New York is filled with curtain-wall construction. When the light is right, the conjunction of glass, steel and sky can be both playful and striking. The sharp contrasts accentuate buildings’ geometric forms, reducing them to abstract art.
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If you’ve ever wondered how an old building could look so new, here’s how!
A restoration team from Jablonski Building Conservation, Inc. is restoring the facade of 105 W 22nd Street / 695-709 Sixth Avenue. Xsusha Flandro, Senior Conservator, was kind enough to explain the process:
“The tiles are glazed ceramic tiles manufactured by the Hartford Faience Company (incorporated from the Atwood Faience Company in 1894). The current building was erected in phases between 1889 and 1911. The tiles are ca. 1913 when Chicago business man J.L. Kesner (hence the “K” on the tile columns) leased the building and submitted plans for alteration to the first floor store fronts. Oddly enough Kesner was never in the building as he backed out of the lease, but since the construction plans were already submitted the Ehrich Brothers (owners of the building) went through with the building plans and completed the tile columns. The building is a contributing member to the Ladies Mile Historic District.
“A lot of prep work goes into the restoration of tiles. The first thing we did were cleaning tests. We completed small cleaning test samples and then based on results proceeded with the most gentle and effective of the cleaners tested to clean all the tiles. We also tested paint strippers (all pH neutral – not acidic and not alkaline – because harsh strippers can damage the glazes) in the same manner as the cleaners because some columns had graffiti and general over paint. After cleaning and paint removal we moved into removing abandoned anchors (where signage and such had been attached over the years). Then we moved into patching. We utilized a repair system manufactured by Edison Coatings out of Connecticut. Edison Coatings provided us with custom colored patch repair material for each color of glaze, after the patching was complete the patches are sanded and shaped to the correct profile, and then in-painted (only painted where the patch is) using a polyurethane paint system (also by Edison Coatings) custom colored to the glazes on the tiles. This is where the artistry comes in and we blend the colors onsite to match the adjacent historic tile glazes. No coating is placed over the work after we are finished, as everything we use is specifically manufactured for outdoor use.
“In this project we are conserving nine tile columns. All missing tiles or tiles which we could not successfully conserve are being replaced with custom tiles, manufactured by Shenfeld Studios, to match the existing. It took us approximately three weeks to complete all the conservation work on site. The replacement tiles are still a few months out.”
Ms. Flandro noted that the work requires extensive training.
“To be an architectural conservator you have to have a Master’s degree in Historic Preservation – and usually in the conservation sector of historic preservation, which is where you gain a lot of your materials knowledge. Similar to how art conservators go through school and then specialize in one material, we go through school and specialize in building materials. In our company in order to progress past junior conservator we are required to apply to be a Professional Associate with the American Institute of Conservation (of which I hold PA status and the owner of Jablonski Building Conservation, Mary Jablonski, is a Fellow.) AIC – Professional Associate requires at very least 3 years’ experience and your previous projects/works are peer reviewed and letters of recommendation are required.”
(The company’s website is jbconservation.com.)
Every building has an entrance; some are more distinctive than others. Some are modest, some are grandiose; some blend in with their facades, some are colorful attention-getters. Here are some of my favorite doors of Philadelphia.
Every building has an entrance; some are more distinctive than others. Some are modest, some are grandiose; some blend in with their facades, some are colorful attention-getters. Here are some of my favorite doors of Manhattan.
Cass Gilbert (1859-1934) designed seven New York City landmarks between 1900 and 1934, among dozens of his notable works of architecture across the U.S.
← 1907 photo in Minnesota Encyclopedia (source: Wikipedia)
While best known to New Yorkers for the Woolworth Building, Gilbert also designed the Capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and West Virginia, and the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.
Born in Ohio, Gilbert rose to prominence in Minnesota when he was selected to design the new State Capitol in St. Paul. His Brazer Building in Boston led to a commission to his first New York commission, the Broadway Chambers Building. During that building’s construction, Gilbert moved to New York.
(Don’t confuse Cass Gilbert with his son – Cass Gilbert, Jr. – or with C.P.H. Gilbert. Cass Gilbert, Jr. supervised completion of the Thurgood Marshall US Courthouse that his father designed before he died. C.P.H. [Charles Pierrepont Henry] Gilbert is best known for mansions and townhouses.) Trivia: Cass and C.P.H. do have a connection, via Frank W. Woolworth: Woolworth hired Cass to design the Woolworth Building, but hired C.P.H. to design his personal mansion.
