It is possible to see in this view of Boston's skyline that the city does possess a variety of tall buildings with many different sizes. These buildings, however, were built for the sole purpose of commercial efficiency and not for ostentatious purposes. This can be seen in the styles of the buildings, which are mostly plain and tall. They aren't decorated with very much ornamentation because the architects who designed them didn't feel that such decorations were necessary.
image courtesy of http://www.iboston.org/buildings/card/pru.html
One major example of this is the Boston Prudential Center building. This building is 750 feet tall and 52 stories (8), and it remained Boston's tallest building for many years. Just the fact that this building, which didn't even compare to the record height of 1,450 feet of the Sears Tower, remained the tallest in all of Boston proves that these people were not concerned with being the best. Even today they have followed in their ancestors footsteps in believing that beating out the competition, achieving fame, or attracting attention are all unimportant.
This building is very modern and doesn't have any of the Gothic or Art Deco aspects that most buildings of the time possessed. This Prudential center was designed solely as a work place and not to impress others. The building is very pragmatic, and the planners decided to focus less on the aesthetic values and more on practical aspects such as parking and security.
The next architectural period was the Victorian Period. This period led to the creation of many buildings that better suited Boston. It was a time of beautiful structures with arches and vaulted ceilings, a time of aesthetic pleasure. One example of a building from the Victorian Period is the Chadwick Lead Works building (1887). This building was used to manufacture lead pipes, lead ribbon, iron pumps, and copper pumps. This building is significant because despite its ordinary use, it is still a wondrous sight. This building has four large round-headed arches that cover the vertical span of the building. The brickwork below the arches adds a pattern of uneven supports. This is a very interesting attribute that draws attention to the building's name in between the second and third floors. The building is a magnificent sight up to the top, but it also doesn't stop there. It extends onward, with a Romanesque tower that comes to a point another 30 feet beyond the first roof. This tower is also decorated with the Chadwick name. This building truly served as an example for the world by proving that beauty can be associated with everyday life.
Another important building in Manhattan's history is the Chrysler building. The building was designed by William van Allen and was completed in 1930. He felt that since the building should somehow represent the fact that it was going to primarily house the Chrysler Car company. The building is an excellent example of Art Deco. "It teems with the spirit of modernism, it is the epitome of the modern business life, it stands for progress in architecture and modern building methods."(9)
It is probably most famous for the number of setbacks that begins to increase as the height increases. On the building there are four setbacks below the 31st floor. On the walls of the building at this floor there is a very important frieze of the bottom half of cars. The cars are made out of white and gray bricks, while in the center of the wheels lies real metal hubcaps. On this same floor at the four corners of the building there is a buttress for support. These buttresses each have a giant sized Nirosta steel eagle, which is a copy of the image on a Chrysler radiator cap. This steel is very important because it was manufactured in Germany, and this building was the first to be constructed with it.
On the 59th floor there are eight gargoyles that are perpendicular to the building. These gargoyles are important because normally gargoyles are ugly, while these are nice eagles with long pointy beaks. They are meant to symbolize the vast Chrysler automotive empire.When it was completed this building surpassed the height of the recent Manhattan Bank building to become the tallest building in the world at 1046 feet. This is extremely important because it is an example of how New York City always went beyond the limits of others to try and become the most well known and powerful city in the world.
Probably the most important part of this Art Deco building is the spire at the top. It was such a crucial part and so difficult to install that it was first built inside the building, and was then hoisted up to the top. The use of stainless steel on the spire was a very new and innovative idea that was just another form of drawing attention. Even today, its shining steel top can be seen from miles away. The building is very significant because it demonstrates the power of man and machines working together.
If someone is going to talk about New York's Architecture, it is almost impossible to leave out the Empire State Building. This was completed in 1930, just one year after the completion of the Chrysler Building and replaced it as the tallest building in the world. The Empire State Building was finished at 1,250 feet (10), and it held its title for about 40 years. This rivalry between NYC buildings is very notable because it shows the great domestic competition to be the best. Architectural firms in NYC were so skilled, that their toughest competition was not from the rest of the world, but instead it was from other NYC companies.
This building for example was designed by Shreve, Lamb, & Harmon. It is a very good example of art deco, a geometric style that seemed to be very dominant in the 1920's and the 1930's. The buildings construction is also very special, in particular the step-shaped outcroppings on the roof. These are called setbacks, and they all come together on the very top where a large radio tower sits. The framework consists of mainly limestone, while the framework consists of a mix of chrome, nickel, and steel. The construction is so sturdy that only two floors were greatly damaged in 1945 when a bomber plane crashed into the 79th floor.
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(9) Heyer, Paul. Architects on Architecture: New Directions in America, (Published by George J. McLeod, Toronto, 1986) page 328
(10) Diamonstein, Barbaralee. Landmarks: Eighteen Wonders of the New York World, (Published by the Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York, 1992.) page 127
(11) Ibid., page 129