Deep in the Financial District at the corner of Broad and Pearl Streets is a 22-story brick citidel known by its mailing address, 4 New York Plaza.
Fortress-like and impenetrable at the tip of Manhatan, it’s not the loveliest building downtown by any means.
But architectural firm Carson Lundin & Shaw, which designed it in 1969 for banking giant Manufacturers Hanover Trust, was apparently inspired by the data processing tool of the era: the punchcard.
You can see the resemblance in the the small windows along the facade, irregularly placed and slot-like.
Supposedly this punchcard design won awards.
The punchcard era is long over, but 4 New York Plaza remains, surviving massive flooding and damage thanks to Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Here’s a more inspiring view of 4 New York Plaza, taken by Lucia M. in 2008, with the walkups on Pearl Street lending it some of their beauty and charm.
[Top photo: Emporis]