1 Rockefeller Plaza

March 2022 Building in Manhattan, New York 40.758 -73.979 type:landmark_region:US-NY title thumb|upright|1 Rockefeller Plaza 1 Rockefeller Plaza (formerly the Time & Life Building and the General Dynamics Building) is a 36-story building located on the east side of Rockefeller Plaza between 48th and 49th Streets in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Completed in 1937, the tower is part of Rockefeller Center and, like the rest of the complex, was built in the Art Deco style. Design left 1 The 36-story tower at 1 Rockefeller Plaza, on the east side of the plaza between 48th and 49th Streets,Adams 1985 197 is the original Time & Life Building.Krinsky 1978 93326 The tower contains a 10th-floor setback on the 48th Street side,Adams 1985 197 while its 49th Street side is actually set back from the street, rising as a slab. The Rockefeller Plaza side is almost a slab except for the 10th-story setback, and the eastern side connects to 600 Fifth Avenue via a seven-story annex.Adams 1985 202 Its north-south axis aligns with the since-modified alignment of the International Building.Adams 1985 197Weisman Winston 1951-03-01 Who Designed Rockefeller Center? https://online.ucpress.edu/jsah/article/10/1/11/55332/Who-Designed-Rockefeller-Center Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians en 10 1 17 10.2307/987500 0037-9808 subscription One Rockefeller's artwork was designed for a generic tenant, with a general life theme.Adams 1985 198 Artwork Above the 49th Street entrance is Lee Lawrie's bas-relief "Progress". The sculpture depicts progress through an overlapping cast of characters: Pegasus, representing inspiration, Columbia, a traditional female symbol of the United States, and an eagle.Adams 1985 198Roussel 2006 137https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/09/09/94422868.pdf Three Sculptures Shown; Groups Cut in Building's Stone at Rockefeller Plaza September 9, 1937 The New York Times November 21, 2017Progress https://www.rockefellercenter.com/art/progress/ 2025-11-19 www.rockefellercenter.com en August 4, 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20250804195955/https://www.rockefellercenter.com/art/progress/ live In addition, Attilio Piccirilli's "Joy of Life" limestone relief, depicts a hedonistic Dionysus enjoying wine.Adams 1985 199Roussel 2006 138https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.177707 Attilio Piccirilli: life of an American sculptor Lombardo J.V. Pitman Publishing Corporation 1944 November 21, 2017261–262 The entrance portal is decorated with C. Paul Jennewein's limestone carvings of industry and agriculture.Adams 1985 199Roussel 2006 133 Carl Milles created a three-part wood-and-silver sculpture near the top of the lobby's western wall. It is called "Människan och Naturen" or "Man and Nature" and was created from 1938 to 1941. The right-hand carving depicts a wooden faun pushing nature away, while the left-side carving consists of a wooden nymph in the foliage, and the central carving depicts a wooden man on horseback listening to a metal Mexican nightingale that every hour on the hour opens its beak and sings a recording of a Mexican Nightingale from the Bronx Zoo.Roussel 2006 134 History Rockefeller Center occupies three blocks in Midtown Manhattan bounded by Fifth and Sixth Avenues to the east and west, between 48th Street to the south and 51st Street to the north.Stewart J. Gotham Rising: New York in the 1930s I. B. Tauris, Limited 2016 978-1-78453-529-2 https://books.google.com/books?id=xxG3DQAAQBAJ&pg=PR18 November 23, 2017 xviii By 1936, most of the complex had been completed. Rockefeller Center Inc. only needed to develop three empty plots in the middle of the complex's northern and southern blocks.Krinsky 1978 93 The site of 1 Rockefeller Plaza, located on the southern block, was being used as a parking lot,Okrent 2003 338 and at the time, it was the city's largest parking facility.Adams 1985 219 In 1936, Time Inc. expressed interest in moving out of their Chrysler Building offices into a larger headquarters, having just launched their Life magazine.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/05/02/98130355.pdf Business Moving Marked by Speed May 2, 1938 The New York Times November 7, 2017 en-US 0362-4331 February 1, 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210201163526/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/05/02/98130355.pdf live Rockefeller Center's managers persuaded Time to move to a proposed skyscraper on part of the southern empty lot, located on Rockefeller Plaza between 48th and 49th Streets, by promising the company seven floors and a penthouse; space to expand; a 20-year lease; and the right to name the building after themselves.Krinsky 1978 93 Excavation for a new building at 1 Rockefeller Plaza, numbered 9 Rockefeller Plaza at the time, started in June 1936. The original plans stipulated a 32-story building, but the height was increased to 36 stories with the use of setbacks on the 48th Street elevation.Adams 1985 197 The number of setbacks was minimized, which increased rentable space within the building, and the original blueprints for the plot were retained for the Time & Life Building.Balfour 1978 54 The steelwork for that building was laid on September 25, 1936, and was complete by November 28, forty-three working days later.