Continental Center (New York City, New York)

 office building, skyscraper, 1983_construction, postmodern (architecture)

554-foot, 41-story postmodern office building completed in 1983. Designed by Swanke Hayden Connell for Continental Corporation, is currently occupied by major financial and legal companies. The octagonal plan of the building and the sheer glass facade contrast with the neighboring high-rises: the stepped limestone of 120 Wall Street and the black and white grid on the slab of 88 Pine Street. The building's are unequal in size; there are four major surfaces at a 45-degree angle to the street grid, and four narrower surfaces that run parallel to the streets. However, at the lowest floors, the angled surfaces slant out toward to sidewalks while reducing in width, and the parallel surfaces flare out broadly from the sides, reversing the ratio of wide-to-narrow facades. This results in each corner coming to a near-point, where there are entrances framed in gold-colored metal. The full curtain wall is composed of blue-green glass. At the top several floors there are small notches running up the eight corners. A large, setback mechanical penthouse is located on the roof.

The interior makes extensive use of exposed concrete surfaces on the columns and walls. In addition to office space the building includes a major cafeteria, an auditorium, and lecture halls for use by the occupants.

180maiden.com/
www.nytimes.com/1979/01/25/archives/continental-corp-pl...