Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo established their own practice in 1966, after heading the firm of Eero Saarinen for several years. The Ford Foundation Headquarters is regarded as the pair's first major success, a combination of Roche's unique ideals and Dinkeloo's innovative structural solutions. They introduced an office typology in which employee interaction extended beyond departments and levels, reaching even to the public. The Ford Foundation is unusual for Manhattan in that it occupies fewer square feet than the site allows. Rather than designing a shorter building to cover the entire site but break the existing skyline, the architects took advantage of the excess space. The offices occupy only a portion of the site, with the remainder devoted to an interior garden within a greenhouse-like atrium. The flourishing vegetation and generous space provide a focal point for the workers and an interface between the Foundation and the city.
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