In 1978, Diane Hartley was writing her undergraduate architecture thesis when she made a shocking discovery. The Citicorp Center opened in 1977 to great acclaim, and LeMessurier’s tuned mass damper began to draw interest from designers of other skyscrapers. built in 1977 to house the headquarters of citibank , it is 915 feet (279 m) tall and has 59 floors with 1.3 million square feet (120,000 m 2 ) of office space. The 915-ft-tall building, completed in 1977 and designed by LeMessurier Consultants (called LeMessurier Alex Gendler digs into the skyscraper’s potentially deadly mistake. Responsibilities After discussing the new skyscraper with her professor, she called to notify him of a fatal design flaw in Citicorp. She was correct, and Hurricane Ella fit the requirements to do it. The distinctive floating tower (renamed 601 Lexington Avenue in 2009) became a scary 59-story lesson for architects, engineers, public officials, lawyers and journalists worldwide. Citicorp Center standing over St. Peter's church Horrified, LeMessurier fled to his island hideaway on Sebago Lake to refine the findings and consider his options. The flaw made the 59-story skyscraper particularly vulnerable to being toppled by strong winds.1 Thinking that her calculations were wrong, Diane Hartley contacted the office of the… The building that’s the main topic of today’s story is known to most people as the Citicorp Center, although since Citicorp no longer owns it, its official name is really 601 Lexington Avenue. At approximately 25,000 tons, the steel superstructure is considerably lighter than other skyscrapers of similar size. In 1978, Diane Hartley was writing her undergraduate architecture thesis when she made a shocking discovery. Talk:Citigroup Center. Alex Gendler digs into the skyscraper’s potentially deadly mistake. Due to the relatively light weight, building sway was a serious concern that LeMessurier addressed in the design phase. It turns out that she was the student in LeMessurier's story. It turns out that she was the student in LeMessurier’s story. In 1978, a civil-engineering student at Princeton University discovered a shocking design flaw while studying the Manhattan Citicorp Tower for her senior thesis. In conjunction with the Red Cross and NYPD, the building was emergency retrofitted in the middle of the … (Courtesy of Diane Hartley) According to LeMessurier, in 1978 he got a phone call from an undergraduate architecture student making a bold claim about LeMessurier’s building. She chose the recently opened Citicorp Center (now the Citigroup Center) in Manhattan, as it met all of her criteria. The Citigroup Center (formerly Citicorp Center and also known by its address, 601 Lexington Avenue) is an office skyscraper in New York City, located at 53rd Street between Lexington and Third Avenues in midtown Manhattan.Built in 1977 to house the headquarters of Citibank, it is 915 feet (279 m) tall and has 59 floors with 1.3 million square feet (120,000 m 2) of office space. Language; Watch; Edit; Active discussions This article is of interest to the following WikiProjects: WikiProject Architecture (Rated C-class, High-importance) This article is within the scope of WikiProject Architecture, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Architecture on Wikipedia. Normally, buildings are strongest at their corners, and it’s the perpendicular winds (winds that strike the building at its face) that cause the greatest strain. When the Citicorp story broke in 1995, Hartley did not believe she was the undergraduate student LeMessurier referenced. Rather than distribute weight ... when LeMessurier got a call from a Princeton engineering student named Diane Hartley. But this was not a normal building. The BBC aired a special on the Citicorp Center crisis, and one of its viewers was Diane Hartley. At approximately 25,000 tons, the steel superstructure is considerably lighter than other skyscrapers of similar size. Citigroup Center is remarkable New York architecture, with an engineering story even more dramatic than its photographs. She found out that the building is weak against quartering winds from her study and calculation. In 1978, Diane Hartley was writing her undergraduate architecture thesis when she made a shocking discovery. Why couldn't the columns of the Citicorp center be built on the buildings corners? After weeks of poring over the Citicorp Center’s building plans, she’d stumbled on an oversight that threatened to topple the 59-story tower into one of New York City’s most densely populated districts. The Citicorp Center (now known as the Citigroup Center) is one of the most recognizable features of