The America, 300 East 85th Street: Review and Ratings

at The Southeast corner of Second Avenue View Full Building Profile

Review of 300 East 85th Street by Carter Horsley

The developer of The America was Ian Bruce Eichner, who also developed CitySpire.There are 200 cooperative apartments in this 36-story tower that was completed in 1987.

Description

In its rendering, this promised to be an extremely attractive tower as architect Helmut Jahn of Murphy/Jahn had divided the tower visually into four sections and his decorative façade patterning had a nice checkerboard effect. Furthermore, his rooftop watertank enclosure carried on the same patterning motif and the effect was to make a conventionally bulky tower quite interesting. Well, renderings are flattering and the built tower is quite disappointing in comparison. Unlike many architects who strive to achieve a specific style, Jahn, the Chicago-based architect who is renowned for his State of Illinois Center building in Chicago with its great cylindrical atrium, loves to experiment. One of his fascinations is a building's palette. It took him a while to get invited to do projects here but in the 1980's he became quite active. His most famous project was the world's tallest building for Donald Trump at his huge side overlooking the Hudson River west of Lincoln Center. That attractive design, however, was abandoned and Trump changed architects.Jahn's other finished buildings here include 425 Lexington Avenue and International Plaza at 59th Street and Lexington Avenue, Park Avenue Tower on East 55th Street and CitySpire at 150 West 56th Street. 425 Lexington is noted for its chamfered and cantilevered roofline and screened curtain wall. International Plaza is noted for its double-height, curved glass retail spaces and tiered helmet top complete with rooftop ornament. Park Avenue Tower is noted for its slanting façades and rounded courses. CitySpire is noted for its domed roof in deference to that of the City Center for the Performing Arts whose air rights it used. All of his projects here employ unusual color schemes that tend to be a bit dark and murky. They work fairly well at his other projects here, but at The America the effect of the beige and dark gray colors is drab and almost dirty.