Citigroup Center
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The Citigroup Center (formerly Citicorp Center and also known by its address, 601 Lexington Avenue) is an office skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Built in 1977 for Citibank, it is Template:Convert tall and has Template:Convert of office space across 59 floors. The building was designed by architect Hugh Stubbins, associate architect Emery Roth & Sons, and structural engineer William LeMessurier.
The Citigroup Center takes up much of a city block bounded clockwise from the west by Lexington Avenue, 54th Street, Third Avenue, and 53rd Street. Land acquisition took place from 1968 to 1973. One existing occupant, St. Peter's Lutheran Church, sold its plot on the condition that a new church building be constructed at the base of the tower. The design was announced in July 1973, and the structure was completed in October 1977. Less than a year after completion, the structure had to be strengthened when it was discovered that, due to a design flaw, the building was vulnerable to collapse in high winds. The building was acquired by Boston Properties in 2001, and Citicorp Center was renamed 601 Lexington Avenue in the 2000s. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Citigroup Center as a city landmark in 2016. The building's public spaces underwent renovations in 1995 and 2017.
The tower's base includes four giant stilts, which are placed mid-wall rather than at the building's corners. Its roof is sloped at a 45-degree angle. East of the tower is a six-story office annex. The northwest corner of the tower overhangs St. Peter's Church at Lexington Avenue and 54th Street, a granite structure designed by Stubbins. Also at the base is a sunken plaza, a shopping concourse, and entrances to the church and the New York City Subway's Lexington Avenue/51st Street station. The upper stories are supported by stacked load-bearing braces in the form of inverted chevrons. Upon the Citigroup Center's completion, it received mixed reviews, as well as architectural awards.
Site
The Citigroup Center is at 601 Lexington Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S.<ref name="aia5" /><ref name="NYCL p. 1">Template:Harvnb</ref> It takes up the majority of a city block bounded by Lexington Avenue to the west, 54th Street to the north, Third Avenue to the east, and 53rd Street to the south.<ref name="ZoLa" /><ref name="NPS p. 3">Template:Harvnb</ref> The land lot covers Template:Convert with a frontage of Template:Convert on Lexington Avenue and a west–east length of Template:Convert.<ref name="ZoLa" /> The building shares the block with 880 Third Avenue, an 18-story structure at 53rd Street and Third Avenue.<ref name="NYCL p. 5" /> Other nearby buildings include 599 Lexington Avenue to the south, 100 East 53rd Street and the Seagram Building to the southwest, 399 Park Avenue to the west, the Central Synagogue to the northwest, and the Lipstick Building to the east.<ref name="ZoLa">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The New York City Subway's Lexington Avenue/51st Street station is directly underneath the building.<ref>Template:Cite NYC neighborhood map</ref>
Thirty-one parcels were acquired and cleared to make way for the development.<ref name="NYCL p. 5" /><ref name="Hellman p. 32" /> The 54th Street frontage was largely occupied by brownstone houses.<ref name="Hellman p. 34">Template:Harvnb</ref> Some of the other lots contained commercial spaces, ranging from small shops to the upscale Cafe Chauveron.<ref name="Hellman p. 34" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 490">Template:Harvnb</ref> The site also included the Medical Chambers on 54th Street, which was owned by a cooperative of doctors.<ref name="Hellman p. 34" /><ref name="Whitehouse 1971">Template:Cite news</ref> St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church occupied the corner of Lexington Avenue and 54th Street;<ref name="NYCL p. 5" /><ref name="Hellman p. 31">Template:Harvnb</ref> its sanctuary was rebuilt when the Citigroup Center was developed.<ref name="NYCL p. 12" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 490" />
Street furniture
Custom street furniture—including newsstands, flagpoles, and streetlight pylons—was designed for the sidewalks around the Citigroup Center.<ref name="NYCL p. 11">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 496">Template:Harvnb</ref> New Jersey–based company Designetics designed pylons with a cruciform cross-section and street lamps at the top. Seven lighting pylons are placed along the streets that surround the block. Three custom pylons—at the northwest, northeast, and southwest corners of the blockTemplate:Efn—include pedestrian and vehicular traffic lights.<ref name="Horsley 1978" /> The pylons were initially designed with a "glossy black finish" that contrasted with the tower's aluminum facade;<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 496" /><ref name="Horsley 1978">Template:Cite news</ref> by 2016, they had been painted gray.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /> The New Yorker described the pylons in 2017 as "sculptural towers worthy of Brancusi".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
History
First National City Bank (later Citibank) was founded in 1812<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and, for over a century, had its headquarters in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan.<ref name="NYCL p. 5">Template:Harvnb</ref> The company was headquartered at 52 Wall Street<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> until 1908, when it moved to 55 Wall Street.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> After National City Bank and the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company merged in 1929,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the new company, City Bank Farmers Trust, moved into a new structure at 20 Exchange Place, which was completed in 1931,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and opened a Midtown office at 399 Park Avenue, one block west of the present Citigroup Center, in 1961.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
On the northwestern corner of the future Citigroup Center site was St. Peter's Lutheran Church, which had been founded in 1862 as a German-speaking congregation.<ref name="NYCL p. 5" />Template:Efn The St. Peter's congregation occupied a building at Lexington Avenue and 46th Street from 1871 to 1902, when it was demolished for the construction of Grand Central Terminal.<ref name="Hellman p. 31" /> This prompted the congregation to move to a Gothic building designed by John G. Michel and P. Brandner,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> which was completed in 1905.<ref name="NYCL p. 5" /><ref name="Hellman p. 31" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The congregation, which at its peak had a membership of over one thousand, had decreased to below 300 by the 1960s, prompting the congregation to consider relocating to near the United Nations headquarters.<ref name="Hellman p. 31" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 490" />
Planning
Site acquisition
Lots on the St. Peter's block were acquired secretively starting in 1968 and continued for five and a half years.<ref name="NYCL p. 5" /><ref name="Hellman p. 33">Template:Harvnb</ref> The acquisition was headed by brokers Donald Schnabel and Charles McArthur of Julien J. Studley Inc.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 490" /><ref name="Hellman pp. 31-32" /> The brokers believed that a large, contiguous land lot would be worth more than the sum of each lot's individual worth, though the firm had not yet secured a client for which it was purchasing the lots.<ref name="Hellman pp. 31-32">Template:Harvnb</ref> St. Peter's Church's membership was increasing again by then, and members of the congregation were loath to part with their property.<ref name="Hellman p. 31" /> A Studley broker formed a company called Lexman, which then approached what had become First National City Bank to determine their interest in acquiring the St. Peter's block, one block east of their headquarters at the time.<ref name="NYCL p. 5" /><ref name="Hellman p. 32">Template:Harvnb</ref> Lexman gradually acquired the other lots on the block.<ref name="Hellman p. 33" />
