Current Watch Site
The former Manufacturers Trust Company Building, located at 510 Fifth Avenue in New York City, is a landmark of mid-century modern architecture. The building was designed by Gordon Bunshaft of the American architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, then at the leading edge of International Style design. When it opened in 1954, the public marveled at the steel vault boldly displayed on the ground floor behind a facade of clear glass and aluminum, on one of New York’s busiest streets. A metaphor for honesty and transparency in banking, and a symbol of a self-confident era, the building influenced the design of commercial architecture worldwide. The new branch was widely praised by critics, and bank executives took great pride in a building they thought was its own best salesman. In 1997, the building was designated a New York City landmark.
To ensure protection of some of its key features, additional landmark protection for the interior was approved in early 2011. No longer used as a bank, 510 Fifth Avenue is being adapted to a new use and current owners are undertaking renovations that are altering original interior features of its revolutionary design. Local advocates filed a lawsuit, and a temporary restraining order on further alterations was issued contingent on the posting of a bond by the petitioners. The case seeks to preserve an icon of American modern architecture, heralded for its provocative marriage of interior and exterior transparency.
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IN THE MEDIA
- World Monuments Fund Places Manufacturers Hanover Building on At-Risk List
The New York Times Arts Beat Blog, October 5, 2011
- Moot Fate?
The Architect's Newspaper, October 7, 2011
