Thursday, April 30, 2009

General Electric Building, Part 2

The General Electric Building Lexington Avenue at 51st St.) was completed in 1931 and represents one of Manhattan's Art Deco gems. Given landmark status in 1985, the 51-story building served as GE's headquarters until operations moved to Fairfield, CT, in 1974. In 1993 General Electric gave the building, by then roughly two-thirds empty, to Columbia University. I'm not sure about its current status, but I do know that Columbia was partnering with several firms to redevelop and restore the building to attract new tenants. I love the Deco details, especially the clock, with its thrusting hands symbolically harnessing the power of electricity.




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2 comments:

Barbara Butler McCoy said...

These are stunning and I'll stay tuned to hear what happens with the building over time.

One Wink at a Time said...

Paint these PLEASE!