Chanin Building
Chanin Building | |
New York City Landmark No. 0993
| |
Rene Chambellan | |
Architectural style | Art Deco |
---|---|
NRHP reference No. | 80002676[1] |
NYCL No. | 0993 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | April 23, 1980 |
Designated NYCL | November 14, 1978 |
The Chanin Building (/ˈtʃænɪn/ CHAN-in[a]), also known as 122 East 42nd Street, is a 56-story office skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is on the southwest corner of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, near Grand Central Terminal to the north and adjacent to 110 East 42nd Street to the west. The building is named for Irwin S. Chanin, its developer.
The structure was designed in the
The Chanin Building was constructed in 1927–1929 on the site of a warehouse, one of the last remaining undeveloped sites around Grand Central Terminal. Upon opening, the building was almost fully rented, and it was the
Site
The building is at 122 East 42nd Street in the Midtown and Murray Hill neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Lexington Avenue to the east, 42nd Street to the north, and 41st Street to the south.[2][3] The lot measures 125 feet (38 m) along 42nd Street, 175 feet (53 m) along 41st Street, and 197.5 feet (60.2 m) along Lexington Avenue.[4] The building is assigned its own ZIP Code, 10168; it was one of 41 buildings in Manhattan that had their own ZIP Codes as of 2019[update].[5]
The Chanin Building is part of the
Architecture
The Chanin Building was designed by
Form
The Chanin Building employs a series of
The lowest four stories occupy the entire land lot.[23][24] Along the north elevation on 42nd Street and the south elevation on 41st Street, the entirety of the facade is set back at a uniform depth.[16] The central bays of the eastern elevation on Lexington Avenue are set back at the fifth story, while the outer bays continue upward without setting back.[23][16][24] According to one writer, this made the Lexington Avenue elevation appear as a "giant medieval two-towered facade".[16] The subsequent stories form a jagged "pyramid", with setbacks above the 17th, 30th, and 52nd stories.[23][24]
Facade
The Chanin Building is clad with buff
The facade continues upward in relatively simple tones.[9][10][21] The second and third floors include bronze-framed groups of triple-paned windows, with bronze Art Deco spandrel panels between the floors. Each grouping is separated by vertical piers made of limestone, topped by elaborate capitals. The fourth story is faced with ornate terracotta panels depicting plants, evoking the stylized forms common in the Art Deco style.[24] There are buttresses on the fifth and sixth stories of the Lexington Avenue elevation's central bays, as well as at the corners of the 30th through 49th stories.[31] The crown, above the Chanin Company's 52nd-story offices, contains abstract-patterned projecting ornamentation, with buttresses outside the 53rd floor.[13][32]
Originally, 212 artificial candles at the crown of the Chanin Building provided the equivalent of 30 million candlepower.[13][33] These lights, meant to highlight the details of the building, were characteristic of the Art Deco style;[32] on cloudless nights, they could be seen from more than 40 miles (64 km) away.[10][16] They had been toned down by the late twentieth century.[32] The lights are no longer in use but remain in place. During the daytime, the building's crown appeared as a solid mass.[16]
Interior
Lobby
The lobby is accessed by passageways from 42nd and 41st Streets, with a side entrance from Lexington Avenue.[34] The lobby is decorated in a "modernistic" style themed around "The City of Opportunity".[8][13][35][36] Eight bronze reliefs, designed by Chambellan, perch above ornate bronze radiator grilles. The grilles depict four categories of physical and mental life.[13][30][37] The bronze ornamentation continues in the waves on the floor, mailboxes, and elevator doors, extending the general Art Deco style from the outside inward.[29][35] The lobby also contains other ornamentation such as terrazzo floors with bronze inlays, as well as tan marble walls.[30][34] Originally, the floors had lozenge-shaped panels, but heavy pedestrian traffic wore down these panels over the years.[30]
Marble stairs lead to the basement where there are connections to Grand Central Terminal and the New York City Subway's Grand Central–42nd Street station.[14][36] Also inside are 21 high speed passenger elevators, split up into three elevator banks,[4][34] as well as one service elevator. When the building opened, the first floor, mezzanine, and second floor were used by banks and other commercial concerns.[4] The storefronts opened both inward into the lobby and outward onto the sidewalk.[27] The storefront windows in the lobby are more ornate versions of those outside.[29]
The lobby originally contained a "palatial" bus terminal operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.[38] The terminal was outfitted with marble surfaces and also contained waiting rooms and ticket offices.[39] Buses would pull onto a revolving turntable within the terminal, which received boarding passengers on one side and deposited alighting passengers on the other.[35] The coach terminal closed after the railroad discontinued all passenger service north of Baltimore in 1958.[40]
