Aeolian Building (New York City, New York)

 office building, clothes store / boutique, high-rise, 1927_construction, Renaissance Revival (architecture)

224-foot, 15-story Renaissance-revival office building completed in 1927. Designed by Warren & Wetmore and constructed by James Baird Construction Co., it was originally known as the Aeolian Building for its main tenant, the Aeolian company, which manufactured pianos. The building's image changed somewhat in 1930 when a bright red door was installed in the building's store to a design by Mott B. Schmidt, heralding the flagship salon for Elizabeth Arden, for whom the building was renamed in 1938. The Elizabeth Arden Company and its salon remained in the building until 2012, and actually owned it from 1944-1969.

The building set a new retail leasing record in 1970 when Gucci agreed to pay $100 a square foot a year for the corner store. Larry Silverstein, who acquired the property that year, was concerned that the building's architectural integrity might be compromised by two distinctly different retail frontages and was able to convince Elizabeth Arden to help share the costs in the redesign then planned by Dr. Gucci. Gucci subsequently expanded into the corner storefront on the avenue directly across 54th Street and then gave up his store in the Aeolian Building, which was then occupied by a branch of the boutique women's clothing store chain Zara.

The 14-story (plus penthouse and tower) building is L-shaped in plan. The midsection is clad in Indiana limestone with Italian marble spandrel panels, while the upper portion (above the 13th floor) is clad in a buff-colored terra-cotta. The building rises nine floors before setting back on the 10th, 12th, and 14th floors. The facades are articulated vertically by continuous pilasters from the 3rd through the 9th or 11th floors. The corner of the building is rounded on the lower nine floors, while the upper portions feature angles and concave curves. A tower with a pyramidal roof and lantern rises in front of a 2-story penthouse and mechanical floor section.

The ground floor was completely remodeled in 1970, with travertine marble cladding and stainless-steel storefront, for Gucci. 2nd-floor cusped windows and bronze garlands and the modillioned limestone cornice were retained; there are three bays along the west facade on the avenue, a rounded corner bay, and six bays along 54th Street. On the avenue, the 2nd floor cornice bears the metal letters "689 FIFTH AVENUE", formerly reading "ELIZABETH ARDEN". The ground floor on 54th Street has, from west to east, a corner entrance, two wide double-bay show-windows, a recessed service door, and an deeply-inset building entrance with glass doors, below a thin metal canopy.

The base of each of the building’s pilasters at the 3rd floor is ornamented by a carved disk plaque (half of them are surmounted by urns). The 3rd-floor windows have balusters and are surmounted by entablatures. Three flagpoles have been installed on the 3rd-story Fifth Avenue facade. Windows of the easternmost bay of the 54th Street facade have metal louvers inserted. Air-conditioning louvers have been inserted below the 9th-floor windows. The 9th-floor 54th Street facade is ornamented with carved plaques, and the 9th floor is capped by a decorative limestone balustrade surmounted by large urns at the corners; there is a decorative central balcony on each facade.

The 10th & 11th floors are set back at the corners of the building, with concave-curved and angled walls that connect to the central section of each facade, which extends above the lower facade plane. Each central section, flanked by scroll brackets, has 2-story round-arched windows (single on Fifth Avenue and triple on 54th Street) with multi-pane sash, surmounted by keystones and carved garlands. Air-conditioning louvers have been inserted below the 11th-floor windows. The 11th floor is capped by a modillioned cornice and parapet. The set-back 12th & 13th floors have an angled bay on 54th Street and are articulated with 3-story round-arches, set within which are windows with molded surrounds. The 13th floor is capped by a balustrade, and the set-back terra-cotta-clad 14th floor is capped by a pierced parapet.

The terra-cotta-clad tower is ornamented with round-arches (set within which are windows surmounted by oculi) surmounted by keystones and garlands. Chamfered corners are surmounted by decorative shells. The pyramidal roof and open lantern are covered with copper, originally embellished with gold leaf decoration.

The ground floor is now occupied by Carlton Fine Arts, and Canada Goose Arctic Program apparel.

home2.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/aeolian.pd...
archive.org/details/the-architecture-of-warren-wetmore/...
hdl.handle.net/2027/pst.000065812389?urlappend=%3Bseq=1...