History and architecture
The ten-story Goelet Building at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 49th Street, built in 1930-32, was designed by Victor L. S. Hafner in the Art Deco style but modified to exhibit the supporting skeletal frame devised by the engineering firm of E. H. Faile. The spare horizontality of the lower stories' glazed curtain walls suggest that, stylistically, this building is a transitional monument between the Art Deco and the International Style.
The client, Robert Goelet, acting for the Estate of Ogden Goelet, desired a building that would be comparable in architectural merit and prestige to the family mansion it replaced and which would also complement the use -- street level shops and office space above -- and modern appearance of the buildings of the adjacent Rockefeller Center, then under construction.
The building's steel frame - an unusual two-story platform supporting the eight upper stories -- was dictated by the original dual-purpose character of the building. The building is faced with contrasting marbles, verde antique marble on the lower two stories and white marble with green marble detailing above, still expressive of its internal structure and function, despite changes at the base of the building.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.