The brokerage firm again negotiated with St. Peter's congregation in late 1969 after some lots had been acquired.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> John White, president of consulting firm James D. Landauer Associates, proposed that the new structure on the site be a condominium development; i.e. the church would have a partial ownership stake in the new development.<ref name="NYCL p. 6">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Hellman pp. 34-35">Template:Harvnb</ref> In February 1970, the congregation signed a letter of intent to sell its building, as well as the air rights above the church,<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /><ref name="Hellman pp. 34-35" /> to First National City Bank.<ref name="Louviere 1974">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Hellman p. 37">Template:Harvnb</ref> In exchange, the congregation received $9 million and was named as a condominium partner in the tower's development. The congregation saw a $4 million net profit, as its new building cost $5 million.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /><ref name="Louviere 1974" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Members of the congregation formally approved the sale of their building in May 1971.<ref name="Montgomery 1971">Template:Cite news</ref>
Hugh Stubbins & Associates was hired to develop plans for a large building on the city block, and St. Peter's Church hired Edward Larrabee Barnes as a design consultant by the beginning of 1971.<ref name="Whitehouse 1971" /> The Stubbins firm, at the time, had relatively little experience designing high-rise buildings.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 490" /> The New York Times characterized the site as an "annex" to First National City Bank's main building at 399 Park Avenue.<ref name="Whitehouse 1971" /><ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> The congregation of St. Peter's Church voted in May 1971 to approve the sale of its old building and construct a new structure on the same site,<ref name="Brozan 1977">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Montgomery 1971" /> and they relocated in early 1973 to a temporary location at the Central Presbyterian Church.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By July 1973, land acquisition was almost entirely complete,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> although the last parcel was not acquired until November 1975, when the lot at 884 Third Avenue was purchased.<ref name="NYCL p. 6" /> The parcels cost $40 million, making it the most expensive city block on earth at the time.<ref name="Stern (1995) pp. 490-492" /><ref name="Hellman p. 37" /> The only lot on the block that First National City Bank had not acquired was 880 Third Avenue, which had been completed in 1965, and which the brokers considered too new to be demolished.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 490" />
Design process and city approvals
In addition to what became the final design, Stubbins and his associates studied at least six alternate proposals for the tower, with varying rooftop designs.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 492" /> Early plans also called for installing stilts underneath each corner.<ref name="AR p. 69" /> These plans were scrapped because the northwestern stilt would extend into St. Peter's Lutheran Church, and the church wanted its sanctuary to be structurally separate from the tower.<ref name="Kanno-Youngs 2016" /><ref name="AR p. 69" /> Before the official plans for the building were announced, the architects had designed a roof sloped at a 45-degree corner, which was to contain west-facing terraces<ref name="NYCL p. 8" /><ref name="Horsley 1976" /> for about 100 apartments,<ref name="Egan 1977">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Schmertz p. 108">Template:Harvnb</ref> but the New York City Department of City Planning would not approve a zoning change to permit that use.<ref name="NYCL p. 8" /><ref name="Schmertz p. 108" /><ref name="PA p. 55" /> The architects then rotated the roof southward<ref name="Kanno-Youngs 2016" /><ref name="Horsley 1976" /> to accommodate flat-plate solar collectors.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /><ref name="Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1977" />
Plans for the project, then known as Citicorp Center, were publicly disclosed on July 24, 1973.<ref name="The New York Times 1973" /><ref name="Hellman p. 37" /> The plans called for a Template:Convert tower with stilts under the center of each side, rising Template:Convert above street level. The project would also include an eight-story office annex, three stories of retail, a landscaped public plaza, and a new church building.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 492" /><ref name="The New York Times 1973" /><ref name="AJ-1973-10" /> St. Peter's old church building had been demolished by mid-1973,<ref name="The New York Times 1973" /> and First National City Bank had become known as Citibank, a subsidiary of Citicorp.<ref name="Louviere 1974" /> St. Peter's pastor Ralph E. Peterson described the project as "a very bold venture in an urban environment".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In part because of Peterson's insistence, the plans included a publicly accessible plaza with shopping available.<ref name="Schmertz p. 114" /> Early plans for the church also called for it to have a cube design;<ref name="Goldberger 1977a" /> the church's final design, with a diagonal skylight, was announced in April 1974.<ref name="Horsley 1974" /> The city government approved plans for Citicorp Center the same year.<ref name="NYCL p. 13" />
Construction
Groundbreaking ceremonies for the tower were hosted in April 1974, but work began only twelve months later.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /> The tower's construction was supervised by Vivian Longo, who, at the building's completion in 1977, was twenty-five years old.<ref name="Wallach 1978" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Citicorp Center was one of the few large structures in Manhattan that were being erected in the mid-1970s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the peak of construction, three thousand people were employed, and 565 workers were on site simultaneously.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /><ref name="Horsley 1976" /> The steel framework had been completed to the eighteenth floor by the end of 1975.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /> When the frame topped out on October 7, 1976, officials predicted Citicorp Center would be the only major structure in New York City to be completed in 1977.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 493" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The cornerstone for the new St. Peter's Church was laid on November 1, 1976.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Citibank acquired two buildings at 148 and 152 East 53rd Street, immediately south of the new tower, the next month. The company did not intend to develop the sites of these buildings, but they contained topless bars, which Citibank officials perceived would decrease the value of the tower.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The bank's vice president for real estate management, Arthur E. Driscoll, had studied vacancy rates at fourteen nearby "prime office buildings" while Citicorp Center was being developed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The first tenants moved to the office building in April 1977.<ref name="Egan 1977" /> By that August, Citicorp Center was 96 percent rented,<ref name="The New York Times 1977" /> even though average rents were higher than in other buildings nearby.<ref name="Horsley 1976" /><ref name="Egan 1977" />
Early years
Opening
