For the better part of a year, HDC has been at the forefront of advocacy on behalf of the architectural and material integrity of 60 Wall Street, Roche-Dinkeloo’s 1985-89 Postmodern office tower in Lower Manhattan. We have not only called on the LPC to designate 60 Wall as both an Individual and Interior Landmark, but also we have testified before the Commission in order to safeguard the Harmonious Relationship that exists between 60 Wall and its neighbor at 55 Wall Street, an 1842 Greek Revival style exchange building designed by Isaiah Rogers, with a 1907 addition by McKim, Mead and White.
Most recently, HDC weighed in on KPF’s current proposal to alter the facade of 60 Wall. In September of 2022 we sent a formal letter to the LPC supporting the advocacy organization Docomomo’s call for interior and exterior designation for the building.
Find our testimony and read our letter below:
HDC@LPC Testimony 1/31/23
HDC is very pleased to see the changes made to this application, which now preserves the harmonious relationship between 55 and 60 Wall Street. We feel the proposal has been vastly improved, and we support these changes, with the exception of the downgrade in materials from bronze to aluminum on the proposed glass wall trim. We believe the material integrity of 60 Wall Street, which stands out as one of the finest examples of postmodern architecture in New York, should be maintained.
Given the building’s prominence within postmodern architecture, HDC has been very vocal in our support for designating 60 Wall Street. We find the proposed changes to be appropriate for a building worthy of landmark designation, and we continue to urge the commission to move swiftly ahead with calendaring 60 Wall Street for consideration as an interior and exterior landmark.
HDC@LPC Testimony 6/28/22
Historic Districts Council does not find the proposed alterations to the façade of 60 Wall Street to be in keeping with the harmonious relationship to 55 Wall Street. As called out in the original landmarks report, LPC-840785, CR 85-004, the Commission found a harmonious relationship specifically calling out among other things the height, rhythm and massing of the first floor colonnade. We do not find that the current proposal meets those standards in relation to 55 Wall.
The new columns are articulated as thin, vertical piers. The base loses its rhythm and massing and becomes instead too abstracted to related to 55 Wall. We do not agree with the applicant’s assertion that the design is a “Basic form of the colonnade…is not a duplicate of [55 Wall]” but “contemporary,” “sensitive response.” To HDC it seems to bear little connection with 55 Wall, but rather evokes a standard, contemporary corporate design as can be seen at any number of large, corporate skyscrapers across the city.
The existing exterior columns at the base and the exterior details up to the fifth floor would all be largely erased with the proposed design changes, eliminating the very important harmonious connection, which includes a strong visual connection of the columns, at multiple scales, between both structures.
The changes at the base of 60 Wall now remove the overall consistency of the building, making it look like it is two buildings. Therefore it loses the harmonious relationship not just with 55 Wall but with itself as a cohesive, architectural design.
A small note on the visibility of the landmark at 55. The applicant claims that the new glass entrance to the POPS will provide more visibility of the landmark. But in numerous renderings they include hanging greenery that would block views of 55 Wall, making this unlikely.
Finally, in addition to our comments on the harmonious relationship, we believe this building is a deserving candidate for exterior and interior designation. It is a very significant example of Post Modern design in New York and is widely seen as one of the best examples of the period. As such, we strongly discourage the Commissioners from allowing any modifications which would compromise the building’s architectural integrity. We urge the LPC staff to actively consider the designation of this site in the interim.
HDC letter to LPC in support of Interior and Individual Landmark Status for 60 Wall St. – 9/19/22