Engineer photos on Flickr

Day 2 of The Indy KA500 and After a Fantastic First Day of Racing and Celebrations now is where the Real Hard Work Begins as The Entire Field of 46 KA'S were in the Garages with Drivers Teams and Engineers at The Ready as they were about to tackle 8 Hours of the Indy Circuit.

With an 8 Hour Race anything can Happen and with such a Large Field of Cars a lot of Overtakes and Careful Navigation will be Required to Ensure Victory.

With The Start of The Race About to get underway Its Time to See Who will be able to Hold out the Longest and Take the Title of IndyKa500 Endurance Champion for 2021.

Hour 1 (11:04AM)

As The Field of 46 KA'S Completed the Formation Lap and Slowly made their way Towards the Start Finish Straight The Lights went Green and at Exactly 11:04AM the Race Had Begun.

Racing Down Towards Paddock Hill Bend it was The KA of Team (IP Racing's Adam Blair Scott Parkin Oliver Wilmot and Mark Witherington) Who took the Lead Followed Closely by Team (Octane Junkies Adam Smith Martyn Smith and Bazza Ward) in Second Place and Team (Alex Read Motorsport's Chris Reade Sam Luke's Carlito Miracco and Luke Read) in Third Place as they Thundered Up the Hill Towards The Tops of Druids and Back Down Again through Bottom Bend where Team (Ferguson Motorsport's Damon Astin Billy Ferguson Joe Ferguson and Daniel Ferguson) took the Lead from (Octane Junkies) before Flying Around The Track to Complete Lap 1 of 500.

As The Cars came Round Paddock for The Second Time The KA of (Ferguson Motorsport) Now Leads by a Heathy Margin While Further Back (IP Racing) and (Octane Junkies) Have A Fantastic Scrap over Second Place with The Two of Them Swapping The Lead Over and Over again. Car Number 55 of (Al Most Racers Alistair Hardie Alistair McDonald Lee Conway and Will Denny) was Seen Getting Air of The Inside Curb on the Exit of Paddock Hill Bend making for a Spectacular Sight.

Hour 2 (11:54AM)

Hour 2 and All 46 KA'S are Still Alive and Well with Each Driver Pushing Hard to Maintain their Advantage as the Tyres Begin to Warm Up and Start to Grip the Track More.

KA Number 56 Team (Hard And Enthusiastic Martyn Dilworth Mark Figes and Mike Hickey) are Locked in a Tight Battle at The Top of Paddock Hill Bend with KA Number 27 Team (Semprini Racing's Jeremy Evans James Hart Phil Hart and William Puttergill) as they Fight it Out Between the Two Cars for a Position.

Further Down the Field KA Number 23 Team (Kastrol's Michael Keegan Tim Keegan and David Murfitt) is Having its Own Battle with KA Number 4 of Team (Alex Read Motorsport) as The Two Teams Have a Go at One Another Thought the Course of The Lap trying Hard to Hold onto that Position they Worked so Hard for.

Another Battle at Paddock is the KA Number 3 of Team (Wingdat Racing's Andy