The office tower was dedicated on October 12, 1977.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /><ref name="Goldberger 1977" /> Stubbins gave an opening speech in which he described the building as a "skyscraper for the people".<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /><ref name="Stubbins 1977" /> Almost all the space within the retail complex at the building's base, known as the Market, had been rented,<ref name="Brozan 1977" /> and over 300 retailers had applied to operate storefronts in the Market.<ref name="The New York Times 1977" /> The majority of the Market's space was rented by household furnishings retailer Conran's, which occupied Template:Convert,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but some of the other retailers included restaurants serving cuisine of various countries.<ref name="Ferretti 1976" /> Citibank planned to occupy Template:Convert, or 26 stories, moving its offices to the building from five other addresses in Midtown.<ref name="Horsley 1976" /><ref name="Egan 1977" /> The remaining stories were occupied by a variety of firms, including those in law and accounting, as well as the Consulate-General of Japan and technology company IBM.<ref name="NYCL p. 13" />
At the time of Citicorp Center's dedication, the final design features of St. Peter's Church were being installed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> St. Peter's Church was dedicated on December 4, 1977,<ref name="NYCL p. 12" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the Nevelson Chapel was separately dedicated the same month.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Initially, the tower's slanted roof created an ice problem during winter, as snow and ice would slide down the roof onto the sidewalk.<ref name="The New York Times 1978">Template:Cite news</ref> Furthermore, the shopping concourse was initially only lightly used and largely unknown to the public.<ref name="Huxtable 1978">Template:Cite news</ref> The plaza on Lexington Avenue opened by July 1978.<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /> In the complex's early years, St. Peter's Church encountered fiscal deficits because of high utility costs, as well as inflation and lack of investment experience, even though the church earned money from renting out some of the other space it owned at Citicorp Center.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By 1980, Citicorp counted 25,000 daily visitors to the shopping concourse, but some of the stores had already closed down because of a lack of patronage.<ref name="NYCL p. 14" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1978 engineering crisis
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Due to material changes during construction, the building as completed was vulnerable to collapse in high winds. LeMessurier's original design for the chevron load braces had used welded joints. To save money, Bethlehem Steel changed the plans in 1974 to use bolted joints, which was accepted by LeMessurier's office but not known to the engineer himself.<ref name="Morgenstern p. 46" /> Furthermore, LeMessurier originally only needed to calculate wind loads from perpendicular winds, as required under the building code; in typical buildings, loads from quartering winds at the corners would be less.<ref name="Morgenstern p. 46" /><ref name="McGinn 2018 p. 82" /> In June 1978, after an inquiry from engineering student Diane Hartley,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> LeMessurier recalculated the wind loads on the building with quartering winds.<ref name="McGinn 2018 p. 82">Template:Cite book</ref> LeMessurier found that quartering winds would significantly increase the load at the bolted joints.<ref name="Morgenstern p. 46" /> After conducting tests on the building's structural safety,<ref name="Morgenstern pp. 46-47" /> he found that a wind capable of toppling Citicorp Center would have a 1-in-55 chance of occurring in an average year, or a 1-in-16 chance of happening if the tuned mass damper (TMD) on the roof was powered off.<ref name="Werner 2014" />
LeMessurier proposed welding steel plates over the bolted joints, and Karl Koch Erecting was hired for the welding process.<ref name="Morgenstern p. 50" /> Starting in August 1978, construction crews installed the welded panels at night.<ref name="NYCL p. 9" /><ref name="Morgenstern p. 50" /> The fixes were completed that October, after which LeMessurier claimed that a wind strong enough to topple the building would have a 1-in-700 chance of occurring in any given year.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The work was not publicized at the time, as it took place during the 1978 New York City newspaper strike and very few people were notified of the issue.<ref name="Werner 2014" /><ref name="Morgenstern p. 50" /> Since no structural failure occurred, the extent of the engineering crisis was only publicly revealed in a lengthy article in The New Yorker in 1995.<ref name="NYCL p. 9" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> A National Institute of Standards and Technology reassessment of the engineering crisis in 2019, using modern technology, indicated that the quartering wind loads were not as severe as LeMessurier and Hartley had thought.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
1980s and 1990s
As completed, Citicorp Center was divided into three separate condominium-style ownership stakes. One condominium was owned by the church, while the other two were 61.55 and 32.85 percent ownership stakes in the office stories.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> In October 1987, Citicorp sold the 61.55 percent ownership stake (consisting of the 23rd through 59th floors), along with a one-third stake in its former 399 Park Avenue headquarters, to Dai-Ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company for $670 million. Citicorp used the profits from the sale to reduce its losses, which in the first half of 1987 totaled $2.32 billion; it continued to own the remaining stories at Citicorp Center.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the time, Citicorp was developing One Court Square across the East River in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens.<ref name="NYCL p. 14" /><ref name="DePalma 1988">Template:Cite news</ref> The new building in Queens was one subway stop away from Citicorp Center and 399 Park Avenue, allowing Citicorp to split its offices between the buildings.<ref name="DePalma 1988" />
The Market shopping atrium fell into disrepair in the two decades following Citicorp Center's completion.<ref name="Deutsch 1996">Template:Cite news</ref> In May 1995, Citicorp commenced a $15 million, eighteen-month renovation of the shopping concourse, which was designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects.<ref name="NYCL p. 14" /><ref name="The New York Times 1995" /> The brick pavers were replaced with terrazzo, new signs were installed outside each storefront, and circulation features, such as the placement of escalators, were rearranged.<ref name="NYCL p. 14" /><ref name="Deutsch 1996" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The shopping concourse was renamed the Shops at Citicorp Center and bookstore Barnes & Noble was named as the anchor tenant, taking Template:Convert.<ref name="The New York Times 1995" />
21st century
2000s and 2010s
