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Editor’s Note: this is a response from reader N. who shares pertinent info on that windowless building in downtown Manhattan. Please read on…
33 Thomas Street, also known as the AT&T Long Lines Building is one of Manhattan’s most unusual skyscrapers – a building made for machines, not people. The building’s stepped massing, extruded volumes, and uniform rugged materiality represent hallmarks of brutalism, but instead of expressing functionality in the service of communities, institutions, or individuals it articulates the needs of the machines inside. The windowless mass occupies the block bounded by Broadway, Church, Worth and Thomas Streets, with a privately owned public plaza on its east side. A common theme for brutalist buildings, 33 Thomas’ design reflects its function – a strong, safe building with the ability to house electronic equipment while protecting it from natural and man-made threats. Machines don’t need views of the outside world and would be negatively impacted by the resulting solar gain, resulting in the elimination of windows. Soaring engaged columns/pilasters house air ducts, intake valves, and fire stairs, leaving the building’s gridded floor plates open for occupation by these machines.
AT&T LONG LINES BUILDING
March 1, 2018 Adam Thalenfeld
AT&T Long Lines Building
Date: 1974
Architect: John Carl Warnecke
Address: 33 Thomas Street
Use: Telephone exchange, server center
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