LOBBY NYC / FORD FOUNDATION (1968)

The Ford Foundation is located at 320 East 43rd Street. Unlike the Seagram building, the Ford Foundation blends in with its surroundings. The use of the light brown granite matches the buildings placed next to it. Complementing the granite is a clear frame structure of weathering steel, giving the building patina.  The weathering steel frame holding the windows is creating with four pronounced pillars of granite going all the way from top to the bottom are creating a curtain wall. Both sides of the building are angled towards the entrance and the two bottom floors get shorter and shorter narrowing into the lobby.  

Getting closer to the entrance you will see that doors and window frames are covered with gold, and you see a green color behind the glass. When entering the lobby, the first thing you see is a big indoor garden in different stories. The sun comes through windows as high as the 12th floor and lights up the garden. The steel structures in the atrium create a magnificent play with light. The office spaces surround the garden in an L-shape and the garden seems to be dedicated to personal inside the building, giving them a garden in the middle of the city. All window frames in the same weathering steel, making a huge contrast to the green garden.