By late 2000, Dai-Ichi's broker Jones Lang LaSalle had placed the entirety of the office building (which had since become known as the Citigroup Center) for sale.<ref name="Grant 2001">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Croghan 2000">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Dai-Ichi and Citigroup—the latter of which had been formed in 1998 through a merger of Citicorp and the Travelers Companies<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>—arranged to jointly sell both condominium shares.<ref name="Croghan 2000" /> Richard and Eric D. Hadar, a father-and-son venture, bid $725 million for Dai-Ichi's ownership stake in January 2001. For the purchase, Eric Hadar had arranged a $525 million first mortgage from Deutsche Bank and a $150 million mezzanine loan from the government of Singapore.<ref name="Grant 2001" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The sale was delayed after Boston Properties offered to buy Dai-Ichi's stake.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Eric Hadar's company, Allied Partners, along with Boston Properties, ultimately finalized their purchase of both condominium shares that April.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> The price was $755 million, including closing costs and taxes, and Citigroup relocated to 399 Park Avenue.<ref name="NYCL p. 14" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> One of the stilts was structurally reinforced following the September 11 attacks,<ref name="O'Driscoll 2002" /><ref name="Glanz 2002" /> and protective bollards were installed on the sidewalk.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Boston Properties bought Allied Partners' stake in the Citigroup Center in 2006 for $100 million.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The same year, Boston Properties began rebranding the building as 601 Lexington Avenue.<ref name="Rubinstein 2008">Template:Cite news</ref> A new Lexington Avenue lobby was constructed and the tower stories' entrance was relocated from 53rd Street to Lexington Avenue.<ref name="Architect Magazine" /><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> In addition, a ramp was installed on 53rd Street and a reception area was added to the northern entrance of St. Peter's Church.<ref name="NYCL p. 14" /> The name change took effect in 2010.<ref name="NYCL p. 14" /><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref name="Rubinstein 2008" /> Boston Properties was also considering selling naming rights to the building.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By 2013, Citigroup only occupied three stories at the Citigroup Center.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The next year, Boston Properties sold a 45 percent ownership stake in the Citigroup Center, along with proportional stakes in the Atlantic Wharf Office Building and 100 Federal Street in Boston, to companies associated with Norges Bank Investment Management. These firms paid a combined $1.5 billion.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
Boston Properties was contemplating renovations to the building by 2016. The company filed alteration plans for the plaza that July,<ref name="WachsApril2017" /> and it began vacating the space in the office annex.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the building as a city landmark in December.<ref name="Walker 2016">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Cohen 2016">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The same month, Boston Properties announced plans to renovate the office annex, which would be rebranded 159 East 53rd Street.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Gensler revealed its design for a refurbished entry plaza and a new atrium space in March 2017,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and work on the plaza commenced that June, with the original fountain (which had been part of the landmark designation) being demolished.<ref name="WachsJune2017" /> All of the space in the 159 East 53rd Street annex was leased to NYU Langone Health in 2018.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Following the completion of the renovation, in late 2019, Anna Castellani signed a lease for a Template:Convert food hall at the base of the Citigroup Center.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In October 2019, London-based company etc.venues agreed to operate a Template:Convert conference center on the 14th floor.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2020s to present
In 2021, St. Peter's Church at the Citigroup Center was seriously damaged after a broken water main flooded its space;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the church underwent emergency repairs, which took a year to complete.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> In addition, Boston Properties converted the shopping concourse into a food hall named the Hugh.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Boston Properties and Norges Bank Investment Management refinanced the Citigroup Center in December 2021 with a $1 billion mortgage from four banks.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the time, the building's office space was 96.3 percent occupied, and the tenants largely included financial firms and law offices.<ref name="Jones 2022" /> With about Template:Convert of space, the Blackstone Group was one of the building's largest tenants in 2022.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Other large tenants by then included Citibank, Kirkland & Ellis, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.<ref name="Jones 2022">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Architecture
The Citigroup Center consists of three structures: the office tower, the annex, and a sanctuary for St. Peter's Church at the base of the office tower.<ref name="NPS p. 3" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The tower was designed by architect Hugh Stubbins, along with associate architects Emery Roth & Sons, for the First National City Bank (later Citibank).<ref name="aia5">Template:Cite aia5</ref><ref name="AJ-1973-10">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="The New York Times 1973">Template:Cite news</ref> Of the other principals at Hugh A. Stubbins & Associates, architect Peter Woytuk was most involved in the design, while project manager W. Easley Hammer oversaw the construction.<ref name="NYCL p. 7">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Stern (1995) pp. 490-492">Template:Harvnb</ref> In addition, Edward Larrabee Barnes was the consulting architect,<ref name="Emporis" /><ref name="The New York Times 1973" /><ref name="Stern (1995) pp. 490-492" /> and LeMessurier Associates and James Ruderman were the structural engineers.<ref name="AJ-1973-10" /><ref name="AISC1978">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The general contractor was the HRH Construction Corporation<ref name="NYCL p. 7" /><ref name="AISC1978" /> (which was acquired by the Starrett Housing Corporation during the building's construction<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>), and the steel contractor was Bethlehem Steel.<ref name="AISC1978" /><ref name="Morgenstern p. 46">Template:Harvnb</ref> Numerous contractors supplied other material for the building.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
Form and facade
The Citigroup Center tower rises 59 stories high, with its roof about Template:Convert above ground level.<ref name="NYCL p. 1" /><ref name="skyscraperCenter">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Emporis">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Efn Since it is raised 13 stories above ground,<ref name="NPS p. 4">Template:Harvnb</ref> the tower has 46 usable stories.<ref name="Marlin 1979">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="PA p. 55">Template:Harvnb</ref> At the time of completion, Citicorp Center was the seventh-tallest<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 493">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="AR p. 66">Template:Harvnb</ref> or eighth-tallest building in the world, as well as the city's fifth-tallest building.<ref name="NPS p. 4" /> In addition to the primary 59-story tower, there is an annex at 159 East 53rd Street with six<ref name="AR p. 66" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 492" /> or seven stories.<ref name="Žaknić Smith Rice Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat p.">Template:Cite book</ref> It extends east to Third Avenue and includes part of the building's shopping concourse.<ref name="AR p. 66" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 492">Template:Harvnb</ref> On 54th Street is a loading dock that serves the tower, annex, and church.<ref name="NPS p. 3" />
