Background
The building is known as Black Rock for the dark granite cladding. Unlike some major skyscrapers built in that section of midtown Manhattan during the 1950s and 60s, the pillars are more dominant than the glass windows between them. The building was the result of intricate planning between Eero Saarinen and CBS's then-president, Frank Stanton. The concrete structural system was developed by Mario Salvadori.
CBS moved to Black Rock from its longtime corporate headquarters, 485 Madison Avenue at 52nd Street. Prior to Black Rock’s completion, CBS moved its radio network studios—the CBS News network radio studios on the 17th floor of 485 Madison and other studios across the street in the CBS Studio Building—to the CBS Broadcast Center on 57th Street starting in 1964. The TV news studios, based mostly at the Graybar Building at Grand Central Terminal, also moved to the Broadcast Center around that period of time, starting with the CBS Evening News studio-newsroom in 1963.
Black Rock also houses the offices of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. and the New York offices of Dorsey & Whitney LLP and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
Black Rock was the longtime home of CBS's New York City flagship radio stations, WCBS (AM) and WCBS-FM, until 2000, following the merger with Viacom. At that time WCBS (AM) joined the network at the Broadcast Center, and WCBS-FM moved to One Astor Plaza.
Gastrotypographicalassemblage, a 35-foot (11 m) wide by 8½ foot tall mural designed by Lou Dorfsman decorated the cafeteria. The work (removed circa 1995) used varied typefaces of hand-milled wood type to list all of the foods offered to patrons.
Read more about this topic: CBS Building
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