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Given the hype over the threat to financial buildings in New York, it felt appropriate to dig up a question sent to us a while back, in which a reader wanted to know what was up with the Citigroup Center's roof.
As many of you are probably aware, the tower (the fifth largest in New York, at 53rd and Lex) has a distinctive slanted roof. More peculiarly, as people in neighboring buildings have observed, the panels on the slanted roof are continuously being removed and replaced. Why is this?
Acording to this thread at WiredNewYork, the panels on top of the Citigroup Center are always being removed and replaced, because the window-washing equipment is kept at the top of the building.
Interestingly, the slanted roof has a purpose beyond adding distinction to the New York skyline; it was originally intended to hold solar panels, but they were never installed.
Some history of the building: from NYC Skyscrapers | stats and facts from Emporis | the ten tallest skyscrapers in Manhattan | and the Citigroup Center as represented in Lego.
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I love that solar panels were *supposed* to be installed but never were. Typical corporate promises that are not kept!
Nice link to the Citigroup center in Lego. I have met the guy who does all the Lego buildings (long story). He's really nice, and has quite a way with the Legos.
Regarding the solar panels, I think the Citicorp people were more worried at the time about the building being blown down during a wind storm than anything else.
Besides that, crappy 1970s-technology solar panels probably would only have made economic sense if 1970s-oil-shock-era energy prices maintained their upwards trajectory. As it turned out, oil and energy costs started to decline only a few years later, reaching ridiculously low levels in the 1990s. Also, you can't assume that a dollar spent on 1970s solar panels would have had a better return than a dollar spent on conservation efforts.