The tower and its annex have similarly-designed facades.<ref name="NYCL p. 8" /> The facade is made of anodized aluminum and reflective glass panels.<ref name="NYCL p. 8">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Parisi 1977">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="ENR p. 68">Template:Harvnb</ref> Each facade segment measures Template:Convert and consists of both glass panes and aluminum plates.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> To conserve energy, each window is double-glazed; the inner pane is coated with chrome plating.<ref name="Parisi 1977" /><ref name="ENR p. 68" /> The windows on each floor are separated by flush aluminum spandrels.<ref name="NPS p. 4" /><ref name="Schmertz p. 115">Template:Harvnb</ref> The spandrels were manufactured by Flour City Architectural Metals, a firm based in Glen Cove, New York.<ref name="NYCL p. 8" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The aluminum is silver-colored, like that on the Pepsi-Cola Building and One Chase Manhattan Plaza, because Stubbins thought a dark color would not allow observers to "see the shade and shadow".<ref name="NYCL p. 8" /> The facade is fitted with Template:Convert of insulation,<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /><ref name="ENR p. 68" /> double the amount of insulation considered normal at the time of construction.<ref name="Parisi 1977" /><ref name="ENR p. 68" /> The aluminum was polished to reflect heat from sunlight.<ref name="Parisi 1977" />
Roof
The triangular roof of the Citigroup Center rises Template:Convert above the top story and faces south, sloping at a 45-degree angle.<ref name="AR p. 66" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 492" /><ref name="Stichweh 2016">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Efn The roof was originally intended to face west and contain several terraces,<ref name="NYCL p. 8" /><ref name="Horsley 1976">Template:Cite news</ref> but the architects rotated the roof southward to accommodate flat-plate solar collectors, which they believed would produce hot water that could dehumidify air and reduce the need for other energy for cooling.<ref name="Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1977">Template:Citation</ref> Starting in February 1975, engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducted a twelve-month feasibility study for the installation of such a system.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 492" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Afterward, the system was scrapped, either because of the smaller-than-expected savings,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Wallach 1978">Template:Cite news</ref> the cost of the required refined mechanical systems,<ref name="ENR p. 68" /> supplier issues,<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /> or the insufficient energy produced by the system.<ref name="Berenholtz Reynolds 1988 p.">Template:Cite book</ref>
Even after the solar-collector plans were scrapped, the design was kept; Stubbins wrote that the roof "relieves the uniformity of flat-topped towers proliferating in the center of the city".<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This made Citicorp Center the first postmodern skyscraper in New York City with an entirely decorative roof.<ref name="Stichweh 2016" /><ref name="Nash 2005">Template:Cite book</ref> The roof was also fitted with solar panels in 1983, when Consolidated Edison and Citibank sponsored a four-year solar panel test.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Plaza
A large plaza, Template:Convert beneath street level,<ref name="NYCL p. 10" /> was designed by landscape architecture firm Sasaki Associates and built along with Citicorp Center.<ref name="NPS p. 4" /><ref name="NYCL p. 10" /> Masao Kinoshita and Stuart Dawson of Sasaki Associates were the architects most responsible for the plaza's design.<ref name="NPS p. 4" /><ref name="WachsJune2017" /> The plaza's presence was encouraged by the 1961 Zoning Resolution,<ref name="NYCL p. 10">Template:Harvnb</ref> which gave additional floor area to New York City developers as a zoning "bonus" for including open space outside their buildings.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> While many developers took advantage of the "bonus", the New York City Planning Commission found in 1975 that many of these plazas ranged from "bleak, forlorn places" to those that were "forbidding and downright hostile".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Fowler 1975">Template:Cite news</ref> In response, the City Planning Commission's Urban Design Group was formed in 1967 to determine how to improve plaza designs,<ref name="NYCL p. 10" /><ref name="Schmertz p. 114">Template:Harvnb</ref> influencing a design handbook that the City Planning Commission published in 1975.<ref name="NYCL p. 10" /><ref name="Fowler 1975" /> The design of the Citigroup Center's plaza was finalized in 1973,<ref name="NYCL p. 10" /> and it included many of the same features described in the handbook, such as an outdoor plaza, a covered pedestrian area, and an arcade running for a city block.<ref name="NYCL p. 10" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
The plaza has an area of Template:Convert.<ref name="WachsApril2017">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="TCLF k394">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Under the zoning laws, its presence allowed the tower to be designed with a maximum floor area ratio of 18:1, higher than the 15:1 ratio specified for the area.<ref name="PA p. 55" /> The plaza is accessed by a diagonally-oriented stairway<ref name="NYCL p. 10" /> extending northeast from the corner of Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street.<ref name="Schmertz p. 116">Template:Harvnb</ref> On the south side of the plaza is an entrance to the Lexington Avenue/51st Street subway station.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite NYCS neighborhood map</ref> The Citigroup Center's entrance replaces two previous subway entrances on the sidewalk.<ref name="NYCL p. 10" /> The north side of the plaza contains the entrance to St. Peter's Church.<ref name="NYCL pp. 10-11">Template:Harvnb</ref> During the plaza's construction, the developers collaborated with the numerous public agencies that had a stake in the project, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operated the subway station.<ref name="Schmertz p. 115" />
The plaza, interior shopping concourse, and sidewalks all initially contained brown brick floor pavers.<ref name="NYCL pp. 10-11" /> Several large planters, benches, and honey locust trees were spread across the plaza.<ref name="TCLF k394" /> There was originally also a fountain at the center of the plaza, which was designed to conceal noise from the environs, similar to the fountain at nearby Paley Park.<ref name="NYCL pp. 10-11" /> That fountain, designed in the Brutalist style, was demolished in 2017.<ref name="WachsJune2017">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="NPS p. 4" /> None of the plaza's original decorations remain. The modern-day plaza has stepped waterfalls on its western and southern walls.<ref name="NPS p. 4" />
St. Peter's Lutheran Church
Template:Distinguish Template:Multiple image
At the northwest corner of Citigroup Center is St. Peter's Lutheran Church<ref name="NYCL p. 12" /> at 619 Lexington Avenue.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The exterior was designed by Stubbins and Hammer, while the interior was furnished by Vignelli Associates.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 496" /><ref name="Goldberger 1977a">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="NYCL p. 12">Template:Harvnb</ref> The church's congregation permitted Citicorp to erect the office tower only if an edifice, structurally unconnected to the tower, were built at the same location as the congregation's old building. Andrew Alpern and Seymour Durst characterized the agreement as "ecumenically joining God and mammon to the benefit of both".<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 490" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In addition, at least 63 percent of the church was to have "nothing built above it".<ref name="NYCL p. 12" /><ref name="Montgomery 1971" /> According to Stubbins, the lack of structural connections would give the church a "breathing space" of its own.<ref name="Stubbins 1977">Template:Cite news</ref> The church was described by the architectural writer David W. Dunlap in 2004 as the city's "most architecturally successful postwar sanctuary".<ref name="NYCL p. 13" /><ref>Template:Cite fromatoz</ref> The church originally connected directly to Citigroup Center's annex, but the connection was removed in the mid-2000s due to security concerns caused by the September 11 attacks.<ref name="NPS p. 7">Template:Harvnb</ref>