Upper floors
The third through 48th floors consist almost entirely of leasable office space, while the 49th and 50th floors contain the Chanin brothers' boardroom and offices.[4] When completed, the 50th floor also had a small movie theater (known as the Chanin Auditorium), later converted into the Chanin Organization's offices.[25][31][12] Decorated in black and silver,[8] the auditorium had 200 seats across two levels.[8][41] It also had a stage and projection booth, allowing the venue to be used for films, plays, concerts, and radio shows. In addition, tenants used the auditorium for meetings, and the space also held conferences and conventions.[41]
The floors above were originally the offices of the Chanin Organization, with an Art Deco restroom that a building trade convention's judges referred to as "America's finest bathroom".[25][35][27] This bathroom was decorated in orange and white, and it contained etched-glass shower panels and brass fixtures.[8] Irwin Chanin's 52nd-story offices were accessed through a set of wrought-iron gates designed by Chambellan.[26][35] The gates are decorated with symbols of "the spirit of modern industry", such as cog wheels and coins.[26] There were bronze vector grilles within the office.[35] Chanin also decorated his offices with wrought brass and iron; etched glass; and several types of marbles, woods, and leathers. His reception room had complementary furniture and wall paneling, as well as recessed ceiling lamps.[16] The reception room also contains illuminated panels depicting areas in which Chanin was an active developer, such as bridges, skyscrapers, Broadway theaters, and rapid transit.[42]
As a dominant landmark in the midtown skyline upon its opening, the building had an open-air observation deck on the 54th floor.[16][35] It was one of three open-air observatories in the city following World War II, the others being at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and at the Empire State Building, though there had been several other observation decks in the city prior to the war. The Chanin Building only charged 25 cents for admission, since it was not as well known as the other two buildings with outdoor observatories.[43] Over the years, several people have committed suicide by jumping off the 54th floor observation deck.[44][45] In later years, other nearby buildings surpassed the Chanin Building in height (including the Chrysler Building, diagonally across Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street), and so the observation deck was closed in the mid-20th century.[25]
The top of the building was used as a transmission site for WQXR-FM starting on December 15, 1941, when it was relocated from Long Island City in Queens.[46] In 1965, the transmitter was moved to the Empire State Building.[47]
History
The
Development
The first plan for a skyscraper at the Chanin Building site was made in 1925, when a developer proposed a 35-story skyscraper.[23] The Chanins took over an existing 105-year leasehold for the land underneath the Manhattan Storage Warehouse in August 1926.[19][57][58] The Chanin brothers initially planned to erect a bulky square 45-story tower designed by Rouse & Goldstone.[23]
The brothers still had a reputation for being involved mostly in the theater industry. According to one author, when the Chanins started clearing the site in 1927, many members of the general public could not tell "whether the Chanins were builders or [...] theater-owners who had taken up building as a sideline."[59] The warehouse itself was difficult to clear, since its 5-foot-thick (1.5 m) walls had been designed to protect against "burglary, fire and assault".[60] The process entailed clearing away 7,500 truck loads of brick, 1,000 of scrap metal, and 3,500 of loose earth.[61] The official plans for the Chanin Building were filed with the New York City Department of Buildings in June 1927, at which point 60 percent of the warehouse had been demolished. Sloan & Robertson, architects of the nearby Graybar Building, Pershing Square Building, and 110 East 42nd Street, were hired to design the Chanin Building.[4]
Once the foundation had been laid, the first steel columns were installed in January 1928, with Irwin S. Chanin driving in the first rivet.[19][62] The steel frame weighed an estimated 15,000 short tons (13,000 long tons) and was held together by 1.5 million rivets and 160,000 bolts.[63] Crowds frequently stopped to observe the construction process.[64] The erection of the frame was not without problems: in one incident, the boom of a construction derrick fell from the 20th floor, nearly splitting a truck in half, though no one was injured or killed.[65] The steelwork was completed by that June,[63] and as was tradition at the time, two gold rivets for the Chanin Building were driven into the frame on July 2 to mark this event.[66] The building held its topping out ceremony in August 1928.[36]
Usage
