
Socony–Mobil Building - NYC, NY, USA
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Ariberna
N 40° 45.007 W 073° 58.590
18T E 586402 N 4511522
The Socony-Mobil Building is a 174-meter-tall, 42-story skyscraper located at 150 East 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan , New York ( United States ). it was designed by the architectural firm Harrison & Abramowitz .
Waymark Code: WM179V7
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 01/09/2023
Views: 0
"HEIGHT 174.4 m / 572 ft
FLOORS 42
Official Name Socony Mobil Building
Type Building
Status Completed
Completion 1956
Country United States
City New York City
Address 150 East 42nd Street
Function Office
Structural Material All-Steel"
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"History
The building was completed in 1956. Mobil Oil Corporation became the primary tenant , occupying more than half of the building from 1956 to 1987. The company's former head office was located at 26 Broadway .
In 2003 its facade was designated as a historic landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission , which considered it "one of the most striking skyscrapers in New York." It was the first skyscraper in the world to have a facade covered entirely in stainless steel. After its inauguration, it was the largest skyscraper to have air conditioning.
The building was purchased in April 2016 by real estate investor David Werner for $900 million. His property was previously in the hands of the Japanese investment firm Hiro Real Estate Co., which put it up for sale two years earlier (2014).
Architecture
At the center of the block, atop a three-story base, is a 42-story tower flanked by two 13-story wings.
The facade consists of approximately 750,000 pounds (340,194 kg) of 0.037-inch (0.94 mm) thick type 302 stainless steel, coated with chrome and nickel to allow wind cleaning. A total of 7,000 honeycombs with embossed pyramidal shapes, are combined with opaque blue glass windows. A contemporary office building that also uses this material profusely is the Inland Steel Building in Chicago , the work of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill built from 1956 to 1957.
According to historian Christopher Gray, "By using stainless steel panels in this building, the team gained several inches of usable floor space, greatly reduced labor costs for cladding, and saved weight—since the panels weighed a kg per square meter compared to 24 kg per square meter of brick.” To this day it is still the largest stainless steel clad building in the world.
Stainless steel was also used in the lobby and elevator doors. The panels were formed following tetrahedral patterns to prevent undulations and break the reflections of the sun. The appearance of the Socony-Mobil Building led critics to call it "the waffle building." However, in 2003, this building near Grand Central Terminal was deemed "one of New York's most striking buildings" by the Landmarks Preservation Committee .
The exterior of the building was first cleaned in 1995."
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