MetLife Building
Critical reception
Critical reception
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### Response to original design

[thumb\|upright\|right\|View from the south, with [Grand Central Terminal](/wiki/Grand_Central_Terminal "Grand Central Terminal") in front](/wiki/File:Grand_Central_Terminal_MetLife_Building_Park_Ave_viaduct_Summer_Streets.jpg "Grand Central Terminal MetLife Building Park Ave viaduct Summer Streets.jpg")
When the octagonal design for 200 Park Avenue was first announced in 1959, it was controversial. Architectural historian [Sibyl Moholy\-Nagy](/wiki/Sibyl_Moholy-Nagy "Sibyl Moholy-Nagy") wrote in *Progressive Architecture* magazine that the original tower plans "provided human scale and architectural personality", which were "lost" in the revision. Walter McQuade, writing for *[The Nation](/wiki/The_Nation "The Nation")*, found even the drawings for the building to be dissatisfying. Grand Central City was lambasted internationally by Italian critic [Gillo Dorfles](/wiki/Gillo_Dorfles "Gillo Dorfles") and Romanian architect Martin Pinchis. Architect [Victor Gruen](/wiki/Victor_Gruen "Victor Gruen") questioned the parking garage's necessity given the site's proximity to a major railroad terminal, while *Progressive Architecture* editor Thomas H. Creighton suggested the space would be better left as an open plaza. Critics also expressed concerns that the building would burden existing transit infrastructure. The plan also had its defenders, such as Natalie Parry, who wrote in rebuttal to Moholy\-Nagy that the plans preserved Grand Central's "star\-studded" Main Concourse, "together with the precious air space above it". Historian [Paul Zucker](/wiki/Paul_Zucker "Paul Zucker") defended the building's urbanism, and urban planner [Charles Abrams](/wiki/Charles_Abrams "Charles Abrams") and *Architectural Record* editor Emerson Goble also defended the plan as an addition to the cityscape.

Upon its completion, the Pan Am Building received largely negative feedback, in large part because of its central location. Most critics deprecated the building's bulk, which was exacerbated by the design of the facade and its horizontal alignment. Gropius said the 1916 Zoning Resolution justified the building's large size, telling television presenter [Dave Garroway](/wiki/Dave_Garroway "Dave Garroway") that "every citizen has the right to use the law as far as he can"; this only prompted further negative reviews. James T. Burns Jr. wrote in *Progressive Architecture* that the placement of the base, tower, parking garage, and Grand Central Terminal were "occasionally inexcusably jarring" and considered the lobby to be a continuation of the exterior's "monolithism". [Ada Louise Huxtable](/wiki/Ada_Louise_Huxtable "Ada Louise Huxtable") called the building "a colossal collection of minimums", with the lobby artwork being a "face\-saving gimmick". Many observers viewed the monolithic design as obstructing vistas down Park Avenue. Art historian [Vincent Scully](/wiki/Vincent_Scully "Vincent Scully"), speaking in 1961, expressed his belief that the Pan Am Building was a "fatal blow" to Park Avenue's continuity, while [Claes Oldenburg](/wiki/Claes_Oldenburg "Claes Oldenburg") mocked the building's positioning on Park Avenue with his 1965 artwork *Proposed Colossal Monument for Park Avenue, NYC: Good Humor Bar.* The building's own engineers had not expected any praise for the building, which had been developed solely for the purpose of making money.

Goble, a close friend of Gropius and Belluschi, defended the building in a 1960 *New York Times* article in which he praised the pedestrian passageways in and around the building. Goble was one of the few people speaking in favor of the Pan Am Building in its early years, and he wrote another article praising the building in 1962\. Gropius himself wrote a speech in which he praised the building but provided few specific details. This speech was published in the June 1960 version of *Architectural Record* with no modifications. Gropius had asked [Paul Zucker](/wiki/Paul_Zucker "Paul Zucker") of [the New School](/wiki/The_New_School "The New School") to write an article that responded to criticism of the building on "an objective and professional level", although there is no evidence that Zucker ended up writing such an article.

### Later commentary

The Pan Am Building was also highly criticized after its 1980s lobby renovation. Carter Wiseman compared the new decorations as being gaudy in a similar manner to performer [Liberace](/wiki/Liberace "Liberace"), except that "even Liberace would have blushed at the vulgarity". [Paul Goldberger](/wiki/Paul_Goldberger "Paul Goldberger") of *The New York Times* said that even though the previous design was "stark and unwelcoming", the new decorations created "a space that is so forced in its joy, so false and so disingenuous, that they make one yearn for some good old\-fashioned coldness". In 1987, *[New York](/wiki/New_York_%28magazine%29 "New York (magazine)")* magazine conducted a poll of "more than 100 prominent New Yorkers", asking which buildings they preferred to see demolished, and the Pan Am Building ranked at the top of that list. Architect [Robert A. M. Stern](/wiki/Robert_A._M._Stern "Robert A. M. Stern") said in 1988 that the building, a "wrong\-headed dream badly realized", warranted preservation from the [New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission](/wiki/New_York_City_Landmarks_Preservation_Commission "New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission"), although he rhetorically suggested tearing down the building when the Pan Am sign was replaced several years later.

By the beginning of the 21st century, some onetime critics expressed ambivalence toward the building's presence, while preservationists advocated the protection of mid\-20th century buildings such as the MetLife Building. *[ArchDaily](/wiki/ArchDaily "ArchDaily")* magazine described it in 2016 as "commendable for its robust form and excellent public spaces, as well as its excellent integration into the elevated arterial roads around it". Furthermore, the building's reputation and presence made it the setting of several films and TV shows during its history.


What was Paul Goldberger's opinion on the new decorations?