WORLD ARCHITECTURE: NEW YORK CITY!
- Nishita Chopra
- Jun 6, 2021
- 4 min read
New York City is defined by its architecture, but the architecture was redefined with NYC too. NYC has spectacular architecture that spans many centuries and styles created by some influential architects. The city is known to set global trends and has just as equally pushed boundaries of architecture. With some marvellous buildings like the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and of course, the World Trade Center, the city has one of the most recognized skylines in the world. The city has inspiration flowing from every city block and it always seems to be in a constant state of architectural evolution. Let's take a look at some of its most famous architectural landmarks.
The Beaux-Arts Style With its vertical growth, NYC has taken over Classical Architecture. These buildings are identified with features like arches, vaults, and columns. Beaux-Arts is one of the most visible styles in New York City. The buildings are built on the foundation of classical architecture and have French Baroque & Rococo influences along with an Ancient Greek framework. This style was predominantly seen in the late 19th century to the early 20th century while many buildings in the city were coming up.
The Grand Central building is one of the examples of this regal style. The facade of the terminal has three triumphal arches in it. Italian Botticino marble, Guastavino tiles, and Tennesse inscriptions were some materials used for its detailed inscriptions and ornamental finishes.
The Flatiron Building is another notable building in this style. The building is on a triangular region at the intersection between Fifth and Broadway Avenues. The structure's dramatic shape and rich ornamentation had made it one of the most recognizable landmarks.
Art Deco
Art Deco eventually replaced Beaux-Arts with its radical style recognized by geometric shapes, zig-zag pattern, and streamlined forms. Art Deco is one of the most iconic styles of New York that was born in Paris that took the entire world by storm in the 20th century. This style is most characterized by the blend of dramatic historical allusions with industrial craft. This style often has sleek, showy materials like colourful stone, chrome plating, plastic, stainless steel, and glass block. Many buildings and apartments in NYC are made of Art Deco style, showcasing its influence over the city.
The Chrysler Building is a symbol of New York City. The building was designed by William Van Alen who made beautiful ornamentation of the facade modelled after the features found in Chrysler cars at the time.
Italianate Style
Inspired by Italian Renaissance architecture, the style came in the 19th century in England and eventually in the US in the 1840s. While this style is mostly found in mansions and ornate halls in Europe, this is seen in low-cost row-houses in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Due to the newly refined techniques, ornamentation in cast iron and stone was allowed now that was previously the most luxurious homes. These qualities are seen in the building facades of SoHo's cast-iron district as well as in the brownstones of Brooklyn.
Modernism Style
Post Art Deco, in the 1920s a new style emerged in NYC that promotes a modern, universal and utilitarian architecture. Such buildings were identified by their simplicity, rationality, functionality, and absence in ornamentation. The ideas of this style originated from the Bauhaus, and modern architects in NYC designed boxy skyscrapers with new materials such as steel, glass, and RCC. The Guggenheim Museum, The Seagram Building, and The United Nations Building are some of the most famous examples of modern NYC.
The Guggenheim Museum by Frank Lloyd Wright wanted to design the best possible atmosphere to show the fine painting or listen to music. This concept inspired the curvy design that completely stands out among the many angular structures in the city.
The United Nation's headquarters reflects the international style aesthetics that is meant to symbolize the future and convert a sense of modernity.
Post-Modern Style
This style is often described as the response to the prefabricated modern buildings of the first half of the 20th century. The building in this style features expressive shapes and flourishes of personality aimed at representing the building's use or location.
The Lipstick Building by Philip Johnson is one of the buildings that stand out. Standing tall among blocks of standard regular office buildings, the oval contour of the building is designed in three layers stacked like an open lipstick tube, thus earning its name. The facade of the building is in red granite and stainless steel that shows its true departure from the traditional New York architecture.
The other example is the Sony Building designed by Phillip Johnson and John Burgee which is said to resemble a Chippendale Cabinet.
These are the five most significant styles found majorly in New York with some prominent building names attached to them. As we keep going further in exploring the architecture of the world, it is no doubt, that New York is a must visit again with the plethora of other buildings that have still remained nameless in the blog. New York is a city that never sleeps and has sure kept me awake most nights dreaming to visit the land and explore its architecture!
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