One Chase Manhattan Plaza, Redefining Downtown and the Modern Skyscraper

In midtown, of course, Lever House had introduced green glass as an alternative to masonry on Park Avenue followed a few years later by the bronze-colored Seagram Building.

Chase’s modern momentum did not fade away as in 1961 plans were announced for another slab tower nearby at 140 Broadway by Erwin Wolfson that would have masonry sunshades but when Harry B. Helmsley took over the project he had it enlarged to 52-stories and redesigned by Gordon Bunshaft with a very sleek black curtain wall that contrasted brilliantly not only with the silvery Chase tower but also with Noguchi’s bright red cube sculpture in its plaza.

Architectural Forum magazine, devoted 30-page article to the tower and wrote that “Chase is a milestone, perhaps even an end point in the best development of the American skyscraper, which for decades has been the summit meeting place of business, engineering and art. In many big office buildings, the result speaks of a clear victory for one of these, or at best an uneasy truce. Chase reconciles and balances the three, and each in its most advanced form; it works, and looks, like a big handsomely designed business machine, its complex anatomy of systems multiples the efforts of its users… art has not been spooned on for appearances, but carefully integrated it into every detail down to the paperweights on the desks.” The Architectural Forum article did note, however, that “retaining the bank’s former headquarters building [a 38-story tower at 18 Pine Street]…had prevented the creation of a truly generous plaza” and asked “Is a lone, flat-topped slab of this size really a graceful and fitting addition to a romantically pinnacled sky line?”

On February 10, 2009, it was designated an official New York City landmark. Its designation report provided the following commentary:

"Faced with simmering panels of natural color and black-enamel aluminum, H-shaped mullions and glass, One Chase Manhattan Plaza is among the largest and most important 20th century skyscrapers in New York City. The project was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill...with J. Walter Severinghaus as partner in charge, Gordon Bunshaft overseeing the development of the design and Jacques E. Guilton as lead designer....David Rockefeller played a leading role in the project; as executive vice president he convinced Chase to remain downtown and hire SOM, resulting in an 813-foot-tall slab-like tower that dramatically altered the skyline and character of the financial district....One Chase Manhattan Plaza signaled a new start for this historic area. Not only did it stand out sharply from its older masonry neighbors, but the planning of the site, incorporating an irregularly shaped 2 1/2 acre plaza, established a welcome break from the narrow, twisting streets that characterize much of the neighborhood.

“Construction started in 1957 and was mostly completed by 1961. The south plaza and basement levels were dedicated in 1964, incorporated a 'Sunken Garden' by the sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Resting 16 feet below the plaza, this serene work of art is visible from above and through curved glass windows that separate it from the bank's main branch located on the concourse level.....As hoped, One Chase Manhattan Plaza did lay a significant groundwork for a downtown renaissance in the 1960s, leading to construction to a succession of corporate towers immediately west, from the Marine Midland Bank Building in 1967, to the World Financial Center complex in 1985-88."

The structure "was one of the financial district's first buildings," the report continued, "to boldly reflect the aesthetic and planning strategies of 20th Century European modernism, often called the International Style."