Aleksandar Dekic

Lower Manhattan: The Emerging Metropolis

With the invention of elevator safety brake, and with the constructing the Brooklyn Bridge, the new era for the New York City begins, as a growing commercial power. In this period, we have building construction boom, with several examples that we visit it during the last class, that represents step forward from large scale houses built for wealthiest New Yorkers to high-rise landmark buildings like US Custom House, Federal Hall and New York Stock exchange building, Trinity church, Equitable building, Woolworth building, and Brooklyn bridge as a sign of unification of Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Some of these buildings are made in quoting languages of architecture, like Federal Hall and New York Stock exchange buildings. Both mimic the Pantheon in Rome. The federal building has portico with the freezes that contain triglyphs over the Doric columns of the façade with the domed ceiling inside and a steep step in front. New York Stock Exchange building has portico that includes pediment filled with pictures like it was in Parthenon in Athens. All this is supported by six Corinthian columns to give a building look like a very stable construction. Both buildings are built in the Greek revival style. Also, Trinity church is built in quoting architectural language, in the Gothic revival style.

On the other hand, the US Customs House is built as a part of the Beaux-Art style. This is the use of classical art as a base for the creation of a new style and it is part of developing language in architecture. We have a big building with high steps in front and beautiful columns that are radiating from the building with its 3 quarters. We have four sculptures in the front of the building at the enormous pedestals that show us that this building is not Greek revival but Beaux-Art style, something that is added as a unique American with details that represent this country.

Equitable building and Woolworth building represent modern architectural language. The first one represents all the bad in modern architecture, while the second one was representing an organic way of constructing. The Equitable building was created as a monster building to bring the most possible revenue for the owner, without thinking for space and organization. It is a very anemic and cold building, that occupies every square inch of the lot. On the other hand, the Woolworth building was built in cascades, allowing the airflow and sun to reach in and around the building. They use steel and terra cotta for faster construction, but they still made it in Art Deco style using neo-gothic elements on the façade. A lower level of the facade is made of limestone, and we have a greater integration of styles from bottom to top. We can see outside of the building how vertical lines on the façade make the connection from bottom to the top. The architectural language was implemented for the building itself.

This was an excellent way to see evolving in architecture in Lower Manhattan and how certain inventions provide the critical missing pieces for developing tall buildings. All this provides an opportunity to invent new architectural typology and a new image of the city.