Category Archives: Manhattan

Manhattan

Knox Building

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The Knox Building is a landmark 10-story Beaux Arts commercial building, wrapped by the modern 29-story HSBC Tower. Both have ties to 19th-Century personalities.

Civil War hero Edward Knox took over his father’s ailing hat business and pledged to make the Knox name known wherever hats were sold. The Knox Hat Building on Fifth Avenue was part of the route taken. Knox, active in veterans’ affairs, met architect John H. Duncan and was impressed by his designs of the Grand Army Plaza Memorial Arch and the General Grant National Memorial (Grant’s Tomb). Knox subsequently commissioned Duncan to build his newest store and company headquarters.

In 1964 Republic National Bank bought the building and converted it to banking, making relatively few exterior changes (though they did remove the mezzanine). Then in 1985 Republic wrapped a 29-story L-shaped tower around the Knox Building. HSBC acquired Republic, and in 2006 made additional restorations and renovations to the structures.

The artfully done tower (Eli Attia, architect) comes off as a drape backdrop for the Beaux Arts Knox Building. The art came at the expense of the Kress Building, which many preservationists wanted to save from demolition.

HSBC Tower preserves some history that predates the Kress Building, though. In the middle of the Fifth Avenue facade a bronze door memorializes the site of an 1850s “House of Mystery.” That mansion was owned by the Wendel family until the last daughter, Ella, died in 1931 at age 78.

The five-story red brick home was said to be the last residence on that stretch of Fifth, an eccentric home to an eccentric and very wealthy family.

When Ella died, the estate reportedly took 10 years, 250 lawyers and $2 million to settle – there were no less than 2,300 individuals claiming to be heirs.

Drew University was among the beneficiaries of Ella’s will: They received, then sold, the mansion, and a Kress Department Store was built on the site.

Knox Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 452 Fifth Avenue at W 40th Street
  • Year completed: 1902
  • Architect: John H. Duncan
  • Floors: 10
  • Style: Beaux Arts
  • New York City Landmark: 1980
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1982
HSBC Tower Vital Statistics
  • Location: 452 Fifth Avenue at W 40th Street
  • Year completed: 1985
  • Architect: Eli Attia
  • Floors: 29
  • Style: Postmodern
Knox Building / HSBC Tower Recommended Reading

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Madison Belmont Building

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The Madison Belmont Building was a prominent addition to the young “Silk District,” commercial buildings serving the silk industry that replaced the mansions of uptown-bound wealthy New Yorkers. It was among the first in the U.S. to use Art Deco design elements, according to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. The overall design, however, was traditional. Like other tall buildings of the time, the Madison Belmont Building had a base – shaft – capital organization mimicking a classical column.

Although architect Whitney Warren had been exposed to Art Deco concepts while in Paris, it appears that prime tenant Cheney Silk Company also influenced the design. The company had a relationship with Edgar Brandt, a pioneer of the Art Deco style in Paris. Warren picked Brandt to design the iron and bronze framing around the showroom windows of the lower three floors, as well as the entrance doors and grilles.

The white 18th floor was added in 1953 – 29 years after the original construction.

Despite the Madison Belmont Building’s pioneering role, architects Warren & Wetmore are better known for their neo-Renaissance and Beaux Arts works, such as the New York Yacht Club, Grand Central Terminal, New York Central Building (aka Helmsley Building), Steinway Hall, Aeolian, and Heckscher Building (aka Crown Building).

Madison Belmont Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 181 Madison Avenue at E 34th Street
  • Year completed: 1925
  • Architect: Warren & Wetmore
  • Floors: 18
  • Style: neo-Renaissance, with Art Deco decoration
  • New York City Landmark: 2011
Madison Belmont Building Recommended Reading

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261 Fifth Avenue

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261 Fifth Avenue replaced six houses from the mid-1800s; it was used primarily as showrooms and offices of companies in the housewares and carpet industries, according to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission.

