33 Thomas Street
- Architect
- John Carl Warnecke
- Style
- Brutalism
- City
- Manhattan, NY
33 Thomas Street, also known as the AT&T Long Lines Building, is a 550-foot windowless skyscraper in Tribeca designed by John Carl Warnecke in the Brutalist style. Built between 1969 and 1974, it was constructed as a telephone exchange for AT&T's Long Lines Department, housing solid-state switching equipment including three major 4ESS switches for long-distance calling.
the building
Windowless massing. The tower has no windows at all, a Brutalist expression of its function as a fortified switching facility rather than an office building. The site previously held cast-iron buildings whose facades were removed for preservation before demolition.
the style
The Brutalist style here was suited to the building's purpose: a windowless concrete mass built for tight security around sensitive switching equipment.
More on Brutalismthe architect
John Carl Warnecke designed 33 Thomas Street as a telephone exchange building, completed in 1974.
significance
The building has been reported to serve as a National Security Agency mass surveillance facility.
nearby
- 56 Leonard Street
- Kitchen, Montross & Wilcox Store
- 359 Broadway Building
- 361 Broadway Building
- 287 Broadway Building
- New York Life Insurance Company Building