Chrysler Building

The Chrysler Building is one of the most famous Gratte-ciel S of New York. It is located at the intersection of the Lexington Avenue and the 42e street, in the district of Midtown, with Manhattan. The Chrysler Building, which measures 319 meters, and counts 77 stages, is one of the greatest symbols of the town of New York, and it is moreover the “skyscraper preferred of the New Yorkeans”, in front of its famous rival, the Empire State Building. It was the most building of the world between 1930 and 1931, until the construction of the Empire State Building, which is always the most skyscraper of the city today since the attacks of the World Trade Center.

The construction of the Chrysler Building, directed by the American architect William Van Allen, was spread out between 1928 and 1930, and the building was opened with the public after a ceremony on May 27th 1930. The building was declared National Historic Landmark on December 8th, 1976 the Chrysler Building was renovated in 1978, with the construction of a hall, was composed primarily of marble, steel and granite, was similar to that of the Empire State Building. Moreover, the arrow was renovated in 1995, because the Stainless steel had lost of its glare with time. The building belongs today to TMW Real Estate and Tishman Speyer Properties .

The race with the most skyscraper of the world

The Chrysler Building was ordered by the president of Chrysler, Walter Chrysler, who wished to build a building with the glory of his company, building which would become the most building of the world. It is the American architect William Van Allen which was selected to conclude the project.

The first stone was posed on September 19th 1928, at one time when the New Yorkean architects were into full in a race with the most skyscraper with the world. The Chrysler Building was thus built at a mean velocity of four stages per week, and no worker was killed in the construction industry, which however occurred often when the workmen were to work without protections with several tens even hundreds of meters to the top of the vacuum. Right before the completion of construction, Chrylser Building was with equality with the building of H. Craig Severance, (former partner of Van Allen with which it had been scrambled thereafter) the 40 Wall Street, high of: 282.5 meters. Severance then made add two stages to its building, to assert the construction of the most building of the world (structures like the Eiffel Tower excluded), because the Chrysler Building did not exceed the 282 meters.

But Van Allen had obtained from Chrysler, eager to have the most building in the world, the permission to build an arrow of: 58.4 meters, which had been assembled inside even of the building. The arrow of 30 tons, made up of Stainless steel “Nirosta”, was hoisted at the top of the skyscraper on October 23rd 1929 (one day before the Black Thursday), in less than one hour and half, making of the Chrysler Building not only the most building in the world, but also the most structure ever built, in front of the Eiffel Tower. The building was completely finished with the beginning of the year 1930, and Van Allen and Walters Chrylser benefitted in a transitory way of the title from higher building in the world, because less than one year later, the Chrysler Building was exceeded by the Empire State Building and its 381 meters. Walter Chrysler would have thus refused to pay Van Allen, who would not have, according to him, filled his contract.

Structure

A building with the glory of Chrysler

The Chrysler Building is built in an architectural style Art Déco, and various decorations of the tower represent elements of the vehicles of the mark. Thus, the corners external of the 61e stage are decorated by eight eagles in Acier, counterparts of those which decorated the caps of the vehicles of the mark in 1929. With the 31e stage, they are counterparts of the radiator caps, representing two wings of eagle which decorate the corners of the building. The building moreover is composed of a steel reinforcement, covered with metal. Moreover, the arrow at the top of the skyscraper consists of six registers of stainless steel bored of triangular windows. The interior of the building is also decorated, as for the 25e stage, is equipped with an automobile plank.

Decorations, installations and lighting

The hall of the building is also built in an elegant style. It was far from achieving the unanimity among criticisms, but the public was conquered by its decorations which mix Granite, Acier and Marbre. The elevators are them also richly decorated, with the use of invaluable wood. When the building opened its doors in 1930, it was equipped with a platform of observation close to the top, platform which became a restaurant a few years afterwards. But none of these companies had the means of remaining for the period of Grande depression which struck the the United States after the Crise of 1929, and the restaurant became finally a restaurant private club, baptized Cloud Club . Moreover, the upper floors of the building are narrow, with low ceilings. They were especially built pout the general esthetics of the building, in particular of outside, and are good to receive only radio stations, or other electrical equipment which does not require a too important space.

Lighting external of the arrow is ensured by a whole of lamps in the shape of V, directly inserted in the Stainless steel which composes it. Thereafter, a series of projectors was added thanks to metal chechmates making it possible to directly direct the light of the projectors on the building. This lighting system makes it possible to illuminate the skyscraper in different ways, with various colors, according to the events of the calendar, following the example Empire State Building. This lighting system was set up by Charles Londner and his team.

The most popular skyscraper of New York?

Last, the tendency according to which the Chrysler Building would be the preferred skyscraper of the New Yorkeans is these years not contradicted. Thus, in 2005, the museum Skyscraper Museum, entirely devoted to scrapes-ciels carried out a survey near a hundred people (architects, critics, engineers, historians and students) to indicate ten scrapes-ciels in a list of twenty-five buildings New Yorkean . Chrylser Building arrived at the head of this survey, while appearing in the “list of the ten” of 90% of the voters, which confirms well that it is the favorite skyscraper of the New Yorkeans, even if its international notoriety does not equalize that of the Empire State Building.

Anecdotes on the Chrysler Building

the Chrysler Building counts 3800 windows distributed out of 77 stages.
the arrow of the Chrysler Building presented a problem of escape, which was completely repaired only in 2002.
the total costs of the construction of the building rose to 15 million dollars.
: 391831 rivets were used in the construction of the Chrysler Building
the Chrysler Corporation occupied the buildings of the building only until in the medium of the Années 1950. The building then was sold, but kept the name of its first owner.
the Chrysler Building, and more particularly its arrow inspired by other architects, and in particular Helmut Jahn, which carried out the One Liberty Place of Philadelphia.

Photograph gallery

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