When I look at the new buildings, or those currently under construction, one word comes to mind-----------Menacing.
So sad.
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When I viewed the photos of 1920s and 1930s skyscrapers (including the Chanin Building in the background of the construction of the Pan Am Building), Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 4 comes to mind. That work, originally performed in 1927 and revised in 1941, IS New York in that period. Listen and hear for yourself--with these photos in hand.
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One of the reasons I moved to New York 35 years ago were simply that the incredible skyscrapers in all shapes and sizes. To me initially this was at makes New York, well New New York or how I saw it at the time. I’ve since learned many many things make New York incredibly interesting place to live and work . However I wish the government and businesses would work together and find the old mojo to build the next record-setting ultra super tall and big skyscraper with forward thinking all green sustainable technology built in to prove to the world we’re back on track, no not just some luxury skyscraper for the rich something that is something for the whole community the whole world in an example for what future city living can be . Of course we have to dump truck and the backward thinking GOP and then show the world what America can truly be. yes make American skyscraper is great again! OK I said it LOL
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"New York is a tough place to be a young skyscraper: Wonders have been built here."
The same could be said for everything from Broadway actors to baseball players to Wall St. This is New York City. Wonders are built here. And it's the constant pressure of the wildly diverse human tide flowing through the city that makes those wonders possible. Not walls around her borders.
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Both the modern and deco skyscrapers here had a kind of weight and dignity to them reflective of the design culture of the day. Today a culture of political sideshows ignores architects and architecture — resulting in a developer free for all of banal reflective glass spreadsheets. The NYT arch critic (or classical musician?), busy at a Quito urbanism conference or chumming at the London School of Economics, couldn’t be bothered—until of course there is a new “yards” project to pretend he was against all along.
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I loved the article having grown up outside NYC in the 60s & 70s and wanted to weigh in on the most beautiful building question. I also always loved the flatiron building but another one often overlooked is Beekman Tower.
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I have to add my $0.02...love, Love, LOVE the Flatiron building. So far ahead of it's time and it's still absolutely beautiful. I try to visit her every time I'm in NYC! She's quite photogenic too!
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I remember when the WYC site was the Hudson and Manhattan tube site! My father used take me downtown on Sundays.
1
I have two reference points. From my apartment I have a view of the top floors and spire of the Chrysler building. As daylight changes so does the building, until sunset when it becomes lit. I can watch this building for hours.
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@Robert
I hear you: I used to hate New St Mary's here (popularly known as St Maytag for its resemblance to a washer agitator). Then I moved nearby and had a chance to appreciate the way the shadows played across its faces all day. You don't get that with a minimal rectangular box, of any size. It takes curves--subtle ones at that.
The moral is: don't judge a building too soon--you gotta live with it.
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I usually have to go to Twitter for my morning laugh. "But even that seemed underwhelming when both the Pentagon and the Merchandise Mart, in Chicago, could sit on it and take its lunch money." (MetLife/PanAm Building)
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My mother's father was a tin smith who designed all the windows for the Woolworth building and build them in MO and had them shipped. He proved that "measure twice, cut once" is a wise saying. :)
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the city fathers/greed-head developers wanted the midtown tax base developed with ugly cheap-looking buildings and boy did they get it.
thanks for all the crowds, especially in times square. maybe one has to be rich ta live in manhattan these days, but that doesn't make it livable. way to go! the slow motion suicide of a great city. you know who you are. for shame.
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So enjoyed this piece!
The Skyscraper Museum in Battery Park is a delightful destination: https://www.skyscraper.org/
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In 1947, at age 11, I stood at the foot of the Empire State Building and looked up. I got dizzy and my dad had to grab me. Even to this day, there is no city like New York City.
Good article and great pictures.
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The Chrysler Building is a beautiful monument to a time and a movement in art that will never be surpassed.
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I could spend all day looking at old construction photos, and what today would be an unending list of OSHA safety violations!
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@solar farmer, it’s puzzling. Three of the guys eating lunch are wearing helmets. The guy walking the girder has on a flat cap, and what looks like a pencil sticking out of it. A carpenter’s assistant? It’s 1962, early in the civil rights movement, and he is a black man working in a city where the construction business was run by...well...others.
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The building tagged as being 277 Park, I think that's 270, right across the street. If you look to the side of pic you can see 30 Rock, 277 is right across the street from 270 on the eastern side, so you wouldn't be able to see 30 Rock which is on Sixth Avenue, I used to work in 270 for Union Carbide a few decades ago.
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The third photo from the top of 30 Rock shows what a world leading city should look like with buildings and designs that indicated strength and permanence.
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The New York Public Library offers a wide collection of digital images in their collection, many of historic New York (including architecture).
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/
Use filters to select
Genre: Photography
Place: New York
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Wonderful black and white photos. Proves B & W is better than color for this type of photos .
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I read somewhere that it took a total of 10,000 people seven years to build the World Trade Center towers. The construction was an outside-in design of a steel-beam "skin" that communicated strength to the entire structure but allowed floors to be relatively free of support beams. Also, because people at that height would be daunted by the distance to the ground, the windows on some floors were designed to be only as wide as a person's shoulders.
