Erected by Walter Chrysler ( or , as has been joked, " Walter Chrysler's biggest erection") the Art Deco monument with its fancy upper floor exterior and huge hood ornaments flying out on middle corners farther down does not look all that impressive at street level, though it has a beautiful lobby when you get inside and fantastic fantasy elevator doors...
There used to be an observatory of sorts at the top which I think was used only by company executives, with murals and of course fantastic views through slanted windows...
Well, here is the story:
Chrysler Building
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the building in Manhattan, New York City. For Chrysler headquarters, see Chrysler Headquarters and Technology Center. For Chrysler offices in downtown Detroit, see Chrysler House.
| Chrysler Building | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Record height | |
| Tallest in the world from May 27, 1930 to April 30, 1931[I] | |
| Preceded by | 40 Wall Street |
| Surpassed by | Empire State Building |
| General information | |
| Type | Office |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| Location | 405 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan, New York 10174 |
| Construction started | 1928 |
| Completed | 1930 |
| Owner | Abu Dhabi Investment Council |
| Height | |
| Antenna spire | 1,046 ft (319 m)[1] |
| Roof | 925 ft (282 m) |
| Top floor | 899 ft (274 m)[1] |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 77[1][2] |
| Floor area | 1,195,000 sq ft (111,000 m2) |
| Lifts/elevators | 32[1] |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | William Van Alen |
|
Chrysler Building
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Location in New York City
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| Coordinates | 40°45′6.12″N 73°58′31.08″WCoordinates: 40°45′6.12″N 73°58′31.08″W |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| Governing body | Local |
| NRHP Reference # | 75001237 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 1976[3] |
| Designated NHL | December 8, 1976[4] |
| References | |
| [1][5] | |
The Chrysler Building is a classic example of Art Deco architecture and considered by many contemporary architects to be one of the finest buildings in New York City. In 2007, it was ranked ninth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.[10] It was the headquarters of the Chrysler Corporation from 1930 until the mid-1950s. Although the building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, the corporation did not pay for the construction of it and never owned it, as Walter P. Chrysler decided to pay for it himself, so that his children could inherit it.[11]
Contents
History
Design beginnings
Van Alen's original design for the skyscraper called for a decorative jewel-like glass crown. It also featured a base in which the showroom windows were tripled in height and topped by 12 stories with glass-wrapped corners, creating an impression that the tower appeared physically and visually light as if floating in mid-air.[11] The height of the skyscraper was also originally designed to be 246 meters (807 ft).[14] However, the design proved to be too advanced and costly for building contractor William H. Reynolds, who disapproved of Van Alen's original plan.[15] The design and lease were then sold to Walter P. Chrysler, who worked with Van Alen and redesigned the skyscraper for additional stories; it was eventually revised to be 282 m (925 ft) tall.[14] As Walter Chrysler was the chairman of the Chrysler Corporation and intended to make the building into Chrysler's headquarters,[14] various architectural details and especially the building's gargoyles were modeled after Chrysler automobile products like the hood ornaments of the Plymouth; they exemplify the machine age in the 1920s (see below).[16][17]Construction
Construction commenced on September 19, 1928.[14] In total, almost 400,000 rivets were used[14] and approximately 3,826,000 bricks were manually laid, to create the non-loadbearing walls of the skyscraper.[18] Contractors, builders and engineers were joined by other building-services experts to coordinate construction.Prior to its completion, the building stood about even with a rival project at 40 Wall Street, designed by H. Craig Severance. Severance increased the height of his project and then publicly claimed the title of the world's tallest building.[19] (This distinction excluded structures that were not fully habitable, such as the Eiffel Tower.)[20] In response, Van Alen obtained permission for a 38-meter (125 ft) long spire[21] and had it secretly constructed inside the frame of the building. The spire was delivered to the site in four different sections.[22] On October 23, 1929, the bottom section of the spire was hoisted onto the top of the building's dome and lowered into the 66th floor of the building. The other remaining sections of the spire were hoisted and riveted to the first one in sequential order in just 90 minutes.[23]
Completion
