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(Redirected from Pan Am Building)
The 'MetLife Building', originally called the 'Pan Am Building', is a skyscraper located at 200 Park Avenue in New York City.
The Pan Am Building was the largest commercial office building in the world when it opened on March 7 1963. It is an important part of the Manhattan skyline and one of the fifty tallest buildings in the United States.
Pan American World Airways was the building's owner for many years. Its logotype was depicted on a sign that was placed on the north and south faces and its globe logo was depicted on a sign that was placed on the east and west faces. In 1981, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company purchased the building from Pan Am. When Pan Am ceased operations in 1991, MetLife replaced the Pan Am logos on the north and south each faces with its own, renaming the building the MetLife Building. This name is also informally held by the MetLife Tower.
In 2005, MetLife sold the building for $1.72 billion, the highest recorded price for an office building in the United States at the time. The buyer was a joint venture of Tishman Speyer Properties, the New York City Employees' Retirement System, and the New York City Teachers' Retirement System.
The building was also known for its helicopter service to John F. Kennedy International Airport, a seven-minute flight that left from the rooftop helipad. This service was offered only between 1965 and 1968 and for a few months in 1977 and was ended after a spectacular accident that killed five people. On May 16, 1977, a broken landing gear caused a parked Sikorsky S-61L with rotors still turning to tip over, killing four people who were outside the helicopter waiting to board, including exploitation filmmaker Michael Findlay. Part of a rotor blade sailed over the side of the building and killed a pedestrian on the corner of Madison and 43rd Street. Two other people were seriously injured.
Another notorious moment in the building's history was Eli M. Black's spectacular suicide on February 3, 1975. The CEO of United Brands Company (now Chiquita Brands International) used his briefcase to shatter an external window and then jumped out of the forty-four story window to his death on Park Avenue. This incident was an inspiration for a similar suicide in the 1994 film, ''The Hudsucker Proxy.''
The building's most famous "residents" are a pair of Peregrine Falcons nicknamed ''Lois and Clark'' who nest there and dine on the pigeons.
Designed by Emery Roth & Sons with the assistance of Walter Gropius and Pietro Belluschi, the Pan Am Building is an example of a Brutalist or International style skyscraper. It is purely commercial in design with large floors, simple massing, and an absence of luxurious detailing inside or out. Although disliked by architecture critics and many New Yorkers, it has been popular with tenants, not least because of its location next to Grand Central Terminal.
The MetLife Building is arguably the most hated skyscraper in the city. In 1987, the lifestyle periodical ''New York'' revealed in a poll that MetLife—then Pan Am—was the building that New Yorkers would most like to see demolished. Perhaps contributing to the hatred of the building is the fact that it is so visible. Situated behind Grand Central Terminal outside of the grid, the building, which would have otherwise been tucked away into the city, is left totally exposed and contrasted with the other buildings around it, most notably the New York Central Building, which is now called the Helmsley Building. Today the building is one of the most recognizable skyscrapers in the City.
While condemned by some, many of the most influential architects of the twentieth century have commended the MetLife Building since its completion. With a shape similar to that of Pirelli Tower in Milan, MetLife is subtle while unique in its lozenge shape, in effect referencing its monumental position. Set apart from many of its contemporaries, MetLife has a heavy pre-cast facade that might have appealed to those looking for an historicist design. The importance of this design and the stress placed on its subtleties may be clearer after a close look at both Gropius's other tall building projects, such as the Chicago Tribune Tower competition.
★ Height: 808 ft (246.6 m)
★ Floors: 58 (above ground)
★ Floor space: 2.8 million ft² (260,000 m²)
In addition to being the official headquarters of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, the MetLife Building houses a number of other major firms, including the headquarters of Dreyfus Corporation, the largest office of Greenberg Traurig, and the New York offices of Barclays Bank, CB Richard Ellis, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Hunton & Williams, and Winston & Strawn.
