CBS Building

History and architecture

The CBS Building was built in 1961-64 as the headquarters for one of America's three historic radio and television networks. The last completed work designed by architect Eero Saarinen, it is one of New York's premier post-World-War-II-era skyscrapers and one of the country's great works of modern architecture. Saarinen's goal was to build what he called "the simplest skyscraper in New York." At the height of the popularity of the steel-cage office building, Saarinen designed the CBS Building as New York's first postwar reinforced concrete skyscraper.

The 38-story tower is sheathed in dark gray granite, with gray-tinted vision glass - earning the building the sobriquet "Black Rock." When seen directly, the tower's bays appear open, with relatively narrow granite piers alternating with relatively narrow window bays of single sheets of plate glass, but when viewed from afar and necessarily at an angle, the V-shape of the piers effectively eclipses the view of the glass, creating the effect of a gray granite slab.

The austerity of the tower derives in part from its dark gray color and the almost complete absence of interruptions in the facades. Saarinen placed the main entrances on West 52nd and West 53rd Streets, rather than on Sixth Avenue, creating the effect of an absolutely pure granite slab on Sixth Avenue. Ground floor commercial uses are set behind the gray glass, making them barely visible from outside. Eero Saarinen died suddenly in 1961, leaving to his office the task of supervising the construction of the CBS Building. Kevin Roche and John Dinkeioo, among others, oversaw the completion of the project from 1961 to 1964. The building remains the corporate headquarters of CBS.