors, as to ensure maximum light transmission through the glazing. Figure 4 is a
section through the curtain wall that Figure 4
shows how no structure is allowed to
obstruct the view from the interior as well as
block incoming sunlight. It is also apparent in this section how the floor beams are
incorporated just inside the surface of the glass and bronze skin. Unclear in this section
is the assembly at each floor and how the members are attached to one another. Here
in Figure 5 we can see how these attachments occur. Steel brackets and angles are
used to attach the bronze T-bars to each individual floor slab. There is no structural
steel member present at this joint, so one can better see how the bronze T-bars are
attached between the structural steel members. Because the structural grid on which
the steel columns are positioned is wider than the intervals of the exterior bronze
columns, there are five of these connections between each steel column at each floor
level.

Construction:
When initial plans for the Seagram Building were submitted, twenty-something
year old Phyllis Lambert (the daughter of Seagram Liquor’s founder Samuel Bronfman)
assumed control of the design and construction process. Denying architects such as
Frank Lloyd Wright, Eero Saarinen, and Le Corbusier the design, Lambert decided to go
with the minimalist design of Mies and Phillip Johnson. Lambert defended the design of
Mies and Johnson several times during construction. At one point when discussing
fireproofing for the steel
infrastructure, the contractor
attempted to dissuade Lambert
from using Mies’ more expensive
brick bonding technique as it
would be hidden from view.
Lambert replied with “God would
Figure 2 Figure 5
know,” channeling her inner Mies.
Figure 3

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 The Seagram Building was built first by constructing the steel framework, then
hanging floors and the outer bronze structure from the bottom up. With the initial
construction beginning in 1954 this project was completed within four years. Because of
Lambert’s unwillingness to compromise, preserving the original design and
specifications of Mies and Johnson, this building led to a high construction cost for the
1950’s at $36 million.

Materials:
Due to the tenacity of Phyllis Lambert, the original design choices for the
Seagram Building were able to be realized, including the materials used. Steel was the
first and final choice for the support structure within the building. Concrete was used
for the floor slabs and the fireproofing for the steel columns. Because concrete was
being widely used in other tall buildings at this time, Mies attempted to disguise the
concrete in the Seagram building as it was not desired and would depart from the steel
and glass aesthetic. To establish a grand environment within the Seagram Building,
marble is used to clad the lower floors. Using such an expensive material in lieu of a
cheaper one was also preserved by Lambert against other suggestions from the
contractors.
December 26, 1956. Photograph: The House of
Environmental
Patria. systems
Fonds Phyllis Lambert, wereCentre
Canadian not for
widely utilized in this structure,
Architecture, Montrealaside from
the large glazing panels to utilize solar
heating and lighting. This could be indicative
of the time in which the building was
constructed. At this time sustainable and
environmentally friendly architecture was not
a major proponent in design, so one cannot
view this building negatively in regards to
design principles that have not widely
surfaced until more recent years. The
mechanical systems that are present have
been consolidated into a mechanical suite at
the top of the building on the 39th floor.

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Summary:
The Seagram building was a relatively simple building in regards to structure but
had several implications through its design. Beginning with the setback orientation of
the building to allow for a plaza was a new idea within the New York urban landscape.
Since the construction of the Seagram Building numerous other adaptations of this
urban plaza can be found. Figure 6 shows the plaza in front with the addition of two
reflecting pools to create a moment of stasis for those moving around the building. Mies
also used the plaza as an opportunity for
the patrons of the Seagram Building to
observe the building from a distance.
Pilotis hoisting the building above ground
level creates a unique procession from the
street level as though one moves into the
building from underneath. Using the
pilotis not only to create a weightlessness
to the Seagram Building, they also Figure 6
provide a unique movement from the
street to the upper levels not seen often
in New York at the time.
The International Style in which the
Seagram Building was design has been
coopted by several other skyscrapers
since, so this building can be seen as an
important precedent for how skyscrapers ought to be built. Utilizing this relatively
simple structure and allowing the structure to be visible, although a false one, proves
that architecture can be beautiful at its most basic elements.

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References:
Lambert, Phyllis, Building Seagram, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2013

http://en.wikiarquitectura.com/index.php/Seagram_Building

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/UES/UES002.htm

http://www.archdaily.com/59412/seagram-building-mies-van-der-rohe/

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Seagram_Building.html

http://www.grahamfoundation.org/grantees/4906-building-seagram

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/04/05/6_things_you_may_not_know_about_the_seagram_
building.php

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