IBM Building

590 Madison Avenue also known as the IBM Building, is a 603 feet (184 m) tall skyscraper at the corner of East 57th Street and Madison Avenue in New York City, New York. It was completed in 1983 and has 41 floors. The building cost US$10 million, has 93,592 square metres (1,007,420 sq ft) of floor area, has 24 elevators, and is the 89th tallest building in New York. Edward Larrabee Barnes & Associates designed the building, and IBM developed it. IBM sold the tower to Odyssey in 1994. As of December 2007, 98% of the building is leased.The world headquarters of IBM had been in a previous 20-story building on this site which opened in January 1938. IBM moved its headquarters to Armonk, New York in 1964 but still needed a facility in New York City. In 1973, the construction of a new IBM building to replace the existing one was permitted by New York City. Its plan included square footage exceeded the legal limitation of allowable floor area but it was accepted because of the bonus for providing benefits of public open space. The original building was demolished starting in 1977. The present building was completed in 1983. It contained public open space as part of a 1961 amendment to the 1916 Zoning Resolution, which allowed architects to create buildings with more square footage if they contained public open spaces. The building was used by IBM as its Eastern regional headquarters until it was sold to Odyssey in 1994. In following year, the new owner applied to the City Planning Commission for the modification proposal of its atrium. After hearing of arguments for and against the proposal, the public space was altered. Although there were some changes in the atrium such as the removal of a few bamboo trees, additional chairs, and displays of sculpture, it still kept the designation as an oasis in the city. The building and its atrium have been known as one of the most monumental buildings and popular open spaces in the city.

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