330 West 42nd Street
- Architect
- Raymond Hood
- Year
- 1931
- Style
- International Style
- City
- Manhattan, NY
330 West 42nd Street, formerly the McGraw-Hill Building, is a 485-foot, 33-story skyscraper in Hell's Kitchen designed by Raymond Hood and J. André Fouilhoux and built from 1930 to 1931 as the headquarters of the McGraw-Hill Companies. Its mix of International Style, Art Deco, and Art Moderne made it an early American example of International Style design, predating the style's wider adoption in the country.
the building
Blue-green terracotta facade. The exterior is clad in blue-green terracotta ceramic tile panels alternating with green metal-framed windows, a strongly horizontal facade intended to blend with the sky under changing atmospheric conditions.
Zoning-driven setbacks. The building's massing includes numerous setbacks facing 41st and 42nd Streets, included to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution, which produced varying floor widths on the upper stories.
Entrance and lobby color. The entrance and original lobby were decorated in light blue and dark green panels, carrying the facade's color scheme into the interior.
the style
The building's horizontal emphasis, achieved through banded terracotta and glass, was controversial at completion precisely because it broke from the verticality associated with Art Deco towers of the period, marking it as an early International Style statement.
More on International Stylethe architect
Raymond Hood, working with J. André Fouilhoux, designed 330 West 42nd Street; Hood also designed the Daily News Building in the same era.
significance
330 West 42nd Street is a New York City Landmark, a National Historic Landmark, and is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the New York State Register of Historic Places.
nearby
- New York Times Building
- Times Square Hotel
- The Times Square Building
- New Amsterdam Theater
- Film Center Building
- Music Box Theater