h o u s e o f gla s s
variation over the whole facade. The darker bands of the spandrels give horizontal emphasis, while the gleam of the vertical metal framing, sometimes reinforced by the columns behind, provides a delicate counterpoise. The effect is of alternating bands of dark-green and light-green glass, and, as is true of all glass buildings, this surface looks far darker than it would if an opaque covering, such as white brick, had been used. Paradoxically, a whole city of such buildings, so open to light, would be somber, since a transparent glass wall is mostly light-absorbing, not light-reflecting. When the framing of Lever House was put up, it was protected by a coating of brilliant chromeyellow paint, and though the cost of maintaining this brilliance might have been prohibitive, that chrome yellow, playing against the green, would have given the building a gaiety it lacks. Standing by itself, reflecting the nearby buildings in its mirror surface, Lever House presents a startling contrast to the page 35
old-fashioned buildings of Park Avenue. But if its planning innovations prove sound, it may become just one unit in a repeating pattern of buildings and open spaces. The uniformity and the severity of the exterior glass-and-metal envelope do not characterize the interior of the building, for in its decoration this severity has been richly humanized. This decor was designed and executed by Raymond Loewy Associates. Just as a sensible farmer designs his cow stalls around his cow, the fundamental unit around which Lever House’s hundred and thirty
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thousand square feet of floor space was designed was the desk. The desks in the working quarters are of adjustable height and have rounded corners, to reduce the number of nylon snags. To offset the bluish light from the exterior, a grayish beige was chosen as the basic color for desks and floors. (Even the elevator boys are dressed in dark beige.) But against that background a great variety of colors has been introduced. Each floor has its own color scheme, from brisk yellows and delicate blues to a combination—on the floor devoted to the firm’s cosmetics—of boudoir pink and eyeshadow lavender. I don’t know any other building in the city in which so much color has been used with such skill and charm over such a large area. Both our school architects and our equally timid hospital architects have something to learn from this.
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