The Chrysler Building: Creating a New York Icon, Day by Day - Hardcover

Stravitz, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1568983549 ISBN 13: 9781568983547

Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press, 2002

Synopsis

The Chrysler Building is surely the jewel in the crown of New York City's skyline. Completed in 1930, the 77-story Art Deco skyscraper--the tallest in the world at the time it was finished--quickly became the symbol of big city glamour, excitement, and style. Its cloud-piercing spire and gleaming, steel-clad ornament depicting gargoyles, hubcaps, and the winged helmets of Mercury came to represent the thrill of the Machine Age at its most exuberant.

But, until now, this magnificent building has also been one of the least documented and studied, a simple result of the fact that there were no known archives relating to its design or construction. This material was lost in the decades following its completion, or so everyone believed, until author David Stravitz discovered a box of negatives on the floor of a defunct stock photo company, just days before they were to be shipped off for silver reclamation. The never-before-seen photographs, reproduced as sumptuous duotones in this oversize book, illustrate the day-by-day construction of this American icon.

The photographs were taken by professional photo companies hired to document the construction of the building. In so doing, they also captured the day-to-day life taking place on the streets and in the environs of the Chrysler Building in exquisite detail.

This book beautifully illustrates the history of one of the most important buildings in New York as it emerged from street level to spire.

About this title

About the Author

David Stravitz is an entrepreneur and a photography aficionado. He lives in New York City.

Christopher Gray is an architectural historian and a preeminent authority on New York City whose writing appears frequently in the New York Times.

Review

"This book will appeal to anyone interested in documentary photography of urban street life in New York City. Highly recommended." -- Choice, March 2003

"One of his passions is photography, which led to the discovery of 500 8×10 negatives of old New York from 1910 to 1948, including more than 150 images of the day-by-day construction of the Chrysler Building." --The New York Times

"These dramatic black and white street scenes, city vistas, and architectural details portray this once controversial, now precious building as the grand work of art it truly is." --Booklist, October, 1, 2002

"These coolly objective records can inspire intense emotion." --The New Yorker, November 18, 2002

"Goes way beyond the mundane progress shots typical of most construction projects. What sets these nuanced black and white depictions apart is how well they place the subject within the context of the city." --The New York Times Book Review, December 8, 2002

"These stunning, never-before-seen photographs document the construction of the building and street life around it. Did you know there were hubcaps among the gargoyles?" --New York Magazine, November 25, 2002

"Idiosyncratic shots, like the workers sharing a smoke atop one of the towers legendary eagle heads, reminds us of the sweat and blood expended in the creation of this architectural icon." --The Wall Street Journal, December 6, 2002

"There is no archive of architect William Van Alen's blueprints or specifications, which makes photography enthusiast David Stravitz's discovery of 150 documentary photographs a cause for celebration." --Metropolis, January, 2003

"A stunning collection." --The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, December 1, 2002

"The World Trade Center was grand and then tragic, but it never had the vamp power of this marvel that seems to cascade upward, spearing the sky." --The San Diego Union-Tribune, November 24, 2002

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1568983549
• ISBN 13: 9781568983547
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 179