30 Rockefeller Plaza: Art Deco skyscraper at the Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan, New York City
30 Rockefeller Plaza is a skyscraper at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, New York City, United States.
It was known in the past as the RCA Building, the GE Building, and the Comcast Building. 30 Rockefeller Plaza is 850 feet (260 m) tall and has 69 floors. It was built in 1933 and was one of the tallest buildings in the world when it opened.
| 30 Rockefeller Plaza | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | New York City |
| Country | United States |
| Completed | 1933 |
| Height | |
| Antenna spire | 850 feet (260 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 69 |
30 Rockefeller Center (GE Building / Comcast Building) | |
U.S. Historic district Contributing property | |
| Area | 22 acres (8.8 ha) |
| Architect | Raymond Hood |
| Architectural style | Modern, Art Deco |
| Part of | Rockefeller Center (ID87002591) |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 23, 1987 |
| Designated CP | December 23, 1987 |
History
Raymond Hood, the architect, made the plans for Rockefeller Center. He talked with the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to make a large place for mass media. RCA owned the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) companies. The first plan for 30 Rockefeller Plaza was made in March 1930. By May 1930, RCA, NBC, and RKO said they would move to 30 Rockefeller Center. The last plan for the building was done in March 1931.
Workers started making the building in March 1932. 30 Rockefeller Plaza opened in May 1933. It was the first building at Rockefeller Center to be opened. It was one of the tallest buildings in the world.
Companies
NBC was one of the first companies in 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It had 35 television studios in the building. People could go on tours of the NBC Studios every day. The biggest studio was Studio 8H, which could have 1,400 people inside it.
The Standard Oil Company moved into 30 Rockefeller Plaza in 1934. The New York Museum of Science and Industry moved to the bottom floors because other companies did not want to move there. Westinghouse Electric Corporation was on the 14th through 17th floors. The Rockefeller family also moved into a lot of the floors in the building. The family had an office called Room 5600 on the 56th floor. Room 5600 became bigger after World War II. The family went to another building in 2014.
People wanted to use the roof of the building for entertainment. The 67th, 69th, and 70th floors have places where people can look at the city from high above. The highest one is the "Top of the Rock" Observation deck. These places were opened in July 1933 and many people went there. A restaurant called the Rainbow Room is on the 65th floor. The Rainbow Room opened on October 3, 1934.
Building design
30 Rockefeller Plaza is 872 feet (266 m) tall. 30 Rockefeller Plaza was built to be only one structure that takes up all of the space in the block between Sixth Avenue and Rockefeller Plaza.
30 Rockefeller Plaza's architecture has a limestone facade and Gothic-like four-leafed spandrels. This affected the design of the rest of the complex (a group of related buildings).
Photo gallery
Related pages
References
Books
- Adams, Janet (1985). "Rockefeller Center Designation Report" (PDF). City of New York; New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
- Balfour, Alan (1978). Rockefeller Center: Architecture as Theater. McGraw-Hill, Inc. ISBN 978-0070034808.
- Krinsky, Carol H. (1978). Rockefeller Center. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-502404-3.
- Okrent, Daniel (2003). Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0142001776. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
- Roussel, Christine (May 17, 2006). The Art of Rockefeller Center. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-3930-6082-9.
Other websites
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