On Monday Snøhetta released renderings of their proposed renovation of 550 Madison Avenue, better known as the AT&T Building, designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee and completed in 1984. The main rendering reveals that a section of the pink-granite base facing Madison would be removed in favor of a wavy glass wall exposing the innards of the lower floors, including diagonal steel bracing located just behind the facade.

[Rendering: DBOX, courtesy of Snøhetta]

The main argument for what is effectively a disfigurement of a Postmodern icon is, in the words of Snøhetta, that "the recognizable top of the tower will remain a fixture of the New York City skyline." Even though the oft-called Chippendale top of the AT&T Building is its most recognizable feature, it is not a separate entity from the base. Base and top are two parts of a total composition, one that emphasized weight and aperture at a time when glass and skin were the norm.
To reacquaint myself with Johnson's building, which I walk by a fair deal but don't actively engage with very much, during my lunch hour today I walked around the building, snapping these photos with my phone. Rounding the corner at 55th Street and Madison Avenue, I was surprised to see a sidewalk shed wrapping the base. Did work on the Snøhetta plan start already"

Perusing the NYC BIS (Building Information System) for 550 Madison Avenue, I could see a bunch of permits pulled for interior work (sprin...