"This tower was designed by architect Philip Johnson and his partner John Burgee , and was completed in 1984. It was immediately controversial due to its ornamental summit (sometimes nicknamed " Chippendale ", due to the characteristic open pediments of the shelves and cabinets). by this famous English designer), but praised for its spectacular entrance arch, which measures about seven stories high. With these ornaments, the building challenged modern architecture 's demand for rigid functionalism and purely efficient design . The effect that the building had on the public has generally been described as a legitimation of thepostmodern architecture worldwide.
History
In October 1978, AT&T was granted permission to add 7,611 m² , the equivalent of about four floors of space, to its planned building, in exchange for providing open-air public space and a three-story communications museum. She was awarded an additional 4,000 m², about two stories, as a bonus for creating a 1,300 m² covered gallery along Madison Avenue that would include seating and kiosks.
Main entrance
In 1982, with the divestiture of the Bell System set to take effect on January 1, 1984, AT&T decided to find a tenant to lease 30,000 m² of space on floors 7 through 25, almost half of the building. He was looking for rents of up to $ 650 per square meter. The company had hoped to move 1,500 employees, most of whom had worked at the company's former headquarters (195 Broadway), but the impending divestiture meant it would only move 600 employees to 550 Madison, while the rest were moved elsewhere. building in Basking Ridge (New Jersey) .
Spirit of Communication , a 20,000-pound bronze statue that had stood for 64 years atop the Former AT&T Headquarters at 195 Broadway, was dismantled and moved to the lobby of 550 Madison in 1983. The 24-foot statue tall, modeled in 1916 by sculptor Evelyn Beatrice Longman , she holds rays of electricity grasped in one hand pointing toward the sky and has coils of wire coiled around her torso. After AT&T moved out of the building, the statue was moved to a location near its Basking Ridge operations headquarters in 1992
In 1984, the company indicated that it would not build the museum it had originally agreed to build in exchange for buildability. This change was due to the court-ordered divestiture of Bell's regional service companies and the reduced presence it was expected to have in the building. Faced with strong opposition from the city, AT&T agreed to build a three-story exhibition space in an annex located behind the building, next to the pedestrian walkway.
West or "rear" side
AT&T had been granted a $42 million tax break, under the condition that the company maintain its headquarters at 550 Madison Avenue and not rent the space to other tenants. Having decreased in size substantially, AT&T signed a 20-year lease of 550 Madison with Sony and moved its headquarters to 32 Sixth Avenue , between Walker and Lispenard Streets. Sony was granted the option to purchase the building. AT&T returned $14.5 million to the City of New York to compensate it for tax deductions made as part of a renegotiation in 1987.
Building
In 1992, Sony submitted plans requiring approval from the New York Planning Department , which would use part of the atrium space , which had been used to obtain approval for additional floors, and convert them into commercial space. In exchange, the company would expand the glass-enclosed pedestrian walkway by adding planters and public seating. Sony hoped that the 8,000 square feet of public space could be converted into stores that would be rented at rates that The New York TimesHe estimated that they could be close to $2,000 per square meter. The company noted that the space was underused as a public facility because it was "dark, windy and noisy" and that its conversion to commercial space would provide "business continuity" on the rest of Madison Avenue.
In 1996, Sony had merged most of the operations of its Sony Music Entertainment division into 550 Madison Avenue, of which The New York Timesobserved that "such an elaborate, high-profile space is appropriate and necessary." That same year, Sony acquired additional space across the street at 555 Madison Avenue, a 450,000-square-foot building built in the 1960s whose lobby, windows, bathrooms and other common spaces were renovated when Sony leased it. Sony signed a lease until 2013 for an additional 8,000 m² on the sixth to ninth floors of the building, on top of an initial lease of 8,000 m² on the second to fifth floors that it had signed in 1995. The lease on these floors cost an average of 370 dollars per square meter in that year. Sony connected the two buildings using fiber optic cables that ran beneath Madison Avenue and installed microwave communications equipment on the roof of 555. Sony did these actions,711 Fifth Avenue and the 43rd floor of the Solow Building ), as part of an effort to reduce occupancy costs by bringing their offices closer together.
Cash-strapped AT&T sold the building to Sony in 2002 for $ 236 million ($3,390 per square meter).
On February 27, 2010, ice from North America's third snowstorm fell from an upper floor, shattering the glass roof of the atrium and injuring more than 15 people inside who were at a Purim celebration . .
Sony Wonder Technology Lab
The Sony Wonder Technology Lab is a hands-on multimedia tour of the world of media, located in a four-story annex accessible through a glass-roofed atrium that connects 55th and 56th Streets in the middle of the block. Open from Tuesday to Saturday, Sony promotes the free exhibition as a "museum of technology and entertainment for all ages." In 2008, the third and fourth floors of the museum were renovated. Sony Wonder replaced Infoquest Center, a permanent telecommunications exhibit built by AT&T.!"
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"Philip Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect. He is recognized for his Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut for modern architecture and 550 Madison Avenue & 190 South LaSalle Street in Manhattan, New York for postmodern architecture. In 1978 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects and in 1979 he was awarded the first Pritzker Prize for architecture."
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