The structure was declared complete on January 23, 1929, exactly one year after the first rivet had been driven into the building.[66] It opened January 29 at an estimated cost of $12-14 million, with an informal opening attended by mayor Jimmy Walker.[36][67] The Chanin Building thus became the first major skyscraper in Terminal City, and the third-tallest building in New York City behind the Woolworth Building and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower.[19][23] The Chanin Building had more floors than the Woolworth, despite being 112 feet (34 m) shorter.[23] Though the Chanin Building was later surpassed in height by other buildings, including the adjacent 1,046-foot (319 m) Chrysler Building that opened a year later,[68] Irwin Chanin was instead focused on attracting tenants with an "efficient, up-to-date" facility.[19]
Upon opening, the Chanin Building was almost fully rented.[59] The builders projected that by September 1, 1929, the building would be 70 percent rented, though the actual occupancy rate at that date was 92%. Furthermore, in 1930, The New York Times reported that 95 percent of the structure's 710,000 square feet (66,000 m2) was occupied by 9,000 workers.[69] Initially, the lobby space was occupied by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's bus terminal, ticket offices, and waiting rooms.[39] The office space included such tenants as the Kimberly-Clark paper company,[70] Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company,[71] and Fairchild Aircraft,[72] while the Chanin company took all the space above the 50th floor.[10] In addition, the Sterling National Bank took up much of the mezzanine space on the Lexington Avenue side,[73] and a self-service and table-service restaurant opened in the basement.[74] Through the Great Depression, leasing proceeded actively.[75]
The building's owners filed to reorganize the operations of the Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street Corporation, which operated the Chanin Building, in 1947.
The Chanin Building was designated a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1978,[83] and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[84] By the 1990s, the building was owned by a syndicate headed by Stanley Stahl.[85][86] Modern tenants include Apple Bank,[87] of which Stahl was the only stockholder,[88] as well as the International Rescue Committee, which had moved to the building in 1994.[85][89]
Critical reception
Shortly after the building's completion, architectural critic Matlack Price wrote in an Architectural Forum article that the building was "a splendid contribution to the architecture of all time", and that "The architects have not here compromised a fine vision either with major errors in scale or with minor trivialities."[20][90] A promotional brochure, with artwork by Hugh Ferriss, described the Chanin Building as the "mise en scène for the romantic drama of American business."[23] Paul Goldberger of The New York Times said that the Chanin Building was "one of the pre-eminent pieces of American Art Deco—a gracefully ornamented, 56-story slab".[91] The fifth edition of the AIA Guide to New York City, published in 2010, characterized the Chanin Building as being "classic style, rather than stylish ephemera. Such distinguished self-improvement seems beyond the grasp of current developers."[53]
The interior design of the building was also praised. Herbert Muschamp wrote in 1992 that the Chanin Building "tells a story of New York as the legendary beacon for immigrants", and that its numerous amenities "were integral to the Chanin Building's drama".[92] Historian Donald L. Miller stated, "Restrained on the outside, the inside is exuberantly ornate".[10]
See also
- Art Deco architecture of New York City
- List of tallest buildings in New York City
- List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets
References
Notes
- ^ This pronunciation is noted in other discussions of Chanin's work. See, for example:
- "Majestic". Spotlight on Broadway. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
Citations
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b c Landmarks Preservation Commission 1978, p. 1; National Park Service 1980, p. 4.
- ^ a b White, Willensky & Leadon 2010, p. 314.
- ^ from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ Brown, Nicole (March 18, 2019). "Why do some buildings have their own ZIP codes? NYCurious". amNewYork. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- ^ a b c White, Willensky & Leadon 2010, p. 315.
- from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ^ OCLC 407907000.
- ^ OCLC 923852487.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Miller 2015, p. 245.
- ^ "Chanin Building – The Skyscraper Center". www.skyscrapercenter.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
- ^ a b Stern, Gilmartin & Mellins 1987, p. 599.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Stern, Gilmartin & Mellins 1987, p. 598.
- ^ a b c Landmarks Preservation Commission 1978, p. 3; National Park Service 1980, p. 3.
- ^ Robins 2017, pp. 84–85.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Reynolds 1994, p. 276.
- ^ a b c Landmarks Preservation Commission 1978, p. 3; National Park Service 1980, p. 7.
- ^ "The Chanin Building, New York City". Architecture and Building. Vol. 61. February 1929. p. 39.
- ^ a b c d e f Landmarks Preservation Commission 1978, p. 2; National Park Service 1980, p. 6.
- ^ a b Architectural Forum 1929, p. 699.
- ^ a b Robins 2017, p. 84.
- OCLC 1266717.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Stern, Gilmartin & Mellins 1987, p. 597.
- ^ a b c d e f g Landmarks Preservation Commission 1978, p. 3; National Park Service 1980, p. 2.
