Comcast Building (30 Rockefeller Plaza)

USA / New Jersey / West New York / Rockefeller Plaza, 30
 office building, skyscraper, Art Deco (architecture), historic landmark, television studio, 1933_construction, Modern (architecture)
850-foot, 70-story Art-Deco office building completed in 1933. Designed by Raymond Hood, it is the centerpiece and tallest building of the Rockefeller Center complex. It was originally called the RCA Building, until 1988 when the name was changed to the GE Building. In 2015, it became the Comcast Building; each name change was accompanied by a changing of the large, neon red lettering at the top of the tower. The building address is 30 Rockefeller Plaza, which has led to the nickname "30 Rock". The tallest structure in Rockefeller Center, the building is the 28th tallest in New York City and the 60th tallest in the United States. 30 Rockefeller Plaza houses the headquarters and New York studios of television network NBC.

The building occupies nearly the entire block, and looks dramatically different when viewing its narrow and wide facades. From 5th Avenue it is an elegant, narrow shaft while looking down 6th Avenue it forms an enormous slab. The vertical and Gothic-inspired detailing of the austere Art-Deco facade is integrated with a slim, functionally expressive form. A dramatically recessed entrance portal is set at the base of the east elevation, with a 3-story central bay created by heavy piers rising up into the tower. The portal forms a framework for the enormous sculpture "Wisdom", flanked on the lower left and right by "Sound" and "Light". The six revolving doors and two sets of plain doors, all framed in bronze, are framed by projecting zig-zag metal jambs.The north and south elevations of the building are identical to each other. Each comprises a 2-story base of storefronts and windows, above which rise setbacks.

The lobby's rich materials and reduced black and beige ornamental scheme are enhanced by dramatic lighting. Granite covers the base to a height of four feet, and the shaft has a refined facade of Indiana limestone with aluminum spandrel panels. An escalator - a striking feature for its time - provides access to the shopping concourse below.

The building was awarded landmark status in 1985.The "Top of the Rock" rooftop observation deck closed in May 1986, and reopened on November 1, 2005. Its elevators have glass ceilings facing into illuminated shafts.The ground floor is occupied by the entrance to the studios of The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon at the center, Blue Ribbon Sushi, and Leeuwen ice cream along Sixth Avenue. On 49th Street is Studio Optix, Allen Edmons, shoes, Pineider leather goods, Moleskine stationery, Tumi luggage, La Maison du Chocolat, the observation deck entrance, and FAO Schwarz toy store. On 50th Street is J. Crew apparel, another entrance to the observation deck and The Rainbow Room restaurant, Godiva chocolatier, Louis Martin Jewelers, Erwin Pearl jewelry, and PiQ Rockefeller Gift Shop.

usmodernist.org/AF/AF-1932-01-06.pdf
archive.org/details/architectureaiaj69amer/page/n200/mo...

In this building

  1. WNBC
  2. NBC News
  3. Top of the Rock
  4. The NBC Experience
  5. NBC
  6. PIQ
  7. Rainbow Room
 Add place (company, shop, etc.) to this building
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_Rockefeller_Plaza
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   40°45'32"N   73°58'46"W

Comments

  • best views of new york and Empire State Building. Top of The Rock is a must for all travelers to NYC
  • really awsome building
  • Design to represent a cruise ship sailing through the concrete sea.
  • SNL>> saturday night live
This article was last modified 2 years ago