So much care, concern, ingenuity, and sheer human effort went into the creation of those buildings.
I remember being on the observation deck in the early 1980's and looking down at the helicopters flying around, and then seeing George Willig's autograph on the perimeter of the roof.
I was where no human being seemed to have any reason or right to be, and yet I felt safe and secure.
I was in awe...
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@John W, in the 1980s I stayed for a time in a friend's apartment in Battery Park. I walked right by those towers daily, on the way to the subway, and never went up to the observation deck. Part of it was youthful arrogance, since at the time I lived in another big city with its own skyscrapers. I had even worked in the top floors of one for some years. So I thought observations decks were for tourists from the provinces. But I was also scared by the idea of going that high. Something about the building made me feel uncomfortable. I regret not doing it now.
6
No mention of Trump Tower!? Covered in gold glass, with gold escalators and elevators, and abundant gold gewgaws, it's facade cut like a diamond, it inspires one to be happily jealous of the obscenely wealthy and meekly content with one's humble existence. Its construction was legendary, with the destruction of works of art found in the building that had the audacity to previously occupy the site of the its rightful occupant, the lack of payment to workers, the employment of undocumented immigrant constructions workers, and contracting of various organized-crime connected contractors. Its missing floors making it seem to soar even higher, it veritably touches the heavens, providing its most famous resident his conduit to God.
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@MRod
This is the beginning of your book!
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Regarding the photo of the construction worker at the head of the article - it's one thing to stroll so casually on an 18" wide concrete beam, 58 stories up - it's another to do it while carrying a large piece of plywood that acts as a sail if the wind happens to pick up a little!
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TMJ
My stomach was somewhere in the vicinity of my feet - maybe lower - just looking at that picture.
p.
10
In my 20s, I was bewitched by New York (just like my fellow Sacramentan, the protagonist of Lady Bird) ... and I was certain that, like generations of outlanders before me, I would seek my fortune and make my home there. An architectural gem (or several) greeted me around every corner... That dream did not pan out, and I have not been back to the city for decades. Time for another visit, methinks.
17
As a dancer in the 1970/80s returning home by bus from summer stock in the Poconos, my favorite sight was always at the arrival to the Jersey entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel. One comes upon that giant corkscrew spiral of its entrance but before descending down into the tunnel's depths you get that wondrous glimpse of the Manhattan skyline. There they were the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building in all their glory with the river and all of Manhattan at their feet. They were welcoming me back home. I always got a surge of excitement at that view. Home again.
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@kensbluck, I had the mirror-image view, from the east, approaching the Midtown Tunnel in the back of my parents' station wagon at the end of another weekend out in Amagansett. But for me it signalled a mixed blessing, for I was due back at school the next morning, after running wild out in the country for two days (yes, so long ago that Amagansett was still country...!)
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@Cincinntus
In the 70’s the Hamptons were all farm land with old farm houses and great architecture, especially Sag Harbor.
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@kensbluck
I, also, was in awe of the Manhattan skyline in the mid 1960’s. Lived in New Jersey and worked in “the City”. Especially loved when it was early evening and the buildings were lit up. Took in this view while the bus travelled along the Boulevard East. Now when I look over it seems to have lost some of its majesty, if you will, but still impressive.
4
I got vertigo just looking at the photograph of that construction worker walking a girder while carrying a (wind catching) piece of plywood. No tether. How many workers died building those classics skyscrapers, before labor laws protected them?
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Not sure, but insurance companies estimated that 14 workers would lose their lives building the St. Louis Arch. No one died building the arch.
3
@Emanuel the Golden Gate Bridge project was apparently revolutionary for worker safety. Someone thought to put in a net.....
2
>>That did not pan out. Still, the Empire State retained its title until 1970, when the first of the Twin Towers topped out.<<
Sears Tower, Chicago, anyone?
But. Well written story and fabulous photographs.
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@arjay
Willis Tower is a skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. Sears, Roebuck and Company paid for it to be built in August 1970. The building was finished in 1973. It was the tallest building in the world from 1973 to 1996.
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world Trade Center, New York City, USA, 1970 - 1974
Infamously destroyed by terrorist attack on 11 September, 2001, the 417m(1368ft)-high 110-storey World Trade Center Tower 1 stood as the World's Tallest Building from its completion in 1970 until 1973 when the Sears Tower (in Chicago, USA) was topped off.Apr 2, 2008
The article is corr3ct as L park notes
4
H.L. Mencken in 1909 reflecting on the differences between his life as a writer and those of laborers he sees on the street.
"My day's work is not an affliction, but a pleasure; my labor, selling in the open market, brings me the comforts that I desire; I am assured against all but a remote danger of starvation in my old age. Outside my window, in the street, a man labors in the rain with pick and shovel, and his reward is merely a roof for tonight and tomorrow's three meals. Contemplating the differences between his luck and mine, I cannot fail to wonder at the eternal meaninglessness of life. I wonder thus and pity his lot, and then, after awhile, perhaps, I begin to reflect that in many ways he is probably luckier than I. But I wouldn't change places with him."