As a prominent New York landmark, the Metlife Building has been featured in numerous movies, including "Coogan's Bluff" in which Clint Eastwood's character arrives in city by helicopter, the American version of ''Godzilla'' as its middle body is destroyed, after Godzilla storms Grand Central Station, in the main titles of the HBO presentation of ''Angels in America'', at the end of ''Antz'', and is shown in and is an important part of ''Catch Me if You Can'' in which the main character poses as a Pan Am Pilot.
Yves Montand sang the song "Come Back to Me" on top of the Pan Am Building in the 1970 Barbara Streisand musical ''On a Clear Day You Can See Forever''.
The movie ''Hackers'' also features the building, and in a strange continuity error, features the Pan Am logo in the helicopter shots and the MetLife logo in the ground shots.
The 1973 James Bond film ''Live and Let Die'' features the MetLife Building in the opening shot following the gun barrel logo as the camera zooms into the United Nations Headquarters where a British agent ambassador is assassinated during a General Assembly simulation.
Several games also feature the MetLife Building, such as ''Freedom Fighters'' for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
In the 2005 movie ''Rent'' a quick shot shows the building with its current MetLife sign (MetLife's pre-1998 logo), but since the movie takes place during a 365 day period between 1989 and 1990 this is an error: it should have read Pan Am.
In the 2006 movie Superman Returns it can be seen in several of the shots showing the Metropolis skyline.
Joni Mitchell has the memorable line "A helicopter lands on the Pan-Am roof like a dragonfly on a tomb" in her song "Harry's House" on the ''The Hissing of Summer Lawns'' album.
In the first ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' trailer released on 29 March 2007, the MetLife building was visible in a parody called the "GetaLife" building.
In it can be seen when Human Torch see Silver Surfer breaks the windows in the Chrysler Building.
★ Buildings and architecture of New York City
★ Tallest buildings in New York City
★ Official page
★ The Midtown Book
★ ''The Pan Am Building and the Shattering of the Modernist Dream'' by Meredith L. Clausen (MIT Press blurb)
★ NTSB accident report of the helicopter accident in 1977
The 'MetLife Building', originally called the 'Pan Am Building', is a skyscraper located at 200 Park Avenue in New York City.
| Contents |
| History |
| Architecture |
| Statistics |
| Tenants |
| Pop cultural references |
| See also |
| External links |
History
The Pan Am Building was the largest commercial office building in the world when it opened on March 7 1963. It is an important part of the Manhattan skyline and one of the fifty tallest buildings in the United States.
Pan American World Airways was the building's owner for many years. Its logotype was depicted on a sign that was placed on the north and south faces and its globe logo was depicted on a sign that was placed on the east and west faces. In 1981, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company purchased the building from Pan Am. When Pan Am ceased operations in 1991, MetLife replaced the Pan Am logos on the north and south each faces with its own, renaming the building the MetLife Building. This name is also informally held by the MetLife Tower.
In 2005, MetLife sold the building for $1.72 billion, the highest recorded price for an office building in the United States at the time. The buyer was a joint venture of Tishman Speyer Properties, the New York City Employees' Retirement System, and the New York City Teachers' Retirement System.
The building was also known for its helicopter service to John F. Kennedy International Airport, a seven-minute flight that left from the rooftop helipad. This service was offered only between 1965 and 1968 and for a few months in 1977 and was ended after a spectacular accident that killed five people. On May 16, 1977, a broken landing gear caused a parked Sikorsky S-61L with rotors still turning to tip over, killing four people who were outside the helicopter waiting to board, including exploitation filmmaker Michael Findlay. Part of a rotor blade sailed over the side of the building and killed a pedestrian on the corner of Madison and 43rd Street. Two other people were seriously injured.
Another notorious moment in the building's history was Eli M. Black's spectacular suicide on February 3, 1975. The CEO of United Brands Company (now Chiquita Brands International) used his briefcase to shatter an external window and then jumped out of the forty-four story window to his death on Park Avenue. This incident was an inspiration for a similar suicide in the 1994 film, ''The Hudsucker Proxy.''
The building's most famous "residents" are a pair of Peregrine Falcons nicknamed ''Lois and Clark'' who nest there and dine on the pigeons.
Architecture
Building profile, looking east up 44th Street.
