Background

Introduction

Chrysler building (figure 1) is one of the Art Deco inspired buildings. It’s one of the buildings that passed quickly into popular folklore. This building is one of the last skyscrapers in the Art Deco style.. This structure is located in New York City, on the east side of Manhattan, at the 42^nd street, Lexington Avenue. The construction begun in the year of 1928. It was designed by William Van Allen architect. Then, in the early 1930’s it was Manhattan’s tallest structure, towering all over others. The inspiration of the building came from the car called “Chrysler”, a personal project of automobile magnate Walter Percy Chrysler. It was the world’s tallest structure during that period. This construction was completed in 1930. The height of the Chrysler tower is 1,048 feet which is 320 meters to the top of its spire and has got 77 stories and 32 elevators. The spire on the top of Chrysler was added to make sure that the building was the tallest. The building has a number of inspiring treasures inside of the building. By the way it was one of the decorated buildings from 1930 to 1931. It’s interior design has been called as one of the great Art Deco buildings. Therefore, Chrysler skyscraper has its history and has amazing features in structure of interior and exterior design.

Figure 1: The view of the Chrysler building

Background

To start with, skyscrapers are all about the height. There is no limit or set height for a skyscraper. It described as a very tall building that towers above the other buildings. It can be any height, can be 30, 40 or more stories. Skyscrapers are confident and bold. They celebrate human endeavor and the elevation of man. They are elegant, romantic, mystical, and even positive. Nowadays, the skyscraper structure which is rising to the sky can be found in a world class city such as New York. One of the examples is a Chrysler building.

Chrysler building is designed by William Van Allen architect in the year of 1928. The automobile tycoon Walter Percy Chrysler commissioned William Van Allen to design his skyscraper. This structure was inspired by a Chrysler car radiator grill. He had no real need for such a grand building in New York. During that time, not everyone approved of Van Allen’s plan. Chrysler, the founder of the car, wanted his skyscraper to be the tallest structure in the world. Other architects also competed with Van Allen to build the tallest skyscraper but at the end, Van Allen’s resulting race caught the public imagination. It was raised to the top in 90 minutes. This was the age of skyscraper mania. A much publicized and bitter rivalry broke out when Van Allen’s ex partner H. Craig Severance, challenged him for the skies with his design for the bank of Manhattan Company. Severance, confident of success, completed first and stuck a fifty foot flag pole on top for good measure. However, the outcome was decided when Van Allen pulled off amazing theatrical stunt in the Chrysler’s fire shaft- he had secretly constructed a 185 foot high steel spire. The spire was hoisted into place in front of publicity. The signal was given, “he recalled” and the spire gradually emerged from the top of the dome like a butterfly from its cocoon and in about 90 minutes was placed on its place. It was the highest piece of stationary steel spire in the world. By the way, there was no death casualty during its construction and it had outstanding safety record. When the Chrysler opened to the public on 27^th of May in 1930 its 77 stories measured 1046 feet high. For a brief time it was the highest building in the world. Sadly for Van Allen his efforts were topped when the Empire State building climbed past the Chrysler a few months later.

The very day after the spire was riveted into place on 24 October in 1929, the stock market crashed. America was plunged into economic gloom and the great depression. The building of skyscrapers came to an abrupt halt. During that period a career of William Van Allen was over too. Chrysler accused him of accepting bribes from subcontractors and refused to pay him his fee. As a result, others held back from commissioning him. Van Allen never built another great

building again. At the end Chrysler Corporation moved out and sold the building.

Subsequently, after the construction the popularity of the skyscraper has grown. Nowadays the Chrysler building is regarded as one of the America’s greatest buildings. Chrysler building is now on the cover of the magazines and architectural books. This building also has played his role at the Beaux Arts Ball. The designer of the Chrysler building William Van Allen masqueraded as his landmark skyscraper. Van Allen‘s elaborate costume, complete with his signature spire headdress (figure 2). By the way, the building has rarely glittered as brightly on film as it does in real life. The Chrysler building figured in a few movies starting from 1940s until this day, including “Young Man With Horn”, “ Armageddon”, “Spider-Man”, “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence”, “Premaster 3”, “Two Weeks Notice”, “ The Avengers”, “MIB” and behind the other skyscraper in “ King Kong” (figure 3).

Figure 2: William Van Allen Architect of the Chrysler Figure 3: Behind the other Skyscraper “ King Kong”

Building, in Costume at the Beaux Arts Ball, 1929.

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 1442