Architectural historian Carol Krinsky speaks about the history of Lever House. Midtown Manhattan's Lever House marked a watershed in American architecture when completed in 1952. Located on the west side of Park Avenue between 53rd and 54th Streets, the corporate headquarters—with its façade of blue-green glass and stainless steel mullions—was one of the first glass-walled International Style office buildings in the U.S. Three of the most notable people involved with the project include Gordon Bunshaft, the design Principal at SOM, Natalie de Blois who assisted him as the Project Designer, and Charles Luckman who was President of Lever Brothers and went on to practice architecture in New York and later LA.
The building was allowed to be a rectangular tower as the zoning requirements permitted it not to be stepped if it occupied less than 25% of its site. This was the first time anyone had done this. The renovation begun in 1998 added the Isamu Noguchi sculpture garden which had been planned but never installed.