AT&T
Headquarters
(Now the Sony Building)
1958
New York, NY
Philip Johnson
1979 Pritzker Prize Laureate
Photo from the Pritzker Prize Page - Reprinted with permission
Philip Johnson's design for the AT&T Headquarters (now the Sony Building) in New York City was the most controversial of his career. This otherwise sleek skyscraper, built in the International Style, was adorned with a baroque pediment that was scornfully described as the "Chippendale" top. Today, the AT&T Headquarters is often cited as a masterpiece of postmodernism.
Most of the criticism of Johnson's work rose from his incorporation of romantic details such as pediments into otherwise sleek skyscrapers. Philip Johnson's unconventional designs combined diverse influences such as the neoclassicism of Karl Friedrich Schinkel and the modernism of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
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