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Tyler Green, over at Modern Art Notes, in connection with the recent AIA List of "America's Favorite Architecture," has asked his readers to chime in with their favorites on their blogs and link to him.
Having a special love for architecture, I thought I should join in, but was horrified to discover that when I had to REALLY think of the buildings that mean something to me, my tastes are kinda classic and middle-of-the-road. Oh, well. Also very New York City-centric. Well, I don't get around much, and I limited myself to buildings I've seen in person, of course. Looking at the AIA list now, I see a handful of buildings I SHOULD have thought of, but didn't (the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, for example), but I'm holding myself to the five buildings (and one interior) that I thought of on my own, without looking anything up, as meaning something special to me.
The Woolworth Building, 1913, Cass Gilbert
I drive over the Brooklyn Bridge and around through Park Row to the West Side Highway all the time, and every single time I marvel at Gilbert's great skyscraper. Great from a distance, or close up (great details in the lobby, if you can get in and past security in this day and age.
The Flatiron (Fuller) Building, Daniel Burnham, 1902
Still eccentric and distinctive without being self-conscious or ugly. For a moment, when seeing it, I can pretend I'm in a dark NYC drama.
The Bradbury Building (interior), George Wyman, 1893
The one non-NYC place here. Mom and I went to L.A. when I was small, and she hired a limo driver to take us around the city and show us the cool things tourists normally don't see. We started here, before Blade Runner made the place a known location again. I still see the interior in movies and place myself exactly where I was when we saw it.
MetLife North Building, Harvey Wiley Corbett, 1929
Not the overrated tower to the south, but the giant mass of the North Building - unfortunately, I can't find a night shot, when the lights make it look like something from DC Comics' Gotham City or Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Walked by it, lit up, ominous, beautiful, in a light mist my first term at NYU in 1986 with my then-girlfriend, and we stopped for some time below it, marvelling at the fact that, jeezus, we were IN NEW YORK.
The Chrysler Building, William Van Alen, 1930
And again, everything NYC is supposed to be in your dreams.
Lever House, Gordon Bunshaft, 1952
And one day I looked at this and something opened in my head and I realized what all these other buildings were SUPPOSED to be, and nearly wept for what might have been.
And your faves?
Having a special love for architecture, I thought I should join in, but was horrified to discover that when I had to REALLY think of the buildings that mean something to me, my tastes are kinda classic and middle-of-the-road. Oh, well. Also very New York City-centric. Well, I don't get around much, and I limited myself to buildings I've seen in person, of course. Looking at the AIA list now, I see a handful of buildings I SHOULD have thought of, but didn't (the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, for example), but I'm holding myself to the five buildings (and one interior) that I thought of on my own, without looking anything up, as meaning something special to me.
The Woolworth Building, 1913, Cass Gilbert
I drive over the Brooklyn Bridge and around through Park Row to the West Side Highway all the time, and every single time I marvel at Gilbert's great skyscraper. Great from a distance, or close up (great details in the lobby, if you can get in and past security in this day and age.
The Flatiron (Fuller) Building, Daniel Burnham, 1902
Still eccentric and distinctive without being self-conscious or ugly. For a moment, when seeing it, I can pretend I'm in a dark NYC drama.
The Bradbury Building (interior), George Wyman, 1893
The one non-NYC place here. Mom and I went to L.A. when I was small, and she hired a limo driver to take us around the city and show us the cool things tourists normally don't see. We started here, before Blade Runner made the place a known location again. I still see the interior in movies and place myself exactly where I was when we saw it.
MetLife North Building, Harvey Wiley Corbett, 1929
Not the overrated tower to the south, but the giant mass of the North Building - unfortunately, I can't find a night shot, when the lights make it look like something from DC Comics' Gotham City or Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Walked by it, lit up, ominous, beautiful, in a light mist my first term at NYU in 1986 with my then-girlfriend, and we stopped for some time below it, marvelling at the fact that, jeezus, we were IN NEW YORK.
The Chrysler Building, William Van Alen, 1930
And again, everything NYC is supposed to be in your dreams.
Lever House, Gordon Bunshaft, 1952
And one day I looked at this and something opened in my head and I realized what all these other buildings were SUPPOSED to be, and nearly wept for what might have been.
And your faves?
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Date: 2007-02-16 07:00 pm (UTC)From:I'd seen it before, but Cliona, my guest, had not, of course. She stepped in and flat-out boggled at the mosaic work, and as Richard and I watched, amused, she spent a full five minutes wandering around the lobby, eyes like saucers. At some point after Richard and I had also begun wandering around to study the mosaics, he came over and tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at Cliona, whispering to me, "I think I've seen her needle go to 'tilt' at least three times."
...However, she also had that reaction when we were taking the subway through Queens, because "it looks just like on the Archie Bunker show!" So who knows.
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Date: 2007-02-16 11:17 pm (UTC)From:And actually, I like hearing about things like Cliona's reaction to Queens -- too many people from out of town don't get to see the "other" parts of NYC, and don't get to see the breadth of communities and styles we have here (people from out of town who come to visit me in Brooklyn are stunned to find that I basically live in the suburbs).