(Redirected from
Pan Am Building)
The MetLife Building, formerly the Pan Am Building, is located at 200 Park Avenue in New York City.
The Pan Am Building was the largest commercial office building in the world when it opened on 7 March 1963. It is an important part of the Manhattan skyline and one of the fifty tallest buildings in the USA.
Designed by Emery Roth & Sons with the assistance of Walter Gropius and Pietro Belluschi, the Pan Am Building is an example of a Brutalist or International style skyscraper. It is purely commercial in design with large floors, simple massing, and an absence of luxurious detailing inside or out. Although disliked by architecture critics and many New Yorkers, it has been popular with tenants, not least because of its location next to Grand Central Terminal.
The building was also known for its helicopter service to JFK International Airport, a seven-minute flight that left from the rooftop helipad. This service was offered only between 1965 and 1968 and for a few months in 1977, but was ended after a spectacular crash that killed five.
Pan American World Airways was the building's owner for many years, and their logo was prominently visible at the top of four faces of the building. When PanAm ceased operations in 1991, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, which had offices in the building, replaced the PanAm logos with its own, renaming the building the MetLife Building.
Culture
The Metlife Building is featured in Godzilla whose middle body is destroyed by the american Godzilla after Godzilla stormed Grand Central Station. The Metlife Building is also featured in the main titles of Angels in America starring Al Pacino. The Metlife Building is also featured in the end of Antz, which is in the middle, not near the Chrysler Building. Check out movies or video games that have the Metlife Building. Freedom Fighters
for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox also includes the Chrysler Building and the Metlife Building. The Metlife Building is featured in the 1999 Motion Picture Aftershock: Earthquake in New York starring Tom Skerritt.
Statistics
- Height: 246 m (808 ft)
- Floors: 59
- Floor space: 2.8 million ft² (260,000 m²)
See also
External links