Upon completion, May 20, 1930,[14] the added height of the spire allowed the Chrysler Building to surpass 40 Wall Street as the tallest building in the world and the Eiffel Tower as the tallest structure. It was the first man-made structure to stand taller than 1,000 feet (305 m). Van Alen's satisfaction in these accomplishments was likely muted by Walter Chrysler's later refusal to pay the balance of his architectural fee.[11] Less than a year after it opened to the public on May 27, 1930, the Chrysler Building was surpassed in height by the Empire State Building, but the Chrysler Building is still the world's tallest steel-supported brick building. As of November 2, 2011, the building's height was surpassed by the under construction One World Trade Center at the height of 1,106 feet.[24][25]
Property
The east building wall of the base out of which the tower rises runs at a slant to the Manhattan street grid, following a property line that predated the Commissioners' Plan of 1811.[26] The land on which the Chrysler Building stands was donated to The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art[27] in 1902. The land was originally leased to William H. Reynolds, but, when he was unable to raise money for the project, the building and the development rights to the land were acquired by Walter P. Chrysler in 1928.[27][28] Contrary to popular belief, the Chrysler Corporation was never involved in the construction or ownership of the Chrysler Building, although it was built and designed for the corporation and served as its headquarters until the mid-1950s. It was a project of Walter P. Chrysler for his children.[11]The ownership of the building has changed several times. The Chrysler family sold the building in 1953 to William Zeckendorf,[29] and in 1957 it was purchased by Sol Goldman and Alex DiLorenzo, and owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. The lobby was refurbished and the facade renovated in 1978–1979.[30] The building was owned by Jack Kent Cooke in 1979. The spire underwent a restoration that was completed in 1995. In 1998, Tishman Speyer Properties and the Travelers Insurance Group bought the Chrysler Building and the adjoining Kent Building in 1997 for about $220 million (equal to $320 million in 2013) from a consortium of banks and the estate of Jack Kent Cooke. Tishman Speyer Properties had negotiated a 150-year lease on the land from Cooper Union and the college continues to own both the land under the Chrysler Building and the building itself. Cooper Union's name is on the deed.
In 2001, a 75% stake in the building management contract was sold, for US$ 300 million (equal to $400 million in 2013), to TMW, the German arm of an Atlanta-based investment fund.[31] On June 11, 2008 it was reported that the Abu Dhabi Investment Council was in negotiations to buy TMW's 75% economic interest, and a 15% interest from Tishman Speyer Properties in the building, and a share of the Trylons retail structure next door for US$ 800 million.[32] On July 9, 2008 it was announced that the transaction had been completed, and that the Abu Dhabi Investment Council was now the 90% owner of the building.[33][34]
Architecture
Crown ornamentation
The Chrysler Building is also renowned and recognized for its terraced crown. Composed of seven radiating terraced arches, Van Alen's design of the crown is a cruciform groin vault constructed into seven concentric members with transitioning setbacks, mounted up one behind another.[37] The stainless-steel cladding is ribbed and riveted in a radiating sunburst pattern with many triangular vaulted windows, transitioning into smaller segments of the seven narrow setbacks of the facade of the terraced crown. The entire crown is clad with silvery "Enduro KA-2" metal, an austenitic stainless steel developed in Germany by Krupp and marketed under the trade name "Nirosta" (a German acronym for nichtrostender Stahl, meaning "non-rusting steel").[11][38]Crown usage
When the building first opened, it contained a public viewing gallery on the 71st floor, which was closed to the public in 1945. This floor is now the highest occupied floor of the Chrysler Building, it was occupied by an office space management firm in 1986.[39] The private Cloud Club occupied a three-floor high space from the 66th–68th floors, but closed in the late 1970s. Above the 71st floor, the stories of the building are designed mostly for exterior appearance, functioning mainly as landings for the stairway to the spire. These top stories are very narrow with low, sloped ceilings, and are useful only for holding radio-broadcasting and other mechanical and electrical equipment.[14] Television station WCBS-TV (Channel 2) originally transmitted from the top of the Chrysler in the 1940s and early 1950s, before moving to the Empire State Building.[14] For many years, WPAT-FM and WTFM (now WKTU) also used the Chrysler Building as a transmission site, but they also moved to the Empire State Building by the 1970s. There are currently no commercial broadcast stations located at the Chrysler Building.Lighting