The commission also notes that the striking bold terra cotta ornament used by architect Ely Jacques Kahn had “similarities to motifs used by Frank Lloyd Wright.” Which leads to a small bit of irony: Frank Lloyd Wright was the inspiration for Howard Roark, the hero architect in Ayn Rand’s novel “Fountainhead.” But Ayn Rand worked for Kahn (as an unpaid typist) while she was researching the book; she is quoted as saying of Kahn, “As a type, he was Guy Francon.” (Francon was a sycophant in the novel.)

261 Fifth Avenue Vital Statistics
  • Location: 261 Fifth Avenue at E 29th Street
  • Year completed: 1929
  • Architect: Buchman & Kahn
  • Floors: 26
  • Style: Art Deco
  • New York City Landmark: 2001
261 Fifth Avenue Recommended Reading

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Blue

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Blue is much too young to be a landmark in the historical sense, but it has certainly made its mark in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

The towering (in the local context) cantilevered glass box, with its Mondrian-esque grid of blue and black, stands out like the proverbial sore thumb against the Lower East Side’s historic tenements (the Tenement Museum is three blocks away). Not long after the controversial apartments went up, New York City Council rezoned the East Village and Lower East Side, limiting building heights to preserve “neighborhood scale and character.”

The architect – charged, after all, with the task of creating a profitable building – said the structure was the logical result of maximizing square footage within the separate requirements of two lots. The cantilevered south section (103 Norfolk Street) rises over a commercial zone lot; the north section (105 Norfolk Street) is on a residential zone lot.

You must admit it’s an arresting design from any angle, even on a cloudy day.

Blue Vital Statistics
  • Location: 103 & 105 Norfolk Street between Delancey and Rivington Streets
  • Year completed: 2007
  • Architect: Bernard Tschumi Architects, SLCE Architects
  • Floors: 17
  • Style: Postmodern
Blue Recommended Reading
  • The New York Times Real Estate article (September 11, 2005)
  • Bernard Tschumi Architects website
  • Street Easy listing

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Mulberry House

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Mulberry House demonstrates how architects can play zoning restrictions to circumvent the intent of community planning boards. Here, zoning restrictions were written to preserve the character of the neighborhood. (Mulberry House is directly across the street from the landmark Puck Building.) But as the architects described in ArchDaily:

“Making a literal interpretation of code written for classical ornamentation allowed us to project our enclosure over the property line at 10% intervals for every 100 square feet. Maximizing the amount of projected area, while minimizing the overall depth of the enclosure became key criteria for our design. When coupled with material properties and fabrication constraints, these criteria began to define an approach that was a contemporary reinterpretation of brick detailing. By customizing a standard precast brick panel system, we were able to achieve maximum effect at minimum cost. The building then becomes veiled by an textured wrapper around the street walls in contrast with the simplicity of the inner core.”

Whether you like SHoP Architects’ design or not, you have to admire the texture of the brickwork and its construction. Look up along the building’s southern edge on Mulberry Street, to see the brick-on-concrete panels.* And if you like to see how things are made, Mulberry House’s construction is richly documented on line – browse the Recommended Reading links below for very detailed views and explanations.

Alas, the original developer bailed out on this condo project when the real estate market tanked; the new developer has reconfigured Mulberry House as a rental building. The eight full-floor apartments start at $10,500/month; the one triplex penthouse is reportedly $25,000/month.

* In most modern construction, a steel and/or concrete frame supports the building; brick is only a decorative/protective skin that is attached to the frame.

Mulberry House Vital Statistics
  • Location: 290 Mulberry Street between E Houston and Prince Streets
  • Year completed: 2013
  • Architect: SHoP Architects
  • Floors: 13
  • Style: Postmodern
Mulberry House Recommended Reading

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Fashion Center Building

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Fashion Center Building, in the words of The New York Times, “is hardly a traffic-stopping landmark.” But its entrance and its terra cotta decoration are noteworthy – someone was paying attention to details.

