Building Seagram

by Phyllis Lambert, Barry Bergdoll (Foreword)

The Seagram building rises over New York’s Park Avenue, seeming to float above the street with perfect lines of bronze and glass. Considered one of the greatest icons of twentieth-century architecture, the building was commissioned by Samuel Bronfman, founder of the Canadian distillery dynasty Seagram. Bronfman’s daughter Phyllis Lambert was twenty-seven years old when she took over the search for an architect and chose Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969), a pioneering modern master of what he termed “skin and bones” architecture. Mies, who designed the elegant, deceptively simple thirty-eight-story tower along with Philip Johnson (1906–2005), emphasized the beauty of structure and fine materials, and set the building back from the avenue, creating an urban oasis with the building’s plaza. Through her choice, Lambert established her role as a leading architectural patron and singlehandedly changed the face of American urban architecture.

Building Seagram is a comprehensive personal and scholarly history of a major building and its architectural, cultural, and urban legacies. Lambert makes use of previously unpublished personal archives, company correspondence, and photographs to tell an insider’s view of the debates, resolutions, and unknown dramas of the building’s construction, as well as its crucial role in the history of modern art and architectural culture.

Genres: Architecture, New York

306 pages, Hardcover

First published April 28, 2013

About the author

Phyllis Lambert is a licensed architect, studying under Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In 1979 she founded the Canadian Center for Architecture in Montreal. She has contributed essays to numerous books and is the subject of the 2007 documentary film Citizen Lambert: Joan of Architecture. She lives in Montreal in a historic building with two bouviers des Flandres.

Her father, Samuel Bronfman, founded the Seagram distilling empire.

Reviews

[Charles Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most important twentieth century building in the US. The most important public space in the history of Manhattan, with the exception of Central Park. The most expensive office building ever at the time (1958). Full of art. The iconic Four Seasons Restaurant. Phyllis Lambert’s book chronicles the “birth and life” of the Seagram Building and is richly illustrated with more than 200 b/w and color images. Weirdly, there are no real floor plans. Lambert's father was Samuel Bronfman, Seagram;s Distiller founder. She became a central figure in the construction of Seagram when she wrote a heartfelt letter to her father (from her art school in France) telling him NOT to concede to plans put forth by developers and money people, but to strive for art for humanity in the building. The hand written letter is fully published in the appendix. The book is engagingly written, and full of information, thanks to Lambert's personal recollections, archival research, and her position as Director of Design. She worked side by side with Mies Van Der and Phillip Johnson. This is an exemplary architectural monograph and work of art history, if we may consider architecture an "art." (We may.) The chapters on the building’s later fate and efforts toward its conservation make a convincing case for a strong and responsible stewardship for our best buildings. What a great book!

[Alice · Rating 1 out of 5]

I cannot recommend this book. We read it for an architectural book club. It was difficult to get through. It does talk about the building of the Seagram's building in NYC. Phyllis Lambert the author was also very involved in the construction and design of the building. The book also focuses on Mies van der Rohe who was noted to be the chief architect. The book goes inot a LOT of detail as to how the building was erected. It appears the Phyllis is a bit self serving. Unless you are an architect and really like lots of detail about buildings- I would skip this book.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

first class ! chapter 2 is a winner