General Electric Building

General Electric Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
NYC Landmark
General Electric Building
Location	570 Lexington Ave., New York, New York
Coordinates	40°45′26″N 73°58′20″W / 40.75722°N 73.97222°W / 40.75722; -73.97222Coordinates: 40°45′26″N 73°58′20″W / 40.75722°N 73.97222°W / 40.75722; -73.97222
Area	less than one acre
Built	1931
Architect	Cross & Cross (Cross, John Walter; Cross, Eliot)
Architectural style	Art Deco
NRHP Reference #	03001515[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	January 28, 2004
Designated NYCL	July 9, 1985

The General Electric Building, also known as 570 Lexington Avenue, is a historic 50-floor, 640-foot (200 m)-tall, skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, at the southwest corner of Lexington Avenue and 51st Street).^[2] Originally known as the RCA Victor Building when designed in 1931 by John W. Cross of Cross & Cross, and sometimes known by its address to avoid confusion with the much later renaming, (1988), of the RCA Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza as the 'GE Building'.

It backs up to the low Byzantine dome of St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue and shares the same salmon brick color. But from Lexington, the building is an insistently tall 50-floor stylized Gothic tower with its own identity, a classic Art Deco visual statement of suggested power through elaborate Art Deco decoration with lightening bolts showing the power of electricity. The base contains elaborate, generous masonry, architectural figural sculpture, and on the corner above the main entrance, a conspicuous corner clock with the curvy GE logo and a pair of silver disembodied forearms. The crown of the building is a dynamic-looking burst of Gothic tracery, which is supposed to represent electricity and radio waves, and is lit from within at night.

Gallery

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  General Electric Building (detail)

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  The crown of the building with its "electric waves" design

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  Plaque at the General Electric Building

See also

• List of tallest buildings in New York City

References

Notes

Further reading

• Dirk Stichweh: New York Skyscrapers. Prestel Publishing, Munich 2009, ISBN 3-7913-4054-9

Wikimedia Commons has media related to General Electric Building (New York City).

External links

• History of the building from the City Review
• in-Arch.net: The General Electric Tower
• More photos from Emporis Buildings, a public database on architecture.
• Parts of the movie "Mr. and Mrs. Smith were filmed at 570 Lexington.

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General Electric Subsidiaries and divisions Current GE Capital GE Capital Aviation Services GE Commercial Finance GE Energy Financial Services GE Capital Rail Services (Europe) GE Technology Infrastructure GE Aviation GE Aviation Systems GE Healthcare GE Transportation GE Energy GE Digital Energy GE Jenbacher GE Measurement & Control Solutions GE Oil & Gas GE Power GE Wind Energy GE Wind (offshore) GE Home & Business Solutions GE Intelligent Platforms GE Global Research GE Ventures Former and defunct Australian Guarantee Corporation1 Canadian General Electric1 Compagnia Generale di Elettricità2 Electric Bond and Share Company2 GE Americom2 GE Aerospace2 GE Betz1 GE Capital IT Solutions2 GE Consumer & Industrial GECIS2 GE Capital Rail Services2 GE Equipment Services1 GE Industrial1 GE Infrastructure1 GEIS2 Genesis Lease2 GE Security2 Genworth Financial2 Montgomery Ward2 Synchrony Financial2 Tungsram1 Whatman1 Joint ventures and shareholdings Current CFM International (50%) Engine Alliance (50%) GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (60%) GE Honda Aero Engines (50%) Penske Truck Leasing Prolec GE (49.99%) TBS GB Former Alco-GE (1940–53) NBC (1926–30, 1986–2004) NBCUniversal, LLC (2004–13) Products and brands Aircraft engines General Comprehensive Operating System GEnie Locomotives Mazda Reciprocating engines Trivection oven Tungsram People Founders Charles A. Coffin Thomas Edison Edwin J. Houston Elihu Thomson Other James Cash, Jr. Ann Fudge Susan Hockfield Jeffrey R. Immelt Andrea Jung Rochelle Lazarus Sam Nunn Roger Penske Douglas A. Warner III Jack Welch Bob Wright Places and facilities GE Building General Electric Building Nela Park Realty Plot Research Laboratory River Works Specialty Control Plant Switchgear Plant Welch Technology Centre Other Edison Engineering Development Program GE True The General Electric Concert General Electric EdgeLab General Electric Theater General Imaging Thomson-Houston Electric Company Timeline United States v. General Electric Co. 1Now integrated into other GE divisions or business groupings 2Sold or spun off Category Commons