Brill Building (New York City, New York)

 office building, interesting place, Art Deco (architecture), 1931_construction, commercial building

138-foot, 11-story Art-Deco office building completed in 1931. Designed by Bark & Djorup for Abraham Lefcourt, it was originally called the Alan E. Lefcourt Building, but was soon taken over and renamed by the Brill Brothers clothing store. In designing the Brill Building, Bark divided the Broadway and 49th Street facades into three distinct sections: a 3-story base, a 7-story shaft, and penthouse. These elevations are faced with mainly white brick but the base, the central window bays, and the top floor incorporate light-colored terra-cotta reliefs.

The main entrance is located at the center of the ground story. Flanked by polished black granite piers, capped with elaborate brass metal work, the entrance features three brass doors with glass panels and handles on the left, surmounted by a sign for the building in capital letters set against a black background, gridded glass windows configured like a ziggurat, and a richly-decorated niche for the bust of the developer’s son set on a pedestal. There are storefronts on either side of the Broadway entrance, and a corner entrance at the south end.

The 2nd & 3rd floors have large windows flanked by pairs of masonry piers at either end. Each pier, as well as the simple cornice that extends above the 3rd-floor windows is tinted brown, suggesting the use of a non-historic coating. The 2nd-floor windows are slightly taller than the 3rd floor. Between the floors are pink, yellow, and blue terra-cotta reliefs. Each window bay is divided into three sections, wider in the center. The northernmost window on the 2nd floor has been replaced by a tripartite ventilation grille, with horizontal metal louvers. In 2016, LED advertising boards were placed over sections of the 2nd & 3rd floors.

The 4th-11th floors are faced with white brick. There are nine pairs of windows across each floor, flanked by continuous piers. The three pairs of windows at the center of the facade are crowned by white foliate terra-cotta reliefs that incorporate a sill on top. Above the 10th floor these terra-cotta reliefs have no sill and feature concave corners. In contrast, the three pairs of side windows display no ornamentation other than small circular reliefs above the 10th floor. The top of the stepped penthouse level is trimmed with thin bands of terra-cotta relief. At center is an elaborate faceted niche, trimmed with terra-cotta, that displays a limestone bust on a projecting pedestal. To either side are small arched windows, with stone or terra-cotta sills.

The 49th-Street facade is similar at the base and upper floors, with identical white brick and terra-cotta embellishments. The west end of the ground floor incorporates a secondary entrance and service door. Above the 10th floor are small circular reliefs, as well as a raised parapet at center. Near or at the west end of the 2nd floor and all the upper floors, the windows have been replaced with metal ventilation grilles.

The south end of the west (rear) facade is visible from 49th Street. Here, due to the curved east corner of the tan brick Ambassador Theater, two rows of windows can be seen, as well as a blank brick wall that steps up toward the center of the building, and a single metal pipe on the roof. The north facade is simply treated and partly visible from Broadway and 50th Street, where the upper floors can be seen above the adjoining building. The north facade incorporates four sets of windows; the outer sets are grouped in pairs, the inner two sets, in groups of three. At the center of this facade is a projecting rectangular chimney shaft.

Originally intended as office space for bankers and brokers, the depression forced the owners to lease space to many music publishers beginning with the "big band" era. In 1932, Southern Music Publishing Company moved here, starting the building's role as a center of music publishing that would last until 1974. A musician could find a publisher and printer, cut a demo, promote the record and cut a deal with radio promoters, all within this one building. The creative culture of the independent music companies in the Brill Building and the nearby 1650 Broadway came to define the influential "Brill Building Sound" and the style of popular songwriting and recording created by its writers and producers.

Buddy Holly met his soon-to-be wife, Maria Elena Santiago, at Southern Music, where she was a secretary. Almost a third of the songs played on Your Hit Parade from 1935 until 1958 were published by Brill Building companies. Songwriters like Carole King, Burt Bacharach, Neil Diamond and Neil Sedaka got their starts here. Big Bands like the Dorsey Brothers, Guy Lombardo, Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway were also headquartered here.

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