Limestone Art Deco towers around a sunken plaza, with an ice rink and a Christmas tree in the center.
What Rockefeller Center looks like
The complex covers 22 acres of Midtown Manhattan with 19 commercial buildings. Construction began in 1931, and the towers are faced in Indiana limestone with vertical ridges running up their fronts. The RCA Building at rises 70 floors, and its upper stories step back in setbacks.
The original Art Deco buildings span Fifth to Sixth Avenue, split by a sunken square and Rockefeller Plaza, a private street. The lower plaza holds an ice rink and sits 18 feet below ground level, with an underground shopping concourse, parking and subway access.
The separate the British Empire Building and La Maison Française. At the center are six rectangular pools, and their bronze mythological fountainheads by René Paul Chambellan face the sunken plaza.
is part of the complex along Sixth Avenue, centered on 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The Christmas tree stands in the center of the plaza.
Shot in Rockefeller Center
Four productions shot at the complex. Home Alone 2 and Elf both use the Christmas tree. Autumn in New York has a skating scene at the complex, and Desk Set stands the RCA Building in for a fictional network.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, 1992
Kate goes to the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and reunites with Kevin there. The tree stands in the center of the plaza, in front of the RCA tower.
Elf
Jovie takes Buddy to see the giant tree in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and the two then skate the rink. The sequence was shot mostly on the rink at Rockefeller Center.
Autumn in New York, 2000
Charlotte collapses while skating at Rockefeller Center in the film. The production shot on location in Manhattan, including the complex.
Desk Set, 1957
The RCA Building
The exterior of the fictional Federal Broadcasting Network was shot on the RCA Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The building has 70 floors.
The Fisher Building in New Center is listed as Art Deco, and shop-lined underground passageways join it to the New Center Building and the GM Building. Those passages match the underground shopping concourse beneath Rockefeller Center's plaza. The Fisher is faced in marble and granite rather than limestone, so tight facade frames carry the match and wide shots of the plaza do not. Try searching Art Deco underground concourse now.
The Miami Beach Architectural District was built mostly between the Great Depression and the early 1940s. Its Streamline Moderne fronts share the period detailing of the 1930s towers, though at a much lower height. A wide street shot gives the height away, while a tight frame of one facade holds the period. Try searching Streamline Moderne facade now.
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