Designed by Emery Roth & Sons with the assistance of Walter Gropius and Pietro Belluschi, the Pan Am Building is an example of a Brutalist or International style skyscraper. It is purely commercial in design with large floors, simple massing, and an absence of luxurious detailing inside or out. Although disliked by architecture critics and many New Yorkers, it has been popular with tenants, not least because of its location next to Grand Central Terminal.
The MetLife Building is arguably the most hated skyscraper in the city. In 1987, the lifestyle periodical ''New York'' revealed in a poll that MetLife—then Pan Am—was the building that New Yorkers would most like to see demolished. Perhaps contributing to the hatred of the building is the fact that it is so visible. Situated behind Grand Central Terminal outside of the grid, the building, which would have otherwise been tucked away into the city, is left totally exposed and contrasted with the other buildings around it, most notably the New York Central Building, which is now called the Helmsley Building. Today the building is one of the most recognizable skyscrapers in the City.
While condemned by some, many of the most influential architects of the twentieth century have commended the MetLife Building since its completion. With a shape similar to that of Pirelli Tower in Milan, MetLife is subtle while unique in its lozenge shape, in effect referencing its monumental position. Set apart from many of its contemporaries, MetLife has a heavy pre-cast facade that might have appealed to those looking for an historicist design. The importance of this design and the stress placed on its subtleties may be clearer after a close look at both Gropius's other tall building projects, such as the Chicago Tribune Tower competition.
Statistics
MetLife Building as seen from the Empire State Building, 2005
★ Height: 808 ft (246.6 m)
★ Floors: 58 (above ground)
★ Floor space: 2.8 million ft² (260,000 m²)
Tenants
In addition to being the official headquarters of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, the MetLife Building houses a number of other major firms, including the headquarters of Dreyfus Corporation, the largest office of Greenberg Traurig, and the New York offices of Barclays Bank, CB Richard Ellis, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Hunton & Williams, and Winston & Strawn.
Pop cultural references
As a prominent New York landmark, the Metlife Building has been featured in numerous movies, including "Coogan's Bluff" in which Clint Eastwood's character arrives in city by helicopter, the American version of ''Godzilla'' as its middle body is destroyed, after Godzilla storms Grand Central Station, in the main titles of the HBO presentation of ''Angels in America'', at the end of ''Antz'', and is shown in and is an important part of ''Catch Me if You Can'' in which the main character poses as a Pan Am Pilot.
Yves Montand sang the song "Come Back to Me" on top of the Pan Am Building in the 1970 Barbara Streisand musical ''On a Clear Day You Can See Forever''.
The movie ''Hackers'' also features the building, and in a strange continuity error, features the Pan Am logo in the helicopter shots and the MetLife logo in the ground shots.
The 1973 James Bond film ''Live and Let Die'' features the MetLife Building in the opening shot following the gun barrel logo as the camera zooms into the United Nations Headquarters where a British agent ambassador is assassinated during a General Assembly simulation.
Several games also feature the MetLife Building, such as ''Freedom Fighters'' for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
In the 2005 movie ''Rent'' a quick shot shows the building with its current MetLife sign (MetLife's pre-1998 logo), but since the movie takes place during a 365 day period between 1989 and 1990 this is an error: it should have read Pan Am.
In the 2006 movie Superman Returns it can be seen in several of the shots showing the Metropolis skyline.
Joni Mitchell has the memorable line "A helicopter lands on the Pan-Am roof like a dragonfly on a tomb" in her song "Harry's House" on the ''The Hissing of Summer Lawns'' album.
In the first ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' trailer released on 29 March 2007, the MetLife building was visible in a parody called the "GetaLife" building.
In it can be seen when Human Torch see Silver Surfer breaks the windows in the Chrysler Building.
See also
★ Buildings and architecture of New York City
★ Tallest buildings in New York City
External links
★ Official page
★ The Midtown Book
★ ''The Pan Am Building and the Shattering of the Modernist Dream'' by Meredith L. Clausen (MIT Press blurb)
★ NTSB accident report of the helicopter accident in 1977
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