10 Rockefeller Plaza (Eastern Airlines Building) (New York City, New York)

 office building, high-rise, Art Deco (architecture), 1940_construction, commercial building

224-foot, 17-story Art-Deco office building completed in 1940. Designed by The Associated Architects, it was originally called Holland House, then the Eastern Air Lines Building. The building is essentially a smaller and more refined version of the Time-Life Building (now 1 Rockefeller Plaza) , which preceded it by two years. The main slab is flanked on the north and south by 4-story wings, set back above double-height plate-glass storefront and exhibition space. The 200-foot-long expanse, with its rounded moderne corner at the west end (mirrored by an addition to the Simon & Schuster Building next door depends for effect on the contrast between the glass wings and the severe limestone slab above.

The glass entrance on Rockefeller Plaza reveals the lobby mural within. At the western end of the building is a 6-story, 800-car parking garage, occupying the midblock area which was less desirable for office space. It has three levels below ground, one at grade, and two above.

The main building slab runs east-west above two tiers of shops, the parking garage, and offices. From Rockefeller Plaza the tiers symmetrically flank the slab with the upper level of 4-story office tiers extending westward to the Simon and Schuster Building on 48th Street and the length of the slab on 49th Street. The walls of the slab and the office tiers are articulated with flat limestone piers of uniform width that terminate in a cabled cornice.

Between and slightly recessed behind the piers are vertical ridges. Below the setback office tiers, accented by roof gardens, are 3-story tiers with shops and showrooms extending out to the lot line. The shop tiers features walls of glass framed in bronze, which wrap around the Rockefeller Plaza corners and terminate in the streamlined curve at the western end on 49th Street. 2-story polished chrome columns can be seen behind the 49th Street wall. At the western end of this tier on 48th Street, opaque rather than clear glass indicated the presence of the parking garage. There are modern brass-and-glass doors in a recessed entrance on 48th Street, and a modern doorway has been added to the storefront east of the parking garage. On 48th Street is a large opening for the garage, indicated by large round columns, painted brown, and a fixed projecting canopy.

The ground floor is occupied by part of the Christie's Auction House, the Today Show Studios, Dough donut shop, and Nintendo New York.