1251 Avenue of the Americas (original) (raw)

Office skyscraper in Manhattan, New York

1251 Avenue of the Americas
The base of 1251 Avenue of the Americas

Former names	Exxon Building
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Office
Architectural style	New Formalism
Location	1251 Avenue of the Americas, New York City, New York, U.S.
Coordinates	40°45′36″N 73°58′53″W / 40.76000°N 73.98139°W / 40.76000; -73.98139
Construction started	1965
Completed	1968
Opening	1971
Owner	Mitsui Fudosan
Height
Roof	750 feet (230 m)
Top floor	715 feet (218 m)
Technical details
Floor count	54
Floor area	2,101,115 sq ft (195,200 m2)
Lifts/elevators	36
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Wallace Harrison
Structural engineer	Edwards & Hjorth
Main contractor	George A. Fuller Co.
References
[1]

1251 Avenue of the Americas (formerly known as the Exxon Building) is a skyscraper on Sixth Avenue (also known as Avenue of the Americas), between 49th and 50th Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is owned by Mitsui Fudosan. The structure is built in the international style [2] and looks like a simple cuboid devoid of any ornamentation. The facade consists of alternating narrow, vertical stripes of glass and limestone. The glass stripes are created by windows and opaque spandrels, forming continuous areas that are washed by machines sliding down the facade. A seven-floor base wraps around the western portion of the building, and there is a sunken plaza with a large two-tier pool and fountains facing Sixth Avenue. In the plaza stands the bronze statue named Out to Lunch[3] by John Seward Johnson II—of the same series as the one that once stood outside 270 Park Avenue.[4]

100m
110yds

6th Avenue

The building was part of the later Rockefeller Center expansion (1960s–1970s) dubbed the "XYZ Buildings".[5] Their plans were first drawn in 1963 by the Rockefeller family's architect, Wallace Harrison, of the architectural firm Harrison & Abramovitz.[6] Their letters correspond to their height. 1251 Avenue of the Americas is the "X" Building as it is the tallest at 750 ft (229 m) and 54 stories, and was the first completed, in 1971. The "Y" is 1221 Avenue of the Americas, which was the second tower completed (1973) and is the second in height (674 ft and 51 stories). The "Z" Building, the shortest and the youngest, is 1211 Avenue of the Americas with 45 stories (592 ft).[7] 1251 is the second-tallest building in the whole of Rockefeller Center, after 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Despite being one of the 100 tallest buildings in the United States, 1251 Avenue of the Americas is almost impossible to see from more than just a few blocks away as it is flanked on all sides by buildings over 500 feet tall. The result is that even though 1251 Avenue of the Americas is approximately as tall as the tallest buildings in cities such as Boston or Minneapolis, it has almost no presence on the New York City skyline.

In 1989, Exxon announced that it was moving its headquarters and around 300 employees from New York City to the Las Colinas area of Irving, Texas. Exxon sold the Exxon Building, its former headquarters, to a unit of Mitsui Real Estate Development Co. Ltd. in 1986 for $610 million. John Walsh, president of Exxon subsidiary Friendswood Development Company, stated that Exxon left New York because the costs were too high. Its New York offices moved to Brooklyn; it no longer retains a presence in Rockefeller Center.[8]

In May 2013, the structure received silver certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED for Existing Buildings Rating System.[9]

Artist-authorized replica of Pablo Picasso's tapestry for the ballet Mercure

Inside, on the western end of 1251's atrium hangs an artist-authorized replica of a tapestry Pablo Picasso created for the ballet Mercure, the original of which hangs in the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris, France. It was created specifically for the building, as per the plaque beneath it.

^ "Emporis building ID 114546". Emporis. Archived from the original on February 5, 2020.
^ Žaknić, Ivan (1998). 100 of the World's Tallest Buildings. Images Publishing. p. 56. ISBN 9781875498321. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
^ "Frre to be... Philistine". Spy. May 1989. p. 85. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
^ "THE EXXON BUILDING (1251 Sixth Ave.)". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
^ Nash, Eric (1999). Manhattan Skyscrapers. Princeton Architectural Press. p. 127. ISBN 9781568981819. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
^ Krinsky, Carol H. (1978). Rockefeller Center. Oxford University Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-19-502404-3.
^ "XYZ Buildings Exxon Building McGraw-Hill Building Celanese Building". Manhattan Skyscrapers. New York, NY: Princeton Archit.Press. 2005. pp. 127–130. doi:10.1007/1-56898-652-1_57. ISBN 978-1-56898-545-9.
^ Pearson, Anne; Bivins, Ralph (October 27, 1989). "Exxon moving corporate headquarters to Dallas". Houston Chronicle. p. A1. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
^ "1251 Avenue of the Americas Earns LEED Silver Certification". Hines. May 6, 2013. Retrieved December 24, 2018.