100 things: 002 - the chrysler building, nyc
this is by far my favorite building in new york. it's clad in stainless steel and it has gargoyles on top and it's pure art deco and it was for eleven months the tallest building in the world. (it was eclipsed by the empire state building in 1931, which i think was the tallest building in the world until the completion of either the sears tower or the world trade center, but i don't know and would have to look it up because none of those are my favorite new york city buildings.) (well, the sears tower is in chicago. and it is no longer officially the sears tower, but whatever.)
anyway. the chrysler building was built to be the headquarters of - i know you'll be surprised :D - the chrysler corp, but was actually paid for and thus owned by walter chrysler himself, rather than his company, so that his kids could inherit it. they broke ground in 1928 and built as fast as they could in their haste to have the tallest building in the world, and yet no one died during construction.
fun factoid: at the time, chrysler's competition for tallest building in the world was the bank of manhattan building down on wall street. the bank building was going to be a couple feet taller than the chrysler building, so chrysler and his architect, william van alen, added a spire in secret, constructing it inside the building's frame and hoisting it up to the top when it was too late for the bank of manhattan building to catch up.
check out the gargoyles. (see wikipedia for a good close-up.) medieval gargoyles served an actual structural purpose - gutters, mostly - as well as a scary spiritual purpose. chrysler building gargoyles are meant to evoke plymouth hood ornaments, and the whole thing is kind of representative of machine age design, that shiny, streamlined aesthetic that went hand-in-hand with the increase of machines to do what people previously had to do by hand or by horse or by steam.
peekaboo. :D and now check out the design of the crown. so much love, seriously.
the chryslers sold the building in 1953 and it's had a few owners since. the land it sits on is actually owned by cooper union, and has been owned by cooper union since 1902. the college just leases it out.
so there it is. one of the most beautiful art deco buildings in the world, and definitely the most beautiful one in new york.
anyway. the chrysler building was built to be the headquarters of - i know you'll be surprised :D - the chrysler corp, but was actually paid for and thus owned by walter chrysler himself, rather than his company, so that his kids could inherit it. they broke ground in 1928 and built as fast as they could in their haste to have the tallest building in the world, and yet no one died during construction.
fun factoid: at the time, chrysler's competition for tallest building in the world was the bank of manhattan building down on wall street. the bank building was going to be a couple feet taller than the chrysler building, so chrysler and his architect, william van alen, added a spire in secret, constructing it inside the building's frame and hoisting it up to the top when it was too late for the bank of manhattan building to catch up.
check out the gargoyles. (see wikipedia for a good close-up.) medieval gargoyles served an actual structural purpose - gutters, mostly - as well as a scary spiritual purpose. chrysler building gargoyles are meant to evoke plymouth hood ornaments, and the whole thing is kind of representative of machine age design, that shiny, streamlined aesthetic that went hand-in-hand with the increase of machines to do what people previously had to do by hand or by horse or by steam.
peekaboo. :D and now check out the design of the crown. so much love, seriously.
the chryslers sold the building in 1953 and it's had a few owners since. the land it sits on is actually owned by cooper union, and has been owned by cooper union since 1902. the college just leases it out.
so there it is. one of the most beautiful art deco buildings in the world, and definitely the most beautiful one in new york.