page_title: Citigroup Center
section_title: Ethical questions
hierarchical_section_title: Citigroup Center / History / Engineering crisis of 1978 / Ethical questions
caption_attribution_description: English: Author: Amar Raavi,
context_page_description: The Citigroup Center is an office skyscraper in New York City, located at 53rd Street between Lexington and Third Avenues in midtown Manhattan. Built in 1977 to house the headquarters of Citibank, it is 915 feet tall and has 59 floors with 1.3 million square feet of office space.
  The building has a 45° angled top and a stilt-style base. It was designed by architect Hugh Stubbins and structural engineer William LeMessurier. The building is currently owned by Boston Properties, and in 2009, was renamed 601 Lexington Avenue. In 2016, it was made a New York City designated landmark.
context_section_description: Architect Eugene Kremer has discussed the ethical questions raised in this case.
  LeMessurier was criticized for insufficient oversight leading to bolted rather than welded joints, for not informing the endangered neighbors, for actively misleading the public about the extent of the danger during the reinforcement process, and for not informing architects or other structural engineers about the problem and solution for two decades. However, his act of alerting Citicorp to the problem in his design is now used as an example of ethical behavior in several engineering textbooks.
  Kremer discusses six key points:
  Analysis of wind loads. Check all calculations and not rely just on building codes; these set minimum requirements and not the state of the art.
  Design changes. In this case change from welded to bolted connections. Changes are considered in the overall design context and by everyone involved and not a spur of the moment decision.
  Professional responsibility. To follow the codes of conduct for every chartered institution. LeMessurier did not consider the public safety first.
  Public statements. In this case the public statements issued by LeMessurier and Citigroup set out to mislead the public deliberately.
  Public safety. The public statement denied the public the right to ensure their own safety and to make their own critical decisions.
  Advancement of professional knowledge. Concealing this problem for almost 20 years prevented ethical and engineering learning that could have taken place.
caption: Night view of the Citigroup Center from 30 Rockefeller Plaza
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