MetLife Building

The MetLife Building stands as a massive, fifty-nine-story presence over Grand Central Terminal. When it opened in 1963, it was known as the Pan Am Building and served as the global headquarters for Pan American World Airways. Its design and placement immediately sparked intense public debate because its east-to-west orientation blocked the historic view down Park Avenue. Architects Walter Gropius, Pietro Belluschi, and the firm Emery Roth and Sons created the building using an elongated octagonal shape and one of the first precast concrete facades in New York City. This structure was designed to provide the largest amount of commercial office space of any single building at the time.