03260164
This building, completed in 1928, witnessed the Great Depression, a World War, and other tumultuous times, but it cannot endure the ravages of a cannibalistic commercial real estate market in Manhattan.
This sturdy fixture at the iconic intersection of two of the city's major streets, Broadway and West 57th Street, is known to many as the Newsweek Building after the magazine moved its headquarters here in the early 1990s. Originally it was called the Columbus Tower, soon it will have part of than name restored to it when it is renamed 3 Columbus Circle, but everything else will be about this building will be left only to fond memories and photographs.
The buildings columns, cornices, bricks, and windows are being hidden (or removed, no one is sure which) behind another curtain of reflective glass. Gone will be the sense that here stands a rugged old friend who has weathered good times and bad and still stands guard at the head of the street. Instead, another shiny, slick, featureless clone of every other post-modern edifice churned out by the hundreds these days. The new building's website states, "Enduring Location, Modern Vision." Odd that it doesn't boast an "Enduring Vision," or perhaps, "Enduring Edifice." I suppose the developers realize that nothing is enduring except an address.
Notice how the waning sunlight strikes the varied surfaces of the building. Note too, the warm afternoon glow on the brick facade. The varying shapes of the shadows cast on its surface. Never again will that play of light be enjoyed here, instead only cold reflections of the surrounding buildings. The building will have shape, but no sense of a tangible surface.
How long must American cities be wrapped in what amounts to shrink-wrap and aluminum foil? If the old techniques which constructed this building are a lost art, then why must we destroy the remaining relics of a bygone age? Do we knowingly destroy a Michelangelo because there are no more Michelangelo's sculpting? This building's exterior hasn't been cleaned in decades, what would it look like if it was given a good scrubbing? We'll never know. It wasn't given a chance to spruce itself up.
For more information about the demise of 1775 Broadway, check these links:
curbed.com/archives/2008/01/28/meanwhile_in_architectural...
03260164
This building, completed in 1928, witnessed the Great Depression, a World War, and other tumultuous times, but it cannot endure the ravages of a cannibalistic commercial real estate market in Manhattan.
This sturdy fixture at the iconic intersection of two of the city's major streets, Broadway and West 57th Street, is known to many as the Newsweek Building after the magazine moved its headquarters here in the early 1990s. Originally it was called the Columbus Tower, soon it will have part of than name restored to it when it is renamed 3 Columbus Circle, but everything else will be about this building will be left only to fond memories and photographs.
The buildings columns, cornices, bricks, and windows are being hidden (or removed, no one is sure which) behind another curtain of reflective glass. Gone will be the sense that here stands a rugged old friend who has weathered good times and bad and still stands guard at the head of the street. Instead, another shiny, slick, featureless clone of every other post-modern edifice churned out by the hundreds these days. The new building's website states, "Enduring Location, Modern Vision." Odd that it doesn't boast an "Enduring Vision," or perhaps, "Enduring Edifice." I suppose the developers realize that nothing is enduring except an address.
Notice how the waning sunlight strikes the varied surfaces of the building. Note too, the warm afternoon glow on the brick facade. The varying shapes of the shadows cast on its surface. Never again will that play of light be enjoyed here, instead only cold reflections of the surrounding buildings. The building will have shape, but no sense of a tangible surface.
How long must American cities be wrapped in what amounts to shrink-wrap and aluminum foil? If the old techniques which constructed this building are a lost art, then why must we destroy the remaining relics of a bygone age? Do we knowingly destroy a Michelangelo because there are no more Michelangelo's sculpting? This building's exterior hasn't been cleaned in decades, what would it look like if it was given a good scrubbing? We'll never know. It wasn't given a chance to spruce itself up.
For more information about the demise of 1775 Broadway, check these links:
curbed.com/archives/2008/01/28/meanwhile_in_architectural...