Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Flatiron Building: early skyscraper on Fifth Avenue, downtown NYC

Flatiron Building by dianasch
Flatiron Building, a photo by dianasch on Flickr.

The Flatiron Building, or Fuller Building, as it was originally called, is located at 175 Fifth Avenue and is considered to be a groundbreaking skyscraper, says Wikipedia.

Upon completion in 1902 it was one of the tallest buildings in the city and the only skyscraper north of 14th Street.

It is a vertical Renaissance palazzo with Beaux-Arts styling.

In January 2009, an Italian real estate investment firm bought a majority stake in the Flatiron Building, with plans to turn it into a world-class luxury hotel. The conversion may have to wait ten years, however, until the leases of the current tenants run out.

NYC architecture vocab: terraced, cruciform, recumbent, frieze, clad, facade.