(portrait photo source: Wikipedia)
C.P.H. Gilbert designed more than 100 mansions in Brooklyn and Manhattan, several of which are designated New York City landmarks. A few of his Fifth Avenue mansions have been converted to institutional use – notably the Ukrainian Institute (former Harry F. Sinclair House) and the Jewish Museum (former Felix M. Warburg House).
Don’t confuse C.P.H. Gilbert with Cass Gilbert. Cass Gilbert is best known for monumental commercial and civic architecture. Trivia: Cass and C.P.H. do have a connection, via Frank W. Woolworth: Woolworth hired Cass to design the Woolworth Building, but hired C.P.H. to design his personal mansion.
Helmut Jahn (1940 – ) is a German-born, Chicago-based architect of international renown, with five colorfully distinctive New York towers (and one mid-rise) under his belt. The proposed but not built Television City would have been a record-breaker on behalf of The Donald (Trump). A new Jahn-designed tower – 50 West Street – is now underway.
After emigrating to the U.S., Jahn studied at the Illinois Institute of Technology under famed Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. He joined the firm of C.F. Murphy Associates in 1967. The roof of Jahn’s first major project, Kemper Arena (1974), collapsed in 1979. But his practice hardly skipped a beat: Eight major projects filled the years 1980-1986. In 1987-1989 he exploded on the New York scene with six projects: Office towers 425 Lexington Avenue, City Spire, International Plaza, and Park Avenue Tower, plus America Apartments. A smaller project – the 12-story Metropolitan Transportation Authority Building located in Brooklyn – was completed in 1989.
Jahn also designed Donald Trump’s proposed 150-story Television City.
After nearly 30 years’ absence, Jahn design is again under construction in New York. The long-dormant 50 West Street project, a 63-story mixed-use tower, is slated for 2016 completion.
Rosario Candela (1890-1953) is considered one of the masters of New York City apartment architecture. If you’ve never heard of him before, it’s only because outwardly his buildings aren’t as flashy as more famous works such as the Dakota, Dorilton, Ansonia or Chatsworth.
Candela made his mark in the late 1920s with luxury apartment buildings – stately and grand on the outside, luxurious on the inside, often with the scale and planning appropriate for mansions. Many of his high-ceilinged apartments contained libraries, servants’ quarters, four and five bedrooms and more. Further, apartment plans separated public (entertainment) areas from private areas and both separate from service areas. House guests could not wander into the boudoir, and maids stayed discreetly out of sight of guests and master.
Candela was an early developer of the penthouse – his way of turning the building code into extra luxury/profit. The building code required setbacks; setbacks became private wrap-around terraces for larger, opulent apartments.
When business slacked off during the Great Depression, Candela developed another profession – cryptology. He even found time to write two books on the subject.
Candela’s body of work is remarkably intact. Many of his buildings are protected by NYC landmark status; his 81 apartment buildings are reportedly all still standing, so you can go see them. To see the interiors, look for a copy of “The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter
” by Andrew Alpern
The firm of Harde & Short designed intricate apartment building facades for nearly a decade – 1901 to 1909 – then abruptly split up with no exceptional buildings between them.
London-educated Herbert Spencer Steinhardt (later shortened to Harde) designed upper west side tenements until 1900; he met Richard Thomas Short in the offices of James E. Ware & Son. Harde, son of a real estate entrepreneur, owned and developed buildings in addition to designing them. In fact, the team’s first significant building – the 1903 Red House – was owned by a Harde subsidiary.
Red House led to a commission for 45 E 66th Street, which led to 44 W 77th Street, which in turn led to a complete change of pace – Alwyn Court Apartments.
![[Engine Company 31] IMG_6019 12/13/2012 2:12:45 PM](https://www.newyorkitecture.com/wp-content/gallery/napoleon-le-brun/IMG_6019_resize.jpg "[Engine Company 31] IMG_6019 12/13/2012 2:12:45 PM")
Philadelphia-born Napoleon LeBrun (1821-1901) entered architecture at age 15, working in the office of Thomas Walter. He began his own practice just six years later, and designed several Philadelphia landmarks before moving to New York in 1864.
LeBrun is best known for churches and civic buildings; LeBrun and sons Pierre and Michel designed more than 40 buildings for the Fire Department of New York between 1880 and 1895. The firm also designed the landmark Metropolitan Life Building and the annex Tower, Home Life Insurance Company Building, and, further afield, upstate New York’s sprawling Mohonk Mountain House.
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