- ^ a b c d "Atop the Former Observation Deck of NYC's Chanin Building". Untapped New York. March 30, 2018. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ a b c Reynolds 1994, p. 279.
- ^ a b c d Reynolds 1994, p. 277.
- ^ Ermengem, Kristiaan Van. "Chanin Building, New York City". A View On Cities. Archived from the original on October 18, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Reynolds 1994, p. 278.
- ^ a b c d Robins 2017, p. 85.
- ^ a b Landmarks Preservation Commission 1978, p. 4; National Park Service 1980, p. 2.
- ^ a b c Landmarks Preservation Commission 1978, p. 4; National Park Service 1980, p. 3.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ a b c National Park Service 1980, p. 3.
- ^ a b c d e f g Miller 2015, p. 246.
- ^ from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ Architectural Forum 1929, p. 698.
- from the original on January 6, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ Matteo, Thomas (April 23, 2015). "B&O Railroad had strong presence on Staten Island for 100 years". Staten Island Advance. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ^ a b Reynolds 1994, pp. 278–279.
- ^ Reynolds 1994, pp. 279–280.
- from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ Frequency Modulation Business. 1946. p. 35. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ "A Visual History of WQXR : Slideshow". WQXR. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ Fitch, James Marston; Waite, Diana S. (1974). Grand Central Terminal and Rockefeller Center: A Historic-critical Estimate of Their Significance. Albany, New York: The Division. p. 6.
- ^ "Pershing Square Building" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. November 25, 2016. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
- from the original on October 17, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
- from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ a b Reynolds 1994, p. 275.
- ^ a b White, Willensky & Leadon 2010, p. 316.
- ^ Miller 2015, p. 234.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
- ^ "400 Madison Avenue" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. November 22, 2016. p. 5. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
- ProQuest 1112603166. Retrieved October 25, 2020 – via ProQuest.
- ProQuest 1036581356. Retrieved October 25, 2020 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b Miller 2015, p. 232.
- ^ Miller 2015, p. 235.
- ^ Contractors and Engineers. Buttenheim-Dix Publishing Corporation. 1928. p. 130. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ Miller 2015, p. 237.
- ^ Miller 2015, p. 240.
- ^ a b Miller 2015, p. 245; Landmarks Preservation Commission 1978, p. 2; National Park Service 1980, p. 6.
- ^ "Mayor Walker Opens 56-Story Chanin Building". The Brooklyn Citizen. January 30, 1929. p. 5. Retrieved January 23, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
- from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
- from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ^ Landmarks Preservation Commission 1978, p. 1.
- ^ National Park Service 1980, p. 1.
- ^ from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ^ Stoler, Michael (November 23, 2005). "Leaders Cross Over Into the Banking Industry". The New York Sun. Archived from the original on May 4, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ^ "Branch Locations | New York Bank | Banks in New York | Apple Bank". www.applebank.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ^ "Contact the IRC". International Rescue Committee (IRC). June 17, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- ^ Stern, Gilmartin & Mellins 1987, pp. 597–598.
- from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
Sources
- "Chanin Building" (PDF). Architectural Forum. Vol. 50. May 1929. pp. 693–700 (PDF 101–108).
- Adams, Rayne (May 1929). "The Reliefs and Grilles of the Chanin Building Vestibules" (PDF). Architectural Forum. Vol. 50. pp. 693–698 (PDF pp. 101–106).
- Price, Matlack (May 1929). "The Chanin Building" (PDF). Architectural Forum. Vol. 50. pp. 699–700 (PDF pp. 107–108).
- Chanin Building (PDF) (Report). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. November 14, 1978.
- Historic Structures Report: Chanin Building (PDF) (Report). National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service. April 23, 1980.
- Miller, D.L. (2015). Supreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-5020-4.
- Reynolds, Donald (1994). The Architecture of New York City: Histories and Views of Important Structures, Sites, and Symbols. New York: J. Wiley. OCLC 45730295.
- Robins, Anthony W. (2017). New York Art Deco: A Guide to Gotham's Jazz Age Architecture. Excelsior Editions. State University of New York Press. OCLC 953576510.
- Stern, Robert A. M.; Gilmartin, Patrick; Mellins, Thomas (1987). New York 1930: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Two World Wars. New York: Rizzoli. OCLC 13860977.
- ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
External links
- NYC-Architecture: Chanin Building
- in-Arch.net: The Chanin Building
- Museum of the City of New York: Chanin Building (77 photos, 1927–1954)