International Building (New York City, New York)

 office building, skyscraper, Art Deco (architecture), 1935_construction

512-foot, 41-story Art-Deco office building completed in 1935. Designed by Reinhard & Hofmeister, it is the second-tallest building in the original Rockefeller Center complex. Following the theme established with the British Empire Building and La Maison Française to the south, 630 Fifth Avenue was named the International Building, and the southern of its two low-rise wings on Fifth Avenue became known as the Palazzo d’Italia. The internationalist scheme was both an effort to attract tenants with connections to the honored countries, and celebrate the internationalism that John D. Rockefeller, Jr., believed was the key to world peace. The northern wing was to have been the Deustches Haus, with German tenants, following the pattern of international theme seen in the three other low-rises of the complex fronting Fifth Avenue. However, as plans progressed for the Palazzo d'Italia, negotiations for the north wing failed rapidly in 1933. Hitler has assumed power just months prior and his increasingly aggressive policies had all but terminated negotiations. After this collapse, occupancy of the northern block was briefly contemplated by the Soviet Union before ultimate tenancy by various foreign clients and the wing's christening as the "International Building North".

The main tower block is recessed behind the two wings, creating a small courtyard that features the famed, bronze Atlas statue; the statue, by Lee Lawrie, weighs 14,000 pounds. The main entrance (with three revolving doors), behind the statue, is screened by four flat limestone piers, the central pair of which is freestanding. Each door is surmounted by a tall window (each with four vertically mounted panes of plate-glass). Above the monumental entrance, the tower rises to its full 41-story height, its upper mechanical housing floors being left open in the east, south- and north-east. The tower has three narrow setbacks on its north and south sides as well as a single-story base that rises from the roof of the Palazzo d'Italia and International Building North. The latter base rises two additional stories at the west of the tower.

The West 51st Street facade is articulated in four major masses that rise toward the west. At the east is the 6-story side elevation of the International Building North (set back above the 5th floor), followed in the west by a 7-story, and finally a 9-story mass that fronts on Rockefeller Plaza. The 41-story east-west slab with its three major setbacks rises above. The 51st Street facade runs continuously along the lot line, pierced by two ornamented and deeply recessed building entrances, five display windows, and four storefronts.The retail space is separated from the upper-floor office space by a cornice. The northwest corner of the ground floor is cut back to form a unique angled corner; a planted terrace is visible above.

Unlike the 51st Street facade, the International Building's south elevation steps back from the lot line in three major masses. In the east is the side elevation of the 6-story Palazzo d'Italia (pierced by the deeply recessed entrance, three display windows, and five storefronts). A cornice divides the retail space from the upper-floor offices. It wraps around the western end of the Palazzo where the building narrows and rises to its second major mass. This 7-story portion of the building has a large freestanding pier at left (west), creating a deeply recessed vestibule that leads to a second building entrance. West of the 7-story mass, the building narrows and rises again to a 9-story mass that fronts on Rockefeller Plaza. In the center of this third section is an entrance topped by a large pierced limestone screen; it is flanked on either side by a display window. Depicted on the screen is the history of ancient and modern internationalism, told in 15 polychromed hieroglyphics. The mini-plaza created by the narrowed building mass is bordered on the south by two large rectangular planters.

On the (rear) Rockefeller Plaza facade of the International Building the 41-story slab rises sheer from the pavement. It is flanked on the right (south) by two recessed staggered setbacks, each with a display window on the ground floor. Display windows also appear in the three recessed setbacks on the left (north) of the slab.

On both the Palazzo d'Italia and the International Building North, the facades rise five floors before narrowing with lateral setbacks; gardens occupy the eastern half of the 6th-floor roofs. The courtyard-side elevations are incorporated into the International Building's main east facade. The Fifth Avenue facade of the Palazzo d'Italia is symmetrically arranged around a double-height portal. The Palazzo is the only one of the four international units to have had its cartouche removed. Its main entrance is also unique in its door arrangement. In place of the standard triple-doors, it has two bronze-framed glass doors on either side of a bronze relief. A larger bronze panel is installed above the entrance, which is framed by a broad limestone enframement that projects slightly from the facade. The granite base is higher in the northeast corner. On either side of the base is a bronze-framed storefront. Above the 6th floor windows are four limestone bas-reliefs, and the facade has three projecting flagpoles, two at the 3rd floor, and the center one at the 5th. In 1935 a 10-foot x 16-foot multi-pane Corning glass panel was intalled above the Palazzo's main entrance, but was replaced in 1965 by Giacomo Manzu's bronze high relief where "ITALIA" is embossed above wheat stalks entwined in a wishbone pattern with grapevines. The four limestone bas-reliefs above the 6th-floor windows, by Leo Lentelli, are recessed slightly behind alternating piers, with the panels representing the four major periods in Italian history. Reading from left to right are the Roman Empire, the Renaissance, Italian Independence of 1870, and finally, the Fascist Regime.

The International Building North mostly matches the Palazzo d'Italia to the south, with the main difference occurring in the sculptural embellishments. Attilio Piccirilli's cartouche above the main entrance depicts a powerful male at left, seated on his haunches, his right arm resting on the brown mallet of industry. To his right is a similarly posed female resting her left arm atop a brown gear. The figures are separated by a brown and grey winged caduceus. Gilded foliage lies behind. The same sculptor executed the great glass panel above the main entrance (just below the cartouche). It symbolically depicts the new vision and leadership of youth in world affairs with a young man running abreast a horse-drawn chariot as the sun rises behind.

For years, the International Building was home to steamship lines, travel agencies, foreign consulates - all of them benefiting from the presence of the U.S. Passport Office that occupied the building’s second floor. One group of original tenants remains: the 18th floor, piped for gas lines, remains the province of dentists. The ground floor is occupied by Equinox gym, Banana Republic, LEGO Store Fifth Avenue, Bill's Bar & Burger, and Limani restaurant.