City’s plan to demolish & replace SOM-designed 270 Park Avenue sparks criticism
arlier today, news broke that the De Blasio administration has hashed out a deal with JPMorgan Chase to demolish its existing headquarters at 270 Park Avenue, and replace the structure with a shiny new 70-story building.
The deal was negotiated in the wake of the Midtown East rezoning, which loosened zoning regulations for the area in exchange for developers providing street-level and infrastructure improvements.
But lost in the coverage was any mention of the building’s historic importance: It’s one of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s many midcentury commissions (including Lever House, which is just a few blocks away from the Chase HQ), but one of few designed by a woman working in the male-dominated world of architecture. SOM’s Natalie de Blois was, by all accounts, the driving force behind 270 Park Avenue, despite Gordon Bunshaft getting the credit as the design partner.
Or, as Beverly Willis, who works to raise awareness of female architects, put it in a New York Times column celebrating De Blois’s work, “Natalie and Gordon Bunshaft were a team. He took all the credit and she did all the work.”
Naturally, architecture buffs and critics are up in arms over the decision to demolish the building. A release from the city noted that the new building would move forward only when “the project’s approvals are granted,” but 270 Park is not a New York City landmark, which means it is essentially unprotected from demolition. In 2013, the LPC told the Historic Districts Council that 270 Park Avenue “may merit designation,” according to HDC executive director Simeon Bankoff—and doubled down on that in 2016—but it has not begun the process of landmarking.
Currently, the tallest building ever conventionally demolished is the Singer Building in New York City, which stood at 187 meters and 41 stories tall until 1968, when it was torn down to make way for One Liberty Plaza.
The majority of the world's 100 tallest demolished buildings were torn down to make way for new high-rises, the study showed.
In 2018, JPMorgan announced they would demolish the current building on site to make way for a newer building that will be 500 feet (150 m) taller than the existing building. Demolition is expected to begin in early 2019, and the new building will be completed in 2024. The replacement 70-story headquarters will be able to fit 15,000 employees, whereas the current building fits 6,000 employees
New York City's 270 Park Avenue to Become Tallest Building Ever Demolished
ReF : Property Report