The structure rises about Template:Convert above ground<ref name="Kanno-Youngs 2016">Template:Cite news</ref> and Template:Convert above the plaza.<ref name="NYCL p. 12" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 496" /><ref name="Goldberger 1977a" /> The majority of the building has a facade of brown Caledonia granite interspersed with ashlar.<ref name="NYCL p. 12" /><ref name="Kanno-Youngs 2016" /><ref name="Goldberger 1977a" /> The copper roof is coated with lead. The materials were meant to establish a distinct identity for the church while also associating it with the office tower.<ref name="NYCL p. 12" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 496" /> A skylight bisects the roof from southwest to northeast, allowing passersby to look inside.<ref name="Goldberger 1977a" /><ref name="Žaknić Smith Rice Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat p." /> There are vertical windows under both ends of the skylight.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Another window at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 54th Street overlooks the pipe organ inside.<ref name="NYCL p. 12" /> To the east on 54th Street is a single-story addition with an aluminum facade, resembling the office tower's facade, which contains a secondary entrance to the Nevelson Chapel and the church's narthex. A third entrance leads south to the plaza and subway entrance.<ref name="NPS p. 5">Template:Harvnb</ref> Stubbins had intended the structure's shape to resemble a pair of hands held up in prayer,<ref name="Horsley 1974">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="NPS p. 4" /> while other observers compared it to a tent or a rock.<ref name="NPS p. 4" /> Arnaldo Pomodoro designed a bronze cross for the exterior, which was installed in 1982 and measures Template:Convert tall by Template:Convert wide.<ref name="NPS p. 4" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The interior is divided into two primary levels. The upper level has a narthex with a reception desk, which is accessed from 54th Street and contains a stairway that descends to a "living room" on the lower level.<ref name="Horsley 1974" /> The narthex's western wall contains a doorway to the Nevelson Chapel,<ref name="NYCL p. 5" /> which has 24 seats;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the chapel is named for its designer, Louise Nevelson.<ref name="Schmertz p. 112" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The lower-level living room is a carpeted space with a dropped ceiling, circular columns, and doors leading west to the sanctuary.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The sanctuary itself is adjacent to and slightly below the lower plaza,<ref name="NYCL pp. 10-11" /><ref name="Schmertz p. 112">Template:Harvnb</ref> with simple decorations including plaster walls and ceiling, granite floors, and red-oak furniture.<ref name="NPS p. 6">Template:Harvnb</ref> The sanctuary has movable pews, which can seat up to 850 people<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 496" /> and have cushions with geometric designs created by Vignelli Associates.<ref name="NPS p. 6" /> Upon the church's completion, there was a two-manual, two-pedal organ with 2,175 pipes,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> positioned in the sanctuary's northwestern corner.<ref name="NPS p. 6" /> There is also a black-box theater, a library, kitchen, daycare center, clergy offices, dressing rooms, choir rooms, and lecture and community rooms.<ref name="Horsley 1974" /><ref name="NPS p. 5" /> Some of these spaces are in a cellar beneath the lower level.<ref name="NPS p. 7" />
Over the years, the church's basement theater has been used by the York Theatre.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> St. Peter's Church also hosts a jazz ministry created by the Rev. John Garcia Gensel, who in 1965 became the Minister to the Jazz Community.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The jazz ministry has sponsored several programs over the years,<ref name="NYCL p. 12" /> such as free jazz performances at the base of the office tower.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The church has hosted memorials and funerals for jazz musicians such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk.<ref name="NYCL p. 12" />
Structural features
The tower stories are of trussed-tube construction.<ref name="NYCL p. 9">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Each of the tower stories measures Template:Convert,<ref name="AISC1978" /><ref name="ENR p. 69">Template:Harvnb</ref> or Template:Convert in total.<ref name="Stephens 1977">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Within the office stories, the elevator shafts and emergency stairs are embedded in a service core at the center of each story.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> The core is about Template:Convert, while the floor space around the core is just less than Template:Convert wide.<ref name="ENR p. 69" /> Overall, the Citigroup Center is made of Template:Convert of steel, two-fifths of the amount used in the Empire State Building.<ref name="NYCL p. 9" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
Stilts
The tower is supported by four stilts<ref name="Berenholtz Reynolds 1988 p." /><ref name="NPS p. 4" /> measuring approximately Template:Convert high with a cross section of Template:Convert.<ref name="AJ-1973-10" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 492" /><ref name="Schmertz p. 116" />Template:Efn The stilts are underneath the centers of each elevation of the facade, and the building's corners are cantilevered Template:Convert outward from the core.<ref name="Morgenstern p. 46" /><ref name="AR p. 66" /><ref name="Nash 2005" /> According to Stanley Goldstein of LeMessurier's New York City office, stilts at the centers of each elevation would be able to withstand forces from "quartering winds" from the corners, compared to stilts at the corners. Additionally, the stilts allowed the building to have a smaller foundation than in a conventional building of similar size.<ref name="ENR p. 69" />
Each of the individual stilts is composed of four vertical beams; the outer pairs of beams are much heavier than the inner pairs.<ref name="AR p. 69" /><ref name="ENR p. 70">Template:Harvnb</ref> This design prevents the stilt from buckling.<ref name="ENR p. 70" /> Inside the stilts are emergency stairs and mechanical ducts.<ref name="NYCL p. 9" /><ref name="AR p. 69">Template:Harvnb</ref> In 2002, following the September 11 attacks the previous year, one of the stilts was reinforced with blast-resistant shields of steel and copper as well as steel bracing.<ref name="O'Driscoll 2002">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Glanz 2002">Template:Cite news</ref> There is also an octagonal elevator core in the middle of the building,<ref name="NYCL p. 8" /><ref name="Nash 2005" /><ref name="ENR p. 70" /> which measures Template:Convert<ref name="ENR p. 70" /> and carries half of the building's gravity-related structural loads.<ref name="AR p. 69" /> This elevator core has an aluminum facade and contains 20 elevators.<ref name="NPS p. 4" /> Beneath the lowest office story, the core contains only elevators, and the emergency staircases are within the stilts.<ref name="ENR p. 70" />
Chevrons
