Chrysler Building

Chrysler Building
Chrysler Building was the world's tallest building from 27 May 1930 to 1931.*
Preceded by	40 Wall Street
Surpassed by	Empire State Building
Information
Location	405 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York, USA
Status	Complete
Constructed	1928-1930
Height
Antenna/Spire	1,047'
Roof	925'
Top floor	899'
Technical details
Floor count	77
Floor area	1,195,000 sq. ft.
Elevator count	32
Companies
Architect	William Van Alen
*Fully habitable, self-supported, from main entrance to highest structural or architectural top.

The Chrysler Building is an iconic Art Deco skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Standing 1,047 feet high, it was briefly the world's tallest building before it was overtaken by the Empire State Building in 1931. It is now the second tallest building in New York City.

History

The skyscraper, designed by architect William Van Alen, was originally built to house the Chrysler Corporation. The groundbreaking occurred on September 19, 1928. At the time, the builders of New York were engaged in an intense competition to build the world's tallest skyscraper. The Chrysler Building was erected at an average rate of four floors per week, and no workers were killed during construction. Just prior to its completion, the building stood about even with the rival project 40 Wall Street, designed by H. Craig Severance. Severance quickly increased the height of his project by two feet and claimed the title of the world's tallest building (this distinction excluded structures that were not fully habitable, such as the Eiffel Tower).

File:Chrysler Building Midtown Manhattan New York City 1932.jpg

The Chrysler Building in 1932

Van Alen secretly obtained permission to build a spire that was hidden inside the building during construction. The spire, measuring 125 feet long and composed of Nirosta stainless steel, was hoisted to the top of the building on October 23, 1929. The added height allowed the Chrysler Building to surpass both 40 Wall Street and the Eiffel Tower as the tallest building and the tallest structure in the world. It was also the first man-made structure to stand taller than 1,000 feet. The steel chosen to cap the building was Krupp KA2 "Enduro" Steel. The building opened to the public on May 27, 1930. In less than a year, the Chrysler Building was surpassed in height by the Empire State Building. Van Alen's satisfaction was later muted by Walter Chrysler's refusal to pay his fee.^{[citation needed]}

The building was renovated in 1978-1979, during which the entrance hall was constructed in granite, marble, and steel. The spire underwent a restoration that was completed in 1995. The building is presently co-owned by TMW Real Estate, with three-quarters of the ownership, and Tishman Speyer Properties, with the remaining one-quarter of ownership.

Architecture

Detail of the Art Deco ornamentation at the crown

The Chrysler Building is a famous example of Art Deco architecture. The distinctive ornamentation of the building is based on features that were then being used on Chrysler automobiles. The corners of the 61st floors are graced with eagles, replicas of the 1929 Chrysler hood ornaments[1]. On the 31st floors the corner ornamentation are replicas of the 1929 Chrysler radiator caps[2]. The building is constructed of masonry, with a steel frame, and metal cladding.

The lobby is similarly elegant. When the building first opened it contained a public viewing gallery near the top, which a few years later was changed into a restaurant, but neither of these enterprises was able to be financially self sustaining during the Great Depression and the former observation floor became a private dining room called the Cloud Club. The very top stories of the building are narrow with low-sloped ceilings, designed mostly for exterior appearance with interiors useful only to hold radio broadcasting and other mechanical and electrical equipment.

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 which 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.

In more recent years the Chrysler Building has continued to be a favorite among New Yorkers. 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 percent of them placed the building in their top 10 favorite buildings. [3]

The Chrysler Building´s distinctive profile has inspired similar skyscrapers worldwide, including One Liberty Place in Philadelphia.

• Chrysler building.jpg

  The building viewed from street level

• 

  View from one of the north-facing triangular windows

• Chrysler elevator.jpg

  Elevator interior with inlaid wood

• Chrysler at night.jpg

  Illuminination of the building at night

In popular culture

• In the movie Armageddon, a chunk of the asteroid hits the Chrysler Building, severing its upper quarter and causing it to crash down on the streets.
• Larry Cohen's low-budget, classic movie Q: The Winged Serpent (1982) has the titular dragon-beast nesting just below the spire of the Chrysler Building, from where it launches its campaign of terror on New York City, staying invisible to the citizens by "flying against the sun."
• In the music video for "This is a Song for the Lonely" by Cher, the Chrysler Building is shown, being built, though mainly just the upper quarter.
• In the video game Parasite Eve, the building is a site of a thorough, hostile- creature infestation. The player must climb all 77 floors and encounter enemies on each floor. The secret "true" boss is on the 77th floor.
• In Annie, during the "Hard-Knock Life" number, Molly says, imitating Miss Hannigan, "You'll stay up till this dump shines like the top of the Chrysler Building!"
• In season one of the BRAVO television show Project Runway, designer Jay McCarrol created an evening gown inspired by the Chrysler Building for the Banana Republic challenge.
• In the Kurt Vonnegut novel Jailbird, the uppermost room under the spire of the Chrysler Building is the showroom of the American Harp Company.

Quotations

"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

"The design, originally drawn up for building contractor William H. Reynolds, was finally sold to Walter P. Chrysler, who wanted a provocative building which 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::

"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

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Kent, Peter, Great Building Stories of the Past, Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0195218466
• Lowe, David. Art Deco New York, Watson-Guptill, 2004. ISBN 978-0823002849
• Stravitz, David. The Chrysler Building: Creating a New York Icon, Day by Day, Princeton Architectural Press, 2002. ISBN 978-1568983547
• Terranova, Antonino. Skyscrapers, White Star Publishers, 2003. ISBN-8880952307

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Chrysler Building

• Salon.com article (02/2002)
• Newyork-evasion gallery of photographs on the Chrysler Building
• New York Architecture Images-the Chrysler Building
• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth

Preceded by: 40 Wall Street

Tallest Building in New York City 1930—1931

Succeeded by: Empire State Building

Credits

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