635 Madison Avenue (New York City, New York)

 office building, commercial building

240-foot, 19-story International-style office building completed in 1956. Designed by Emery Roth & Sons, it is clad in black anodized aluminum and glass. The main entrance is recessed in the north bay of the west facade, framed in black granite, with glass-and-metal sliding doors below a transom. To the south is a double-height glass storefront with glass doors near its south end, and at the far end of the west facade the ground floor has two smaller storefronts with glass doors.

The upper floors have bands of single-pane windows, 20 panes across. Between the 4th-7th floors there are glass spandrel panes instead of metal at the eight middle panes. The middle ten panes have projecting silver metal spandrels and mullions at the 9th-12th floors. Cascading setbacks begin at the ends of the facade above the 10th floor, with the middle bays also setting back above the 12th. The top floors are also clad in silver metal instead of black.

The south facade on 59th Street matches the west facade, but 18 panes across. The ground floor is black granite with more storefronts, and a recessed metal service door and loading dock at the east end. The 18th floor is lined with curved skylights along both the west and south facades, and at the east part of the roof rises a tall mechanical housing clad in silver metal-and-glass panels. The ground floor is occupied by Baccarat boutique, Molton Brown cosmetics, Moschino clothing store, and Suit Supply.