Twins, NYC & Pgh (U.S. Steel Tower and 1 Liberty Plaza)

prospekt · #1 Posted **Apr 11, 2010, 7:48 PM**

I suppose you might call these "twins separated at birth".

Although both are by different architects, they were commissioned and built by U.S. Steel around the same time (1970 for the Pittsburgh tower, 1973 for New York). They both share a similar exterior corten steel structure as well.

The U.S. Steel Tower in Pittsburgh takes precedence with a height of 841ft (256m) and 2.3 million square feet (214,000 square meters) of floor space.

(wiki-File

ittsburgh-pennsylvania-usx-tower.jpg)

1 Liberty Plaza has a height of 743ft (226m) and 2.2 million square feet (204,000 square meters) of floor space.

(wiki-File:WSTM-CornFedChicks0076.JPG)

prospekt · #2 Posted **Apr 11, 2010, 7:51 PM**

While the Pittsburgh tower is much more elegant, these two share visceral DNA.

Dac150 · #3 Posted **Apr 11, 2010, 9:02 PM**

Two of my favorite buildings; both built to showcase the products their past occupant makes.

Cirrus · #4 Posted **Apr 12, 2010, 4:11 PM**

The Pittsburgh building has some charms. The New York building is utterly forgettable.

Steely Dan · #5 Posted **Apr 12, 2010, 4:26 PM**

two excellent towers, though a better corten analogue for 1 liberty plaza might be chicago's daley center. it's not associated with US steel corporation, but the large oversized spandrel beams and rectangular plan make them more similar to my eye than the triangular US steel tower in pittsburgh.

chicago's daley center:

source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanafi...59512/sizes/l/

Jonboy1983 · #6 Posted **Apr 12, 2010, 10:19 PM**

I wish I had taken pictures from inside the US Steel Building when my mom used to work there. She used to work up on the 55th floor of that building! I loved going into work every now and then to just check out the panoramic views of "dahntahn"

Interesting thread. The US Steel Building is more elegant while One Liberty Place New York just blends in with the other buildings. Being that I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, I guess I am biased...

SkyscrapersOfNewYork · #7 Posted **Apr 14, 2010, 12:57 AM**

i love one liberty plaza it has a certain beauty,its like a tank definately one my favorite buildings in Lower Manhattan

mthq · #8 Posted **Apr 14, 2010, 3:10 AM**

One Liberty is a nice bold building, but I still like the building that formerly sat in its place.

DBR96A · #9 Posted **Apr 14, 2010, 3:34 AM**

I always thought that Chicago had a pair of U.S. Steel Towers -- one on steroids, and the other on crack and steroids.

volguus zildrohar · #10 Posted **Apr 14, 2010, 4:01 AM**

Both buildings are striking. I remember how "heavy looking" One Liberty Plaza was the first time I saw it. However I was never a fan of USX in photos and didn't really think much of it until I saw it up close. I dig it.

vandelay · #11 Posted **Apr 14, 2010, 8:50 PM**

One Liberty is a piece of garbage compared to what was there before, the Singer Building:

Dac150 · #12 Posted **Apr 14, 2010, 8:55 PM**

^^^ Surely a beautiful building; I’ve never seen it from that angle, and the level of detail is very elegant. However, as far as boxes go, One Liberty Plaza is certainly on the better end when it comes to appearance.

prospekt · #13 Posted **Apr 16, 2010, 5:00 PM**

I've never cared for the Singer, not that I ever saw it in person. But if something had to take its place 1 Liberty does the job.

There's something quite tactile about a corten building which much be seen and touched in the flesh- rubbed in fact. It's not smooth but rather like iron and that gives it oh so much appeal.

The Daley Center is more like the Seagram Tower. Is there a corten tower in Chicago Steely?

Steely Dan · #14 Posted **Apr 16, 2010, 5:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by prospekt

The Daley Center is more like the Seagram Tower.

no, the seagram building is a mies van der rohe work, and with its vertical steel I-beam window fenestration detailing, it is far more similar to his chicago works like IBM plaza, federal center, and illinois center than it is to the daley center.

the daley center is clad with cor-ten and, as i said before, its large oversized spandrel beams make it a pretty good analogue for 1 liberty in NYC, though i do prefer the daley center's relative lightness over the heavy appearance of 1 liberty plaza.

Quote:

Originally Posted by prospekt

Is there a corten tower in Chicago Steely?

yes, there are a couple. these are the first two i can think of off the top of my head. there are probably others i'm forgetting.

the daley center
time-life building

prospekt · #15 Posted **Apr 16, 2010, 5:25 PM**

Quote:

the daley center is clad with cor-ten

thanks Steely, I had no idea. You're the Modernest with the Bestest

so you know what I'm feeling when I rub my hand on one of these monsters.

prospekt · #16 Posted **Apr 16, 2010, 5:45 PM**

Quote:

though i do prefer the daley center's relative lightness over the heavy appearance of 1 liberty plaza.

I feel you. For me 1 Liberty will always be associated with 9/11, so the heaviness of the spandrels works and has become iconic in my mind- someone said it above- like a tank. Structurally it is no stronger than any of the buildings in the area but psychologically it most certainly is. You get my drift. I associate it with 33 Liberty.

Steely Dan · #17 Posted **Apr 16, 2010, 5:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by prospekt

so you know what I'm feeling when I rub my hand on one of these monsters.

hell yeah, cor-ten is the shit.

i'm gonna start a new thread about cor-ten towers to hopefully get more input from everyone.

prospekt · #18 Posted **Apr 16, 2010, 5:52 PM**

I say go for it!
My grandfather worked in the Bethlehem Mills in Buffalo during the war, I have his Milgauss watch (anti-magnetic) so I've got steel in my blood.

Amanita · #19 Posted **Apr 16, 2010, 9:50 PM**

I like One Liberty- Solid, beefy, looks like it could kick ass and take names. 55 Water's another beefy one, but not so dark.

I definately plan on seeing One liberty up close when I come to NYC later this year.

T-Square · #20 Posted **Apr 20, 2011, 2:06 AM**

I was wrong. Some people apparently like One Liberty Plaza. I think it’s a disaster. Losing the voluptuous Singer wouldn't have been so bad had it been replaced by something good. New York had a delightful French Second Empire skyscraper, which was once the world’s tallest, but you sent her to the gallows and replaced her with a slab-sided Skidmore train wreck. Just like modernists will tell you there's good Mies and bad Mies, there's also good SOM and bad SOM. Daley Center truly works for me. One Liberty Plaza does not. SOM designed One Liberty Plaza and was associate architect on the Daley Center, but the design genius of the latter was Jacques Brownson of C.F. Murphy Associates who learned from Socrates himself (Mies) at IIT.

The Daley Center looks ten times better than One Liberty Plaza because, as Mies said, God is in the details. The spandrels on the Daley look powerful and structural, like actual plate girders. The ones on One Liberty are bland. The columns on the Daley are cruciform and gently taper upward. The piers on One Liberty are dull. It looks like someone at Skidmore was looking over Brownson's shoulder to steal some elements from the Daley but clearly not the best. One Liberty doesn't have the high glass menagerie lobby of the Daley, the muscularity, the perfect proportions, the Picasso, and frankly, it just doesn't look rusty enough.