The Lipstick Building in New York City has an elliptical shape and a postmodern design with red granite exterior. It was designed by Phillip Johnson and John Burgee and completed in 1986. The lack of angles and straight lines means there are no corner offices. The building has been home to many businesses, including Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. After the owners filed for bankruptcy, the building became the property of the Royal Bank of Canada.
The Lipstick Building is a skyscraper located at 885 Third Avenue near 53rd Street in New York City. The building features a postmodern design that makes it stand out from the plaza, simple structures located nearby, such as the New York Post Office. This structure has an elliptical shape, as well as a telescopic appearance, where the upper floors have a smaller footprint than those at the base of the building. The stepped structure of the building’s levels, combined with its red granite exterior, gives it an appearance reminiscent of an open tube of red lipstick. The Lipstick Building is also referred to as 53rd at Third based on its location.
Architects Phillip Johnson and John Burgee designed the Lipstick Building in the Italian Baroque style, and the structure was completed in 1986. It features 34 stories and a height of 453 feet (138 m). Bands of brightly colored red granite are combined with ribbon windows and stainless steel accents to give the building its sleek, modern look. Red granite columns support the base of the structure and help form the first two levels. Central to these columns is a huge atrium with a bank of elevators. The lobby of the Lipstick Building also houses a coffee shop known as the Lipstick Cafe.
Given the Lipstick Building’s elliptical shape, all of its interior and exterior walls are curved, resulting in a lack of angles and straight lines. That means there are no corner offices, which are seen as a sign of rank or prestige in many U.S. workplaces. From another point of view, it could be argued that every office in the building is actually a corner office. The telescoping nature of the Lipstick Building allows more natural light to reach the streets around the structure than a traditional square building. This structure was influenced by New York City building codes regarding daylighting and views.
While the Lipstick Building has been home to many businesses since it opened, perhaps none were more famous than that of Bernard Madoff, who rented the 17th through 19th floors. Madoff ran an illegal Ponzi scheme out of this building and defrauded investors out of billions of dollars. Coincidentally, soon after Madoff was arrested in 2008 and sent to prison, the owners of the building filed for bankruptcy. The building then became the property of the Royal Bank of Canada, which formed New Lipstick LLC to manage the facility.
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