Capitol Records Architect Louis Naidorf Sets the Record Straight on Myth of Tower’s Iconic Design
Bettmann/Getty Images
“It had nothing to do with a stack of records. If it were IHOP, everyone would think that it looks like a stack of pancakes.”
The 63-year-old Capitol Records Building may look like a stack of records with a rooftop spire resembling a phonograph needle, but according to its designer, 91-year-old architect Louis Naidorf, that’s just a coincidence.
“I designed the bloody thing,” laughs Naidorf, speaking over the phone from his home in Santa Rosa, California. “Unequivocally, it had nothing to do with a stack of records. If it were IHOP, everyone would think that it looks like a stack of pancakes or plates. If it were Firestone, everyone would think that it looks like a stack of inner tubes. There are lots of things that look like that.”