The Flatiron
Every tourist has to take a photo of this building, me included! It is the Flatiron building, originally planned to be named the Fuller Building after George A. Fuller, founder of the Fuller Company and "father of the skyscraper", who had died two years earlier. The locals however persisted on calling it "The Flatiron” and the name has stuck.
It was constructed between 1901 and 1903 at the intersection of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, on a triangular piece of land. At 22 stories and 307 feet, the Flatiron was never the city’s tallest building, but it did make an immediate and striking contrast against the lower buildings surrounding it at that time due to its distinctive triangular shape.
At the vertex, the triangular tower is only 6.5 feet (2 m) wide; viewed from above, this pointed end of the structure describes an acute angle of about 25 degrees. The Flatiron is a functioning office building and the “point” offices are the most coveted and feature amazing northern views that look directly upon another famous Manhattan landmark, the Empire State Building.
It was once nicknamed "Burnham's Folly" [after Chicago architect Daniel Burnham who designed it] because many people thought that the triangular design combined with the building's exceptional height would not withstand strong winds. The building survived of course, but the wind did however have an effect on the area around the building due to downdraughts causing the wind to increase in speed at the foot of the Flatiron. Apparently, the building became known as the site where gusts of wind often lifted women's skirts, exposing their ankles, much to the delight of young men!
The Flatiron
Every tourist has to take a photo of this building, me included! It is the Flatiron building, originally planned to be named the Fuller Building after George A. Fuller, founder of the Fuller Company and "father of the skyscraper", who had died two years earlier. The locals however persisted on calling it "The Flatiron” and the name has stuck.
It was constructed between 1901 and 1903 at the intersection of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, on a triangular piece of land. At 22 stories and 307 feet, the Flatiron was never the city’s tallest building, but it did make an immediate and striking contrast against the lower buildings surrounding it at that time due to its distinctive triangular shape.
At the vertex, the triangular tower is only 6.5 feet (2 m) wide; viewed from above, this pointed end of the structure describes an acute angle of about 25 degrees. The Flatiron is a functioning office building and the “point” offices are the most coveted and feature amazing northern views that look directly upon another famous Manhattan landmark, the Empire State Building.
It was once nicknamed "Burnham's Folly" [after Chicago architect Daniel Burnham who designed it] because many people thought that the triangular design combined with the building's exceptional height would not withstand strong winds. The building survived of course, but the wind did however have an effect on the area around the building due to downdraughts causing the wind to increase in speed at the foot of the Flatiron. Apparently, the building became known as the site where gusts of wind often lifted women's skirts, exposing their ankles, much to the delight of young men!