The Chrysler Building

The Chrysler building is surely the jewel in the crown of New York City's skyline. Completed in 1930, the 77-story Art Deco skyscraper quickly became the symbol of big city glamour. *These never-before-seen photos illustrate the day-by-day construction of this American icon. 170 photos.

New York calls to mind many things: the Chrysler Building with its innovative design and sunburst pattern, the Empire State building with its amazing views and dominating size, Rockefeller Center seamlessly merging commerce and art. Each of these cherished pieces of New York were created during one of the city's most stylish and dazzling decades: the 1920s and 30s. New York Deco profiles this magnificent period of creativity in architecture when art deco thrived with its emphasis on machinetooled elegance and sleek lines. Many of the New York City landmarks were born of this age, as well as dozens of lesser-known office buildings and apartment houses. Together, they make the skyline of the Big Apple what it is today. Richard Berenholtz's "extraordinary" and "voluptuous" photographs have offered the best of New York in the large scale New York New York and Panoramic New York and now brilliantly highlight the finest examples of NYC's art deco architecture. Berenholtz's photography is accompanied by text from writers, artists, and personalities of the era, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Ogden Nash, and Frank Lloyd Wright to create a wonderful celebration of the era. A perfect gift for the New Yorker and tourist alike, this gem of a book is a window into one of city's most divine periods. This new edition is deluxe in every way: it is 25% larger, has a cloth case with foil stamping encased in a cloth slipcase, also with foil stamping, and a hand-tipped image, with shrinkwrapping. It contains six gatefolds not included in the original edition, bringing the new page count to 184 from 160 pages. Includes a limited edition print of the Chrysler Building, signed and number by the photographer. Limited to 5,000 copies.

The Chrysler Building was the result of a remarkable collaboration between William Van Alen, a dreamer whose designs challenged orthodox architecture, and Fred T. Ley, a practical builder who turned dreams into reality. Together they realized Walter P. Chrysler's vision of an iconic structure that would (for 11 months) be the tallest building in the world. Van Alen is recognized as one of the most innovative architects of the 20th century. Ley rose from rod man on a survey team to head one of the largest construction companies in the world. Both men participated in the architectural revolution brought about by steel frame, curtain wall construction. This book chronicles how they designed and constructed the Chrysler Building and how the experience affected the rest of their lives.

The Manhattan skyline is one of the great wonders of the modern world. But how and why did it form? Much has been written about the city's architecture and its general history, but little work has explored the economic forces that created the skyline. In Building the Skyline, Jason Barr chronicles the economic history of the Manhattan skyline. In the process, he debunks some widely held misconceptions about the city's history. Starting with Manhattan's natural and geological history, Barr moves on to how these formations influenced early land use and the development of neighborhoods, including the dense tenement neighborhoods of Five Points and the Lower East Side, and how these early decisions eventually impacted the location of skyscrapers built during the Skyscraper Revolution at the end of the 19th century. Barr then explores the economic history of skyscrapers and the skyline, investigating the reasons for their heights, frequencies, locations, and shapes. He discusses why skyscrapers emerged downtown and why they appeared three miles to the north in midtown-but not in between the two areas. Contrary to popular belief, this was not due to the depths of Manhattan's bedrock, nor the presence of Grand Central Station. Rather, midtown's emergence was a response to the economic and demographic forces that were taking place north of 14th Street after the Civil War. Building the Skyline also presents the first rigorous investigation of the causes of the building boom during the Roaring Twenties. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the boom was largely a rational response to the economic growth of the nation and city. The last chapter investigates the value of Manhattan Island and the relationship between skyscrapers and land prices. Finally, an Epilogue offers policy recommendations for a resilient and robust future skyline.