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/11/28/93534140.pdf Steel Work Finished on Rockefeller Unit; Frame for 36-Story Building Is Completed in 43 Days, a Record for Speed. November 28, 1936 The New York Times November 14, 2017 The Time & Life Building, as it was known,The "Time-Life Building" appellation would later apply to 1271 Avenue of the Americas, also located in Rockefeller Center,Krinsky 1978 112 which opened in 1959.Time's Tenants Begin Moving in; Finishing Touches Are Put on 48-Story Structure, Rising 587 Feet The New York Times December 22, 1959 https://www.nytimes.com/1959/12/22/archives/times-tenants-begin-moving-in-finishing-touches-are-put-on-48story.html December 4, 2017 December 5, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20171205194601/http://www.nytimes.com/1959/12/22/archives/times-tenants-begin-moving-in-finishing-touches-are-put-on-48story.html live Afterward, the original Time & Life Building became known as 1 Rockefeller Plaza.Krinsky 1978 112 opened on April 1, 1937,Krinsky 1978 93Rockefeller Unit Ready for Opening The New York Times March 31, 1937 https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/03/31/94347746.pdf November 27, 2017 March 20, 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220320174639/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/03/31/94347746.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false live along with the final block of Rockefeller Plaza abutting the building, between 48th and 49th Streets. Time moved into the building in 1938. Time Inc's lease stipulated that nothing else could be constructed within 200 ft m of the Time & Life Building's uppermost floors.Okrent 2003 398 The original tenants included the Girl Scouts of the USA and Museum of Modern Art,Adams 1985 197 but Time Inc. itself did not move into the building for another year after its completion. In 1960, the building was renamed for General Dynamics after Time Inc. had moved into 1271 Avenue of the Americas, the new Time-Life Building located three blocks away.https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1960/01/12/105174509.pdf Radio City Lease Takes in 6 Floors; General Dynamics Is Lessee and Gives Name to Old Time-Life Building January 12, 1960 The New York Times November 21, 2017 The tower was renamed for its street address after General Dynamics moved to St. Louis in 1971.https://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/11/archives/general-dynamics-moving-headquarters-out-of-city.html General Dynamics Moving Headquarters Out of City Shipler David K. February 11, 1971 The New York Times November 21, 2017 December 1, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20171201131430/http://www.nytimes.com/1971/02/11/archives/general-dynamics-moving-headquarters-out-of-city.html live References Notes lower-alpha Citations Sources http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/1985RockefellerCenter.pdf Rockefeller Center Designation Report 1985 City of New York; New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission Adams Janet December 15, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20171107113311/http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/1985RockefellerCenter.pdf November 7, 2017 Balfour Alan Rockefeller Center: Architecture as Theater https://archive.org/details/rockefellercente0000balf registration McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1978 978-0-07-003480-8 Krinsky Carol H. Carol Herselle Krinsky Rockefeller Center Oxford University Press 1978 978-0-19-502404-3 https://books.google.com/books?id=7xlDAQAAIAAJ Okrent Daniel Daniel Okrent Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center Penguin Books 2003 978-0-14-200177-6 Christine Roussel The Art of Rockefeller Center https://archive.org/details/guidetoartofr00chri registration New York W.W. Norton & Company May 17, 2006 978-0-3930-6082-9 External links Official site: Rockefeller Center Category:Rockefeller Center Category:Art Deco architecture in Manhattan Category:Art Deco skyscrapers Category:1937 establishments in New York City Category:1930s architecture in the United States Category:Office buildings completed in 1937