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@A. Stanton, it’s a wonderful piece until Mencken threw in that trite “reflect that in many ways he is probably luckier than I“ business.
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@Passion for Peaches
Trite maybe, like he needed to say that for balance.
Trite maybe but not wrong. There is a feeling that comes with building things, a pride summed up in "I made that" I can only imagine the feelings of the laborers as they grew old looking at the monuments they helped to create.
7
My father who died last year at 91, worked in the family business his Hungarian immigrant grandfather started fabricating steel (originally stairs) in NYC buildings. A keen childhood memory, which feels poignant with him gone, is driving around the city and my father pointing out their buildings. As kids we took it for granted, and we’d groan. He was proud. They put the new stairs in the 1986 renovation of the Statue of Liberty. When interviewed and asked if it was meaningful as his grandfather was an immigrant, he said “Yes, but ultimately it’s just another stair job.” I always liked that. They never bid a Trump job, because they knew.
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Does anyone know where to get those prints.
9
Readers of "The Fountainhead" will remember how Ayn Rand, through Howard Roark, railed against "wedding cake architecture", just the sort of buildings portrayed here. Form was supposed to follow function, which has given us a world full of sterile glass boxes, their function to maximize the enclosed volume, period.
There was another gorgeous building downtown, the Singer Building, which for a short while was the tallest in the world. You can sometimes see it in old footage but it was demolished in 1964. New buyers were sought to prevent its destruction, but because, with a central tower, it didn't maximize every square inch of its lot, it was replaced by the current black monolith on Liberty and Broadway.
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@stan continople
The Fountainhead is also probably the worse all time book ever published. Just pure drivel.
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@stan continople. The "wedding cake architecture" is to allow sunlight to reach the people on the streets.
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@Patrick
I believe "wedding cake" referred to the pastiche of styles, one on top of another: Renaissance on top of Roman, on top of Greek, etc. The setbacks for light you mention are a result of the 1916 zoning law.
6
Good article on skyscrapers, and perhaps inadvertently, a great article on the benefits of the Clean Air Act.
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@SL. Indeed...some serious pollution.
5
For years my uncle had a deli in the Wolfe Building, a 13 story skyscraper from 1895, at the intersection of Maiden Lane and Liberty. It was designed by Henry J. Hardenbergh of Dakota fame. When the city was about to start on the World Trade Center, it intended to widen all the streets downtown, and so declared eminent domain on the Wolfe Building. It was demolished, the streets, of course, were never widened, and its triangular footprint remained an empty lot for decades. Eventually, it became Louise Nevelson Plaza, basically something to zip through on your way to Duane Reade.
They knew how to build in those days, and no expense was spared in the decoration, done by actual, trained craftspeople. If that building, at that location, was still around today, it would have been converted into condos selling for tens of millions.
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GON/GON090.htm
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@stan continople — I remember that building. I left to go to school in California for a few years, and when I came back and went to look for it again... GONE!
4
@stan continople hearing about the power of eminent domain is troubling.
2
beautiful New York !
9
Fantastic.
5
Fantastic photos!
I have seen similar ones from back in the day when various Chicago sky scrapers were being built.
That photo of a "construction worker strolling along the frame of the MetLife building, 58 stories above the streets of New York. Aug. 25, 1962" is comparable to one I have where iron workers are stilling on a beam, feet dangling down above 60 stories or more, while eating their lunch as if they were sitting on a park bench in Grant Park, near Lake Michigan.
I don't even like merely looking down 58 stories from a window or balcony. I cannot imagine the mindset it took and takes to do that kind of construction work.
Those guys are awesome beyond words in my book.
Many sincere thanks for dusting off those prints/negatives and showcasing these guys and their achievements for all the world to see.
Really fantastic article. Thanks!!!
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@Marge Keller
Unfortunately, the lack of safety equipment requirements and little worksite regulation is the reason why dozens of workers died working on all these skyscrapers.
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@DReeck
Oh, I completely agree. The fact that these individuals would do that kind of work with NO safety precautions defies common sense in my mind. But then, that was a different time and mindset.
Then there were also so many who perished building bridges like the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, George Washington Bridge, just to name a few.
20
@Marge Keller part of the mindset was “I need a job so I don’t starve to death on the streets.” These workers were doing it for the money, and many of them had to swallow their trepidation until they got used to the heights.
15
Sometimes I wondered when I was a resident of NYC how this little island could handle all the weight from these skyscrapers - simply amazing.
16
NYC has Bedrock underneath it, that's how.
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@Tonjo
Only certain parts of the island can support that weight and that's why some sections of NYC have no high rises while others have many. Something to do with having hard rock available underneath to build the foundation for tall towers upon it.
16
@Tonjo But if the winds get too strong, they may cause the entire island to capsize, especially with all the sail area of those tall buildings.
This almost happened to Guam, but luckily a congressman was smart enough to bring it up in hearings about basing more US troops there, and they were able to add a giant outrigger to the island to prevent that from happening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cesSRfXqS1Q
9