NYC Facades

An upscale take on the tenement

While i have nothing against this building, its narrow airshafts have become the defining features of the new-law tenements. I do wonder why the stonework in the corners gives way to less attractive brickwork above the 3rd floor.

Castle fortress

Are the air shaft storefronts original?

This building is a classic tenement style. It has the ornamentation, including three distinct sections, topped by a cornice, and also the minimum-regulation air shaft.

It is a little difficult to see in this picture, but this is the case with many buildings: was it always intended for the storefronts to fill the airshaft on the 1st story? That is, there is an archway above that seems stunted for spanning what is essentially an empty gap. On the other hand, many buildings, such as The Park Row Building (in another way; there are closer matches in the neighborhood I haven’t documented), do the same thing.

Townhouse taking full advantage of its location

I was fully taken aback by this building when I glimpsed it between shots of the Dorilton. What is unusual — aside from the lovely facade in all respects — is that the front of the building has been altered to have this appearance, which is definitely not original.

Some web searching uncovers that this building was converted to apatments in 1984 (look at the COO), and its neighbor built in 1985. This leads me to believe that addition of balconies, etc. coincided with the demolition of its neighbors and the setback of their replacement. However, there is no record of the facade being altered on the DOB site (I suspect that a lot of jobs are not classified that specifically, and “alterations” sometimes include facade work not recorded).

Grand archway

Corner pillar

The entrance archway here caught my eye. Although partially obscured by the fire escape, one can see the interesting proportions in the arch, the tall ledges, pilasters, and the frieze capping it. Note adjacent to the entrance the shoddily removed decorative windows.

At the top corner of the building, I found the superfluous pilaster rather interesting; what caused its addition? Why does it have the shabby offshoot? And why is there a picket fence, of all types, on the roof?

Insignia with stained glass

Year under the chimney (?)

This is an unassuming building with some great detail, shown here. Note the lion and human faces in the corbels; what do they represent?

Pitched roof, rounded windows

This building has some very interesting featurse. Of course, the pitched roof and dormer windows are quite unusual. I also find the shape of the arch on the top floor middle window to be quite unique; normally the arches I see are extremely vertical or rounded, but not so oblong.

Upper stories

Molding detail

I like the subtelty of this building; the molding decorations done in brick, and the motif with the waves (in the cornice and in the bolding at the bottom of the second image). The whole thing is just unpresumptuous. I’m not sure of the style, though.

Was the building expanded on one side only? (Note: the curving facade is an artifact of the panorama stitching)

I like how The Home Depot fits with the building style. Look at the seal! The "S" is for "Stern" -- see below.

Some buildings I see details I like a lot, and some I am blown away by. This was the latter. It just had such great detail and scale. The facade was finished the entire height, and it even had a mystery: why is there a modern extension on the eastern side that does not match that on the western? Was there a patio there? Was it destroyed in an accident and rebuilt in a time without style?

EDIT: New York Architecture has a page about this building (with a slightly different address?). As the author says on that site about the extension,

W.M. Schickel’s typically 19th century addition tripled the dimensions of the original structure on the eastern portion of the site. The tall central section of this addition animates the long and delicately detailed facade. The company’s monogram is located above a central arch.

I do think Home Depot does a great job here with respecting the building (although they could have done with less orange). See also 28 West 23rd.

Also houses the Met's medieval collection

Note that I tagged this as “holy” although it is only an immitation; I felt that completeness in cross-referencing dicatated it.

The style, according to NYC Architecture is “french Cloisters”, which seems like a bit of a cop-out. What style are those in? Romanesque? Gothic?

Front of the building

A sample window with decorations

A highly ornamented column; for a lamp?

A mid-building balcony

This building, located on 7th Avenue and 58th street, was just sensory overload. The level of detail is just completely overwhelming. If ever there was a strike against this gothic architecture, this would be it. However, the ecorations are quite evocative: there are dragons beneath the windows; the lamp column are decorated as the pulpit of a cathedral; the the standard columns have arms as though a spread eagle.

What depth of consideration goes into this decoration? Is there a palatte of gothic architecture, or does the symbolism run deep with every building, and unique to the object?