The Seventh Avenue entrance was restored in 1994 to close to its original state – the ornate wrought iron grill had been removed and the vestibule had been enclosed with a line of modern doors. The restoration architect, George Ranalli, added modern touches in the floor, lighting and lobby desk, but otherwise preserved the spirit of the original.

Fashion Center Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 525 Seventh Avenue at W 38th Street
  • Year completed: 1922
  • Architect: Henry Ives Cobb
  • Floors: 22
  • Style: Romanesque Revival
Fashion Center Building Recommended Reading

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One Kenmare Square

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One Kenmare Square is a modern addition to SoHo, with a wavy brick and glass face that breaks the building line – as if its towering form and made-up address wasn’t enough to make it stand out. (Kenmare Square no longer exists – the park of that name was renamed in 1987.)

Except for the undulating Lafayette Street facade, the design is minimalist: No decoration softens the industrial-grey brick. The ribbon windows are reminiscent of the Starrett-Lehigh Building (warehouse/office complex) in West Chelsea.

One Kenmare Square Vital Statistics
  • Location: 210 Lafayette Street at Kenmare Street
  • Year completed: 2005
  • Architect: Gluckman Mayner Architects
  • Floors: 12
  • Style: postmodern
One Kenmare Square Recommended Reading

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Langham Place

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Langham Place (formerly Setai Fifth Avenue) is a towering grid of limestone, concrete and glass with emphatic vertical lines that mimic the nearby Empire State Building.

The 57-story building is a mix of retail (floors 1-3), 214-room hotel (4-26), and 164 condominium apartments (28-56). The 10-story limestone base has a rounded corner; a 46-story sheer concrete tower sits atop that. Unusual floor-to-ceiling windows – two panes angled with the bottom pane facing down, top pane facing up – are paired in columns all around. On the residential floors, corner apartments have wrap-around windows. The windows give Langham Place’s facade a unique faceted texture – quite striking from nearby.

The two-story flared stainless steel crown hides water tanks and other mechanical details, and elevator machinery. The crown is illuminated at night.

Among other notable projects in New York City, Gwathmey Siegel & Associates designed the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, W New York Downtown, and Astor Place Tower.

Langham Place Vital Statistics
  • Location: 400 Fifth Avenue at W 36th Street
  • Year completed: 2010
  • Architect: Gwathmey Siegel & Associates
  • Floors: 57
  • Style: Postmodern
Langham Place Recommended Reading

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275 Madison Avenue

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275 Madison Avenue (originally known as 22 E 40th Street) is an Art Deco landmark in midtown Manhattan. Its polished black granite and silver base continues to be a striking presence more than three quarters of a century after construction. (If only mere mortals had such staying power!)

In contrast to other commercial buildings of the day, 275 Madison had almost no decoration above the base. The tower was promoted as a “shadowless” skyscraper (because there were no projecting cornices, sculptures or other features to cast shadows), though some critics say the lack of ornament was simply a cost-saving measure dictated by the stock market crash. The building’s vertical lines are accentuated by dark columns of windows against a white-brick background.

Architect Kenneth Franzheim is best known for his work in Houston, for Houston-based developer Jesse Jones. It was Jones’ New York-based firm, Houston Properties Corporation, that developed 275 Madison Avenue with New York Trust as the prime tenant. (The bank owned two of the five lots used to build the tower.) In 1933, Johns-Manville Corporation leased 14 floors, so the structure is sometimes called the Johns-Manville Building. However, Johns-Manville already had its own building a block away, on Madison Avenue at E 41st Street.

Despite 275 Madison Avenue’s address, the tower’s main entrance is actually on E 40th Street – and the building was originally known as 22 E 40th Street.

At this writing, 275 Madison Ave. is owned by RFR Realty.

275 Madison Avenue Vital Statistics
  • Location: 275 Madison Avenue at E 40th Street
  • Year completed: 1931
  • Architect: Kenneth Franzheim
  • Floors: 43
  • Style: Art Deco
  • New York City Landmark: 2009
275 Madison Avenue Recommended Reading

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