American Radiator Building

The story

Its facade is almost entirely black brick, trimmed with gold at the setbacks and pinnacles — a color combination so audacious it stopped Midtown cold in 1924. Raymond Hood and André Fouilhoux designed the 23-story Gothic and Art Deco tower for the American Radiator Company, and Hood insisted on treating it as a standalone shaft, pulling it back from the lot line rather than maximizing square footage. Below the offices, the basement through second floors were built as exhibition showrooms. It stands at 40 West 40th Street, just south of Bryant Park, still wearing that black-and-gold skin.