Friday, February 12, 2021 – Walk around neighborhoods and enjoy the facades especially from 1920’s architecture
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2021
The
285th Edition
From Our Archives
From EPHEMERAL NEW YORK
TWO GREAT ART DECO
BUILDINGS
THE FULLER BUILDING
&
240 EAST 79 STREET
THE FULLER BUILDING
An Ode to Construction Workers on a 57th Street Art Deco Tower
February 8, 2021
There’s a lot to love about the Fuller Building, the Art Deco-Art Nouveau beauty built in 1929 that rises 40 stories over Madison Avenue and 57th Street.
A few favorites: the black granite facade on the lower floors, geometric designs at the top of the tower, and the medallions on the lobby floor showing various buildings constructed by the Fuller Company, an early developer of steel-skeleton skyscrapers. (These included the Flatiron Building, which was called the Fuller Building when it opened in 1902—but “flatiron” stuck because of the shape of the lot it was built on.)
The sculptures, by Elie Nadelman, seem to be an ode to the men who literally constructed the Fuller Building and other mighty towers that raised New York’s skyline higher toward the heavens in the early 20th century.
Perhaps the most eye-catching feature of this iconic tower sits above the entrance: two idealized and shirtless construction workers flanking a clock while standing in front of a cityscape of skyscrapers.
It makes sense. The Fuller Company was a construction company that depended on the strength and skill of men in the building trades. Without these workers and advancements in engineering, Manhattan would have remained a low-rise metropolis topping out at six or so stories.
240 EAST 72nd STREET
Art Deco poetry on a 1929 East Side high-rise
January 25, 2021
You don’t see a lot of green glazed terra cotta on New York City high-rise facades. But then 240 East 79th Street isn’t just another residential building on the Upper East Side.
This “rather plain brick building” completed in 1929 features a showstopping Art Deco entrance, “completely faced in colored glazed terra-cotta squares, with glazed terra cotta surrounds for the windows and the main entrance,” noted Anthony Robins in his book New York Art Deco: A Guide to Gotham’s Jazz Age Architecture.
The building’s awning carries the address in a recognizable Art Deco typeface, as does the “No. 240 East 79 St” inscribed above the entrance
Isn’t that eight-sided emblem amid all the green terra cotta unusual? Robins has this to say about it: “Above the inscription sits an octagonal piece of stone, set within a terra cotta frame and capped by a flowering form that curves out from the facade to hover protectively over it.”
“Frederick Godwin, the architect, was a great-grandson of American poet William Cullen Bryant—and his ornamental treatment here is quite poetic.”
FRIDAY PHOTOS OF THE DAY
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THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
F9EBD7The Gateway Arch is a 630-foot (192 m) monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch,[it is the world’s tallest arch the tallest man-made monument in the Western Hemisphere, and Missouri’s tallest accessible building. Built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States, and officially dedicated to “the American people,” the Arch, commonly referred to as “The Gateway to the West” is the centerpiece of Gateway Arch National Park and has become an internationally recognized symbol of St. Louis, as well as a popular tourist destination.
The Arch was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen in 1947; construction began on February 12, 1963.
CLARA BELLA, ANDY SPARBERG, M. FRANK, HARA REISER, AND GLORIA HERMAN GOT IT
EDITORIAL
Walking in Manhattan, Queens or any neighborhood reveals low-key wonderful design, especially around entryways, doors and vestibules. Look up and you will spot gargoyles and decorative terra cotta trim!
Judith Berdy
FOLLOW THIS LINK TO REGISTER FOR THE PROGRAM:
https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2021/02/16/nyta-objects
Library card number is not needed
A confirmation will be e-mailed to you
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Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c)
Sources
EPHEMERAL NEW YORK
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