the New York City skyline. The 59-story, nearly 1.6 million gross square foot, Citicorp Center tower completed during 1977 in mid-town Manhattan was designed by the much … The distinctive 45° angled top rises 915 feet into the air. (Telephone interview June 30, 2010.) David Billington, Diane Hartley’s undergraduate thesis advisor reports that because the columns or “legs” of the Citicorp Tower were in the middle of each side, rather than at the building’s corners, he, too, had specific concerns about the effects of quartering winds. Secondly, Diane Hartley was taken at granted when she contacted the Citicorp's firm. He told LeMessurier that Citicorp Center could blow over in the wind. The BBC aired a special on the Citicorp Center crisis, and one of its viewers was Diane Hartley. The Citicorp Center, completed in 1977, reportedly cost an estimated $195 million. Completed in 1977 in New York, United States. LeMessurier claimed to have spoken directly with a male undergraduate student writing his senior thesis on the Citicorp building that was under construction. This shows how sometimes women are overlooked in engineering, and this unconscious discriminating ideas male engineers could have. After weeks of poring over the Citicorp Center’s building plans, she’d stumbled on an oversight that threatened to topple the 59-story tower into one of New York City’s most densely populated districts. The Citicorp Center, completed in 1977, reportedly cost an estimated $195 million. The Citicorp Center Project: LeMessurier Stands Tall by Michael J. Vardaro, Esquire and Timothy F. Hegarty, Esquire Introduction The Citicorp Center (now known as the Citigroup Center) is one of the most recognizable features of the New York City skyline.1 The distinctive 45° angled top rises 915 feet into the air. The Citicorp building is built on huge stilts placed at the center of the sides instead of at the corners as conventionally done. Her paper focused on the Citicorp Center, a skyscraper in midtown Manhattan. The result was the $175-million, 59-story Citicorp Center. In 1978, the architects behind the Citicorp center received a phone call from an undergraduate architectural student named Diane Hartley who had calculated that in the right storm, the building could very well collapse. But in June 1978, Princeton University engineering student Diane Hartley wrote an un-dergraduate thesis challenging how well the building would do facing quartering winds, the winds that strike a building on its corners. The BBC aired a special on the Citicorp Center crisis, and one of its viewers was Diane Hartley. Due to the relatively light weight, building sway was a serious concern that LeMessurier addressed in the design phase. 1. This article was originally published on November 5, 2014. It was revealed in 2014 that the student who called William LeMessurier was Diane Lee Hartley. Implications of a Major Urban Office Complex: The Scientific, Social and Symbolic Meanings of Citicorp Center, New York City - V. 1 and 2 Authors: Hartley, Diane Lee Undergraduate student Diane Hartley may have saved the Citicorp Center building in Manhattan from falling down and taking with it other buildings in a domino effect. It turns out that she was the student in LeMessurier’s story. (Whitbeck) III. The building was particularly vulnerable to quartering winds (winds that strike the building at its corners). She questioned LeMessurier’s junior engineers about her findings but they replied that the building is more safer than her calculation. She never spoke with LeMessurier; rather, she spoke with one of his junior staffers. When it opened back in 1977, this 59-story structure was considered to be an engineering marvel. The Citicorp Center repair is a classic engineering case study of how mistakes must be avoided in engineering and construction of public works. The citigroup center (formerly citicorp center and also known by its address, 601 lexington avenue) is an office skyscraper in the midtown manhattan neighborhood of new york city. Hartley wanted something that was tall, unique and in a dense, urban environment. Diane Hartley, a undergraduate student from Priceton University take Citicorp building as her thesis case study. And after weeks poring over the building’s plans, she’d stumbled on a potentially deadly mistake. Le Messurier, when told about the miscalculations errors, was unaware of the gender of the student and assumed it was a boy. It turns out that she was the student in LeMessurier's story. The BBC aired a special on the Citicorp Center crisis, and one of its viewers was Diane Hartley. 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