9. One Fordham Plaza

A 14-story office building completed in 1986, One Fordham Plaza exemplifies the changing architecture of the 1980s. Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, a firm known for its earlier Modernist work, designed this Postmodern building with intersecting geometric forms and aesthetic references that pay homage to the Bronx’s Art Deco heritage. The Modernist era was over.

Located on a large block bounded by three of the Bronx’s key thoroughfares, Fordham Road, Park Avenue, and Third Avenue, One Fordham Plaza can be seen for blocks away as it stands above the area’s mostly low-rise buildings and plazas.  Though it can be glimpsed from afar, it can only be fully appreciated when viewed from all angles.

The northwest corner, where the lobby entrance is situated, has a rounded streetwall with horizontal banding. At the other end, One Fordham Plaza rises in a series of setbacks toward the rounded tower. From the west and north, it resembles a stepped pyramid blending into a conical tower. From the southeast, the view is more sinuous: the facade curves inward as it steps back and is topped by further recesses as the circular tower extends above the top floor windows.