Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors is a fun architectural meme hosted by Toby. We look for interesting portals and today is the highly visible Pirelli in New Haven CT. This building was opened in 1970 and in a Modernist style designed by architect Marcel Breuer, who used cast concrete for the exterior while draped over the steel frame. It was built for the now defunct Armstrong Rubber Company as their corporate headquarters until acquired by Pirelli. When IKEA purchased the land for its blue and yellow big box, the city requested that the landmark building remain in place - and IKEA accommodate that request. The detail seen in the vertical view just above the window is a stylized slanted A that represented the Armstrong logo - perhaps the advantage of working with the malleable concrete. The past and present can coexist...
