The marketing books for skyscrapers that I’ve looked at recently were for very tall buildings. The Singer and Woolworth Buildings were each the tallest in the world when they were built and their books were released; the City Investing Building was among the tallest. The Broadway Chambers Building, on the other hand, was far from …
Having used a good amount of space here discussing the Singer and City Investing Buildings, it’s worth at least a passing mention of what followed. Both were torn down 1967-68 and replaced by a single building covering both lots, the US Steel Building. Unlike the Second Empire style of Singer or the Gothic(ish) City Investing, …
It may come as a surprise, but this photo Tim Michiels took is a bit distorted. The towers of the George Washington Bridge are actually vertical, and the Little Red Lighthouse, while small, is not a hydrant-sized toy.
One last thought about the City Investing Buidling. It may have had an awkward exterior, but its lobby, like that of nearly old skyscrapers, was intended to awe. The building was overall long and narrow, with the narrow Broadway wing making it very long, and the lobby was a double-height space running the full length …
The level of ornament put on an early-1900s skyscraper like the City Investing Building can make it hard to believe that it’s all structurally supported by a steel frame. The picture above shows the Broadway entrance to the building, at the far eastern end of the long narrow neck of the building that leads to …