Above the stilts, within the walls, are stacked load-bearing braces in the form of inverted chevrons.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 493" /><ref name="Werner 2014">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Each elevation of the facade has six chevrons, which are eight stories tall.<ref name="Morgenstern p. 46" /><ref name="Nash 2005" /><ref name="AR p. 68" /> The wind loads from each eight-story tier are transferred into the center of the frame, where Template:Convert "mast column transports" extend the tower's entire height.<ref name="ENR p. 69" /><ref name="AR p. 68" /> The mast columns are Template:Convert deep at their bases, tapering to Template:Convert above the 40th floor. The diagonal beams in each chevron are Template:Convert deep and connect to spandrel panels at the top of each eight-story tier, which are Template:Convert deep.<ref name="ENR p. 69" /> The tops of each eight-story tier (where the diagonal beams meet the building's corners) do not have vertical columns, thus preventing wind loads from accumulating at the tower's corners.<ref name="Žaknić Smith Rice Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat p." />
The ninth story, the lowest level above the stilts, contains a trussed frame similar to those use in cantilever bridges, where the wind loads are transferred downward into the stilts.<ref name="AR p. 68">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="ENR pp. 69-70">Template:Harvnb</ref> This story is used as mechanical space.<ref name="ENR pp. 69-70" />
The chevrons are not visible from the exterior but can be seen from the offices inside;<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 493" /><ref name="AR p. 70">Template:Harvnb</ref> this contrasted with structures such as Chicago's John Hancock Center in which the diagonal beams could be seen from the outside.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 493" /><ref name="Schmertz p. 115" /><ref name="Horsley 1976" /> After Citicorp Center's completion, W. Easley Hammer said he thought it was a mistake to conceal the chevrons,<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 493" /> while LeMessurier said that Stubbins had rejected his idea for exposed chevrons.<ref name="Morgenstern p. 46" /><ref name="NYCL p. 9" /> The chevrons were originally bolted to each other with over two hundred joints.<ref name="NYCL p. 9" /><ref name="Morgenstern pp. 46-47">Template:Harvnb</ref> Following the Citicorp Center engineering crisis of 1978, workers installed Template:Convert steel plates over each joint.<ref name="NYCL p. 9" /><ref name="Morgenstern p. 50">Template:Harvnb</ref>
Interior
The tower contains approximately Template:Convert of rentable space.<ref name="skyscraperCenter" /> The office annex to the east contains about Template:Convert of space.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 493" /> According to the Department of City Planning, the building has a gross floor area of Template:Convert,<ref name="ZoLa" /> while, according to The Skyscraper Center, the building has Template:Convert.<ref name="skyscraperCenter" />
Base
Entrances to the office tower from Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street adjoin the plaza to the north and east, respectively.<ref name="NPS p. 4" /> The Citigroup Center's main lobby is accessed from the Lexington Avenue entrance, across a footbridge that also provides entrance to St. Peter's Church. The main entrance consists of a double-height glass box with steel ribs, measuring Template:Convert long. The lobby was constructed as part of a 2010 renovation.<ref name="Architect Magazine">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At plaza level is another entrance designed by Hugh Stubbins Associates' successor KlingStubbins, which is made of glass and aluminum.<ref name="NPS p. 7" />
There is a three-story shopping concourse at the base of the stilts, originally called the Market.<ref name="Berenholtz Reynolds 1988 p." /><ref name="Wallach 1978" /><ref name="Ferretti 1976">Template:Cite news</ref> The lowest level, corresponding to the lower lobby, includes a plant-filled atrium measuring Template:Convert high, with a skylight measuring Template:Convert.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 495">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="PA p. 57">Template:Harvnb</ref> The corner of Third Avenue and 54th Street contained an entrance to the lowest level of the shopping concourse, while on 54th Street was an entrance to the second level.<ref name="PA p. 57" /> The storefronts were designed to blend in with the plaza and street, with similar floor surfaces and transparent exterior walls.<ref name="The New York Times 1977">Template:Cite news</ref> Overall, the stores were intended as a commitment to the city, a corporate symbol, and a tourist attraction, according to one of Citicorp's vice presidents, Arthur E. Driscoll.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 493" /><ref name="Ferretti 1976" /> From 1987 to 2008, the bank presented a model train exhibition in the space each December.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The shopping concourse was renamed The Shops at Citicorp Center in 1995,<ref name="The New York Times 1995">Template:Cite news</ref> and it was known as the Atrium by 2016.<ref name="NYCL p. 14">Template:Harvnb</ref>
Mechanical features
In the office stories, the elevators and stairs are clustered in a central core.<ref name="Schmertz p. 114" /> The building contains 20 double-deck elevators,<ref name="The Wall Street Journal 1974" /><ref name="PA p. 34" /> which Otis Worldwide constructed for $7 million.<ref name="The Wall Street Journal 1974" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although each of the upper or lower decks serves only odd or even floors, visitors can travel between odd and even floors using escalators.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Each of the elevators consists of two standard elevator cabs that operate simultaneously in one shaft.<ref name="The Wall Street Journal 1974">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="PA p. 34">Template:Harvnb</ref> The elevators cost 25 percent more than standard elevators but allowed for a 24 percent reduction in the floor area taken up by elevators,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as twenty-six single-deck elevator shafts would have been required otherwise.<ref name="Stephens 1977" /> The Citigroup Center's double-deck elevators were likely the first to be installed in New York City since 1932, when the Cities Service Building was completed.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 492" /> In total, the Citigroup Center has 38 elevators.<ref name="skyscraperCenter" />
At Citicorp Center's completion, a "supermail" system delivered each tenant's mail. Incoming mail was sorted in the basement and transferred via lifts to each floor, where the mail was transported manually to fixed bins.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The building also contained 2,500 sensors to monitor the mechanical systems, such as HVAC, lighting, electrical, sprinkler, life-safety, security, and elevator systems.<ref name="PA p. 34" /> The sloped roof houses mechanical equipment.<ref name="ENR p. 68" />
The building was intended to be energy-efficient compared to its contemporaries.<ref name="AJ-1973-10" /><ref name="Parisi 1977" /><ref name="PA p. 34" /> Its water supply consisted entirely of cold water;<ref name="ENR p. 68" /> heat from the building's mechanical systems was recirculated to warm the water and the office spaces.<ref name="Parisi 1977" /> The office spaces were cooled with outside air wherever it was practical.<ref name="Parisi 1977" /> The fluorescent light bars in the ceiling, manufactured by Joseph Loring & Associates, were fitted with glass shields to spread artificial light across a wider area.<ref name="Parisi 1977" /><ref name="PA p. 34" /> Even though the rooftop solar collectors were not installed, the other features were intended to reduce energy use by up to 42 percent, compared with a regular office building of the same size.<ref name="Goldberger 1977">Template:Cite news</ref> During the summer, the building used a conventional air-conditioning system, offsetting any energy saved by the heat-deflecting facade.<ref name="Stephens 1977" />
