Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Building, Hartford

The Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Building, affectionately nicknamed the “Boat Building” by locals, is a striking Modernist landmark in Hartford. Located on Constitution Plaza just east of downtown, the 13-story office tower stands out not only for its location but for its distinctive shape-an elliptic lenticular cylinder-making it the world’s first two-sided building.

Completed in 1963 and designed by renowned architect Max Abramovitz of Harrison & Abramovitz, the building showcases Modernist ingenuity with its curved glass façade, absence of visible window mullions, and bold use of steel and concrete. Its floor-to-ceiling windows rest above a sunken plaza, while the building itself appears to hover, supported by splayed steel beams above a recessed rectangular lobby. The structure measures 212 feet tall and stretches 225 feet on its long axis, with a maximum width of 87 feet.

The building sits atop an elevated plaza, which includes a parking garage and fountain, and connects via footbridges to Constitution Plaza and nearby developments. Its highly visible location near major highways and the Connecticut River ensures that the Phoenix Building remains a defining feature of Hartford’s skyline.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Boat Building is a rare architectural statement of mid-century design, blending form and function with a futuristic aesthetic that still turns heads over 60 years later.