1251 Avenue of the Americas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids 1251 Avenue of the Americas |
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The base of 1251 Avenue of the Americas
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| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Type | Office |
| Architectural style | New Formalism |
| Location | 1251 Avenue of the Americas, New York City, New York |
| Coordinates | 40°45′36″N 73°58′53″W / 40.76000°N 73.98139°W |
| Construction started | 1965 |
| Completed | 1968 |
| Opening | 1971 |
| Owner | Mitsui Fudosan |
| Height | |
| Roof | 750 feet (230 m) |
| Top floor | 53 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 54 |
| Floor area | 2,101,115 sq ft (195,200 m2) |
| Lifts/elevators | 36 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Wallace Harrison |
| Structural engineer | Edwards & Hjorth |
| Main contractor | George A. Fuller Co. |
1251 Avenue of the Americas, also known as the Exxon Building, is a very tall building called a skyscraper. You can find it on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City. This building is owned by a company called Mitsui Fudosan.
The building looks like a simple, tall box with no extra decorations. It's built in a style called International Style. Its outside walls have stripes of glass and light-colored stone called limestone. The glass stripes are made of windows and solid panels (called spandrels) that look like continuous glass. Special machines slide down the building to clean these glass areas. At the bottom, there's a seven-story section that wraps around part of the building. There's also a cool outdoor area with a large pool and fountains. In this plaza, you can see a bronze statue named Out to Lunch by John Seward Johnson II.
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Building History and Design
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1251 Avenue of the Americas was built as part of a big expansion of Rockefeller Center in the 1960s and 1970s. This expansion included three new buildings, which were nicknamed the "XYZ Buildings."
The XYZ Buildings
The plans for these buildings were first drawn in 1963 by Wallace Harrison, a famous architect for the Rockefeller family. The letters "X," "Y," and "Z" were used to show how tall each building would be.
- The "X" Building is 1251 Avenue of the Americas. It's the tallest of the three, standing 750 feet (229 meters) high with 54 floors. It was the first one finished in 1971.
- The "Y" Building is 1221 Avenue of the Americas. It was the second tower completed in 1973. It's 674 feet tall and has 51 stories.
- The "Z" Building is 1211 Avenue of the Americas. It's the shortest and newest of the three, with 45 stories and a height of 592 feet.
1251 Avenue of the Americas is the second-tallest building in all of Rockefeller Center. Only 30 Rockefeller Plaza is taller.
A Hidden Giant
Even though 1251 Avenue of the Americas is one of the tallest buildings in the United States, it's hard to see from far away. This is because it's surrounded by many other very tall buildings in New York City. So, even though it's as tall as the tallest buildings in cities like Boston or Minneapolis, it doesn't stand out much in the New York skyline.
Past Owners and Green Efforts
In 1989, the company Exxon moved its main offices from New York City to Texas. Exxon had sold the building, which was its former headquarters, to Mitsui Real Estate in 1986. Exxon said they moved because the costs of having offices in New York were too high.
In May 2013, the building received a special award called "silver certification" from the U.S. Green Building Council. This means the building meets high standards for being environmentally friendly and energy efficient, following the LEED program.
Art Inside the Building
Inside 1251 Avenue of the Americas, in the main hall (atrium), you can see a special tapestry. A tapestry is a thick fabric with pictures woven into it. This tapestry is a copy of one that the famous artist Pablo Picasso created for a ballet called Mercure. The original tapestry is in a museum in Paris, France. The copy in the building was made just for this spot, as a plaque underneath it explains.
See also
In Spanish: Exxon Building para niños