Citicorp Center was the city's first skyscraper to feature a tuned mass damper.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 493" /><ref name="Žaknić Smith Rice Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat p." /><ref name="AR p. 70" /> Located within the rooftop mechanical space, the TMD is designed to counteract swaying motions due to wind and reduces wind-related movement by up to fifty percent.<ref name="NYCL p. 9" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The equipment weighs Template:Convert and includes a concrete block measuring Template:Convert.<ref name="AISC1978" /><ref name="Stern (1995) p. 493" /><ref name="Horsley 1976" /> The block sits on an oil-coated steel plate and has two spring mechanisms, one each to counteract north–south and east–west movement.<ref name="AR p. 70" /> The equipment cost around $1.5 million to install.<ref name="Connor 2003" /> By comparison, it would have cost $5 million<ref name="AR p. 70" /> to reduce the tower's movement by adding Template:Convert of additional steel.<ref name="Connor 2003">Template:Cite book</ref>
Impact
Reception
As one of three office buildings approved in Manhattan during 1974, Citicorp Center received much media attention during its construction.<ref name="NYCL p. 13">Template:Harvnb</ref> After the design was announced, the architectural writer Ada Louise Huxtable criticized the design in The New York Times, saying that the tower "has neither romanticism nor structural rationalism but, instead, appears to have been painstakingly invented with a tortured logic through a series of pragmatic and esthetic compromises".<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 493" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As the building was being completed, Huxtable took a less harsh tone, saying that it contained a "clear desire for design quality" despite the drawbacks of the form and roof.<ref name="NYCL p. 13" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A writer for the New York Daily News described the building as being a typical New York City office structure that would only attract notice if it were built elsewhere.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A New York magazine writer, Suzanne Stephens, stated that the building was simply a modified version of a 1950s skyscraper,<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 493" /><ref name="Stephens 1977" /> considering the rooftop and base to be wasteful with space.<ref name="Stephens 1977" />
After the building's completion, it had mixed reception. The architectural critic Paul Goldberger wrote for The New York Times that the roof was unusual and that the building had a reflective facade and a varied form, but that the overall design was not particularly innovative.<ref name="Goldberger 1977" /> Another architectural critic, Jack Egan, similarly wrote for The Washington Post that the building had distinctive design features but did not appeal to either nostalgia or novel innovation.<ref name="Egan 1977" /> Huxtable regarded the plaza as an architectural success but observed in January 1978 that very few people used it.<ref name="Huxtable 1978" /> August Heckscher II, a former New York City parks commissioner, described the interior as "an amenity in which we can all rejoice".<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 495" /><ref name="NYCL p. 14" /><ref name="Heckscher 1977">Template:Cite news</ref> Nevertheless, Heckscher believed the atrium's silver cladding and light fixtures to be unwelcoming and suggestive of the indoors,<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 495" /><ref name="Heckscher 1977" /> and Stephens said that the benefits of the atrium did not transcend class boundaries.<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 495" /><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
Other critics described Citicorp Center in a largely positive light. The historian and writer John Tauranac described the tower as the "most dramatic new skyscraper" in New York City since the completion of 30 Rockefeller Plaza several decades prior.<ref name="NYCL p. 13" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The architect and writer Robert A. M. Stern said Citicorp Center was the summation of the "unique architectural and urbanistic character that made Fifty-third Street at once an enclave within midtown and a microcosm of midtown itself".<ref name="Stern (1995) p. 490" /> The urbanist and sociologist William H. Whyte spoke positively of the structure for its juxtaposition of design elements, such as the exterior plaza and sidewalk.<ref name="NYCL p. 11" /> The building was also praised by publications outside the New York City area.<ref name="NYCL p. 13" /> The Baltimore Sun described the building as being simultaneously sophisticated and simple-looking,<ref name="Marlin 1979" /> while The Observer of London wrote that the building was a "unique contribution" to the skyline of Manhattan's East Side.<ref name="NYCL p. 13" />
Awards, landmark designations, and use as icon
Upon Citicorp Center's completion, it received several architectural awards. In 1978, the City Club of New York gave the building a Bard Award, which recognized "excellence in architecture and urban design".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The same year, the American Institute of Steel Construction gave its Architectural Award of Excellence to Citicorp for the building's design.<ref name="AISC1978" /><ref name="NYCL p. 13" /> The American Institute of Architects (AIA) gave Citicorp an Honor Award in 1979,<ref name="Emporis" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Hugh Stubbins and Associates received the AIA's R.S. Reynolds Memorial Award in 1981 for using aluminum in Citicorp Center's design.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The AIA's 2007 List of America's Favorite Architecture ranked the Citigroup Center among the top 150 buildings in the United States.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In mid-2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission proposed protecting twelve buildings in East Midtown, including the Citigroup Center, in advance of proposed changes to the area's zoning.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On December 6, 2016, the LPC designated the Citigroup Center as a city landmark.<ref name="Walker 2016" /><ref name="Cohen 2016" /> The designation made the Citigroup Center the city's youngest landmark at that time.<ref name="Walker 2016" /> St. Peter's Church at the Citigroup Center was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2025.<ref name="Weekly List 2025 08 08" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The sloped roof of the building has been used for branding purposes. For instance, it is included on the label of Chock full o'Nuts coffee.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In addition, the top left corner of the first "M" in Manhattan Mini Storage's logo was sloped to resemble the Citigroup Center's roof.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See also
- List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets
- List of tallest buildings in New York City
- List of tallest buildings in the United States
- List of tallest freestanding steel structures
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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Further reading
External links
Template:Midtown North, Manhattan Template:Midtown East, Manhattan Template:Authority control
- Pages with broken file links
- 1970s architecture in the United States
- 1977 establishments in New York City
- Bank buildings in Manhattan
- Citigroup buildings
- Emery Roth buildings
- Lexington Avenue
- Midtown Manhattan
- New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
- Office buildings completed in 1977
- Privately owned public spaces
- Skyscraper office buildings in Manhattan
- Third Avenue