Americas

[Visited: October 2008]

While walking down Manhattan, just where Broadway and Fifth Avenue meet, at 23rd Street, your eyes will inevitably be drawn towards the remarkable building towards the end of Madison Square. Cutting through the sky like a sharp triangular knife, Flatiron Building stands firm and stand out in its environment of more modern, glassy, taller and definitely less noteworthy skyscrapers. When you approach exactly from the front side, you can see how narrow the front side of the building actually is. In fact, it is some 2 metres wide: only one window.
Your image of the building changes a lot when you change perspective. Walk sideways, and the edges of the building become much sharper still. It looks like a facade, like a high wall with windows, as somehow you can see this is not a standard skyscraper. Crossing the street brings you to directly at the rounded foot of Flatiron Building. It now becomes clear that this building is finely decorated. Many sculptures embellish the wall near the top floor: faces of humans and lions, intricate columns, as well as geometrical figures. Some parts of the building are protruding, the walls have lines engraved in them, and at regular intervals, more geometrical figures further adorn the building.
Flatiron Building is one of the oldest skyscrapers of Manhattan, and when it was finished at the beginning of the 20th century, it was by far the tallest building in the neighbourhood. Initially called Fuller Building after the founder of the company that financed its construction, it was designed by Daniel Burnham of Chicago, in the Beaux Arts style: neo-classical architecture originating in Paris. A steel skeleton, a new method for the era, allowed Flatiron Building to be as tall as it is at 87 metres, and in the shape it is. Its peculiar shape results in turbulence at street level - there was a time when policemen warned male pedestrians not to look at women whose skirts were raised unexpectedly by the wind currents around 23rd Street. It has always fascinated people, and still now is one of the landmark buildings of New York.

Around the World in 80 Clicks

Personal travel impressions both in words and images from Flatiron Building (United States). Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places close to Flatiron Building.
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Flatiron Building > United States > Americas

[Visited: October 2008]

Around the World in 80 Clicks

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