There are two sets of lighting in the top spires and decoration. The first are the V-shaped lighting inserts in the steel of the building itself. Added later were groups of floodlights that are on mast arms directed back at the building. This allows the top of the building to be lit in many colors for special occasions. This lighting was installed by electrician Charles Londner and crew during construction.[14]Recognition and appeal
The Chrysler Building has been shown in several movies that take place in New York. In the summer of 2005, New York's own Skyscraper Museum asked one hundred architects, builders, critics, engineers, historians, and scholars, among others, to choose their 10 favorites among 25 New York towers. The Chrysler Building came in first place as 90% of them placed the building in their top-10 favorite buildings.[40]The Chrysler Building's distinctive profile has inspired similar skyscrapers worldwide, including One Liberty Place in Philadelphia.[41][42]
Quotations
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chrysler Building |
-
- "Art Deco in France found its American equivalent in the design of
the New York skyscrapers of the 1920s. The Chrysler Building ... was one
of the most accomplished essays in the style."
- –John Julius Norwich, in The World Atlas of Architecture
- "Art Deco in France found its American equivalent in the design of
the New York skyscrapers of the 1920s. The Chrysler Building ... was one
of the most accomplished essays in the style."
-
- "The design, originally drawn up for building contractor William H.
Reynolds, was finally sold to Walter P. Chrysler, who wanted a
provocative building that would not merely scrape the sky but positively
pierce it. Its 77 floors briefly making it the highest building in the
world – at least until the Empire State Building was completed – it
became the star of the New York skyline, thanks above all to its
crowning peak. In a deliberate strategy of myth generation, Van Alen
planned a dramatic moment of revelation: the entire seven-storey
pinnacle, complete with special-steel facing, was first assembled inside
the building, and then hoisted into position through the roof opening
and anchored on top in just one and a half hours. All of a sudden it was
there—a sensational fait accompli."
- –Peter Gossel and Gabriele Leuthauser, in Architecture in the Twentieth Century
- "The design, originally drawn up for building contractor William H.
Reynolds, was finally sold to Walter P. Chrysler, who wanted a
provocative building that would not merely scrape the sky but positively
pierce it. Its 77 floors briefly making it the highest building in the
world – at least until the Empire State Building was completed – it
became the star of the New York skyline, thanks above all to its
crowning peak. In a deliberate strategy of myth generation, Van Alen
planned a dramatic moment of revelation: the entire seven-storey
pinnacle, complete with special-steel facing, was first assembled inside
the building, and then hoisted into position through the roof opening
and anchored on top in just one and a half hours. All of a sudden it was
there—a sensational fait accompli."
-
- "One of the first uses of stainless steel over a large exposed
building surface. The decorative treatment of the masonry walls below
changes with every set-back and includes story-high basket-weave
designs, radiator-cap gargoyles, and a band of abstract automobiles. The
lobby is a modernistic composition of African marble and chrome steel."
- –Elliot Willensky and Norval White, in AIA Guide to New York
- "One of the first uses of stainless steel over a large exposed
building surface. The decorative treatment of the masonry walls below
changes with every set-back and includes story-high basket-weave
designs, radiator-cap gargoyles, and a band of abstract automobiles. The
lobby is a modernistic composition of African marble and chrome steel."
Tenants
Gallery
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Lamp of the hall of the Chrysler Building
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One of the Radiator Caps seen from the ground level
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Chrysler Building next to the Calyon Building
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View from one of the north-facing triangular windows
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Elevator interior with inlaid wood
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Illumination of the building at night
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The building's distinctive crown
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The building rising into the sky
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A view of the Chrysler Building from the Empire State Building
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A view of the Chrysler Building from the East 42nd Street
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Chrysler Building from East 42nd Street
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