AXA Equitable Center

In The Devil's Highway, Frank Shuster works in the AXA Equitable Center in New for Terrasystecs. He is a geo-imaging processing specialist for the fictional company which uses satellite data to aid oil and mining exploration. Terrasystec's super computers help Frank and Bobby crack the code of the treasure map. I chose the AXA Equitable as the home of Terrasystecs for two reasons. First, the building is the one of two major headquarters built by Equitable Insurance in NYC, and both have some pretty solid history behind them. I'm a big fan of architecture, so I was impressed by the original neoclasssical Equitable Building (left). When the 39-story building was completed in 1915 it was the largest building in the world and caused a public outcry because it cast a 7-acre shadow, leaving nearby streets in the Financial District without any sunlight. The post-modern Equitable Center, where our friend Frank works, was completed in 1986 as the 54-story building currently serves as the Headquarters for AXA Financial. Two things about this building appealed to me. First, I've always admired Roy Lichtenstien's art, and there his 70-foot tall Mural with Blue Brushstroke in the lobby. The second reason is referenced in the book. It's in this building where, in 1997, World Chess Champion Gary Kasparov defeated IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer. I thought it was nice bit of business to have Frank's supercomputers in the same building.