*Includes pictures*Includes accounts of the building written by participants*Includes a bibliography for further reading*Includes a table of contents“I would give the greatest sunset in the world for one sight of New York's skyline. The shapes and the thought that made them. The sky over New York and the will of man made visible... Let them come to New York, stand on the shore of the Hudson, look and kneel. When I see the city from my window - no, I don't feel how small I am - but I feel that if a war came to threaten this, I would like to throw myself into space, over the city, and protect these buildings with my body.” – Ayn Rand, The FountainheadOf all the great cities in the world, few personify their country like New York City. As America's largest city and best known immigration gateway into the country, the Big Apple represents the beauty, diversity and sheer strength of the United States, a global financial center that has enticed people chasing the “American Dream” for centuries. Given that history, it's no surprise that New Yorkers have always wanted to construct the biggest and best structures possible, even in the early 1930s at the height of the Great Depression. Indeed, those years produced the Empire State Building, which remains the city's most iconic building, but New York's most famous skyscraper wouldn't have been possible without the Chrysler Building, a landmark in its own right that was the tallest building in the world for nearly a year before its more famous counterpart's completion. In fact, the spirit of competition between the groups working on the two buildings helped ensure that both look like they do today, and the Chrysler Building only reached the height it did because a large skyscraper at 40 Wall Street was also trying to claim the mantle of tallest building at the same time. The Chrysler Building was the first man-made object to surpass 1,000 feet in height, and while it has been surpassed by considerably taller projects since, it remains the largest steel-supported brick building in the world. As its name suggests, the Chrysler Building was named after Walter P. Chrysler, who ran the car company at the time, and yet his corporation never owned the building because he cherished it so much that he personally paid for the skyscraper and kept it in his family. Although it has since been sold to new groups, the name has remained, and the Chrysler Building continues to be a conspicuous part of the skyline in Midtown. The Chrysler Building: The History of New York City's Most Iconic Landmark chronicles the construction and history of the one of the Big Apple's most famous buildings. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Chrysler Building like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the building written by participants *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "I would give the greatest sunset in the world for one sight of New York's skyline. The shapes and the thought that made them. The sky over New York and the will of man made visible... Let them come to New York, stand on the shore of the Hudson, look and kneel. When I see the city from my window - no, I don't feel how small I am - but I feel that if a war came to threaten this, I would like to throw myself into space, over the city, and protect these buildings with my body." - Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead Of all the great cities in the world, few personify their country like New York City. As America's largest city and best known immigration gateway into the country, the Big Apple represents the beauty, diversity and sheer strength of the United States, a global financial center that has enticed people chasing the "American Dream" for centuries. Given that history, it's no surprise that New Yorkers have always wanted to construct the biggest and best structures possible, even in the early 1930s at the height of the Great Depression. Indeed, those years produced the Empire State Building, which remains the city's most iconic building, but New York's most famous skyscraper wouldn't have been possible without the Chrysler Building, a landmark in its own right that was the tallest building in the world for nearly a year before its more famous counterpart's completion. In fact, the spirit of competition between the groups working on the two buildings helped ensure that both look like they do today, and the Chrysler Building only reached the height it did because a large skyscraper at 40 Wall Street was also trying to claim the mantle of tallest building at the same time. The Chrysler Building was the first man-made object to surpass 1,000 feet in height, and while it has been surpassed by considerably taller projects since, it remains the largest steel-supported brick building in the world. As its name suggests, the Chrysler Building was named after Walter P. Chrysler, who ran the car company at the time, and yet his corporation never owned the building because he cherished it so much that he personally paid for the skyscraper and kept it in his family. Although it has since been sold to new groups, the name has remained, and the Chrysler Building continues to be a conspicuous part of the skyline in Midtown. The Chrysler Building: The History of New York City's Most Iconic Landmark chronicles the construction and history of the one of the Big Apple's most famous buildings. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Chrysler Building like never before, in no time at all.

The Chrysler Building was the result of a remarkable collaboration between William Van Alen, a dreamer whose designs challenged orthodox architecture, and Fred T. Ley, a practical builder who turned dreams into reality. Together they realized Walter P. Chrysler's vision of an iconic structure that would (for 11 months) be the tallest building in the world. Van Alen is recognized as one of the most innovative architects of the 20th century. Ley rose from rod man on a survey team to head one of the largest construction companies in the world. Both men participated in the architectural revolution brought about by steel frame, curtain wall construction. This book chronicles how they designed and constructed the Chrysler Building and how the experience affected the rest of their lives.