Western Union Building

History and architecture

The Western Union Building (1928-30), designed by Ralph Walker, one of New York's foremost architects of the period, is a recognized achievement in modernistic skyscraper design. The building is characteristic of a group of communications buildings designed by Walker in the late 1920s, primarily for the telephone companies, in which he developed a distinctive design approach related to the contemporary Art Deco style. The design of the Western Union Building was influenced by the work of the German and Dutch Expressionist architects, and drew upon Walker's well-defined design theory emphasizing harmony and unity.

The integrated aesthetic of form, material, and ornamentation incorporates such elements as patterned brickwork, dramatic entrances, faceted wall planes and trim, and complex and asymmetrical massing. The innovative, cliff-like form of the Western Union Building departs from the shape of the site and includes a low screen that conforms to the Hudson Street lot line. The exterior brick walls are carefully articulated in a textured, curtain-like manner, parting as proscenium-like openings at the ground story.

The building was among the first to have a graded brick color scheme, from dark at the bottom to light at the upper stories, which was "a pleasing exaggeration of the natural play of light." Commissioned by Newcomb Carlton, president of the Western Union Telegraph Company, the new headquarters building allowed the consolidation of all operations in one location, "the largest telegraph building in the world"; the modernistic design helped to reestablish a corporate identity for Western Union after its dominance by the American Telephone & Telegraph Company.

The Western Union Building remains in use as a communications center, housing both equipment and offices.