J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Interim World Headquarters (New York City, New York)

 office building, bank, skyscraper, 2001_construction, postmodern (architecture)

757-foot, 47-story postmodern office building completed in 2001. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, it was originally called the Bear Stearns Building as it served as headquarters for the firm before JP Morgan Chase acquired the firm and this building in 2008. Currently it serves as an office for JP Morgan's Investment Banking Division.

The building is designed as an octagonal-shaped tower rising from an 8-story square podium base with a chamfered northeast corner. Clad in light-grey granite panels and green-tinted glass, the tower culminates with a dramatic 70-foot glass crown that is brightly illuminated at night.

The ground floor is glass and silver metal, with black granite piers and water table. Most of the south facade's ground floor is faced in black granite, and has a large loading dock at the center, with a roll-down metal gate. The building entrance at the northeast corner has a green glass canopy.

Above the ground floor the facades present a detailed grid of both vertical and horizontal silver mullions. Above the base, there is a slight setback at the 9th floor. The 10th-11th floors have glass-and-metal curtain walls at the corners and begin the shift from the rectilinear base to the octagonal tower, with all four corners setting back to angled facets above the 11th floor. The eight sides of the tower continue the granite cladding from the base, with the corners joining the facades sheathed in glass. There is another small setback at the the angled facets above the 16th floor, and above the flat facets above the 17th floor.

The angled facets end two floors below the flat sides, which extend up to cradle the large, octagonal, glass crown of the building. The ground floor is occupied by Charles Tyrwhitt menswear, and an AT&T wireless store on the west end. It is serving as the interim world headquarters for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. until their new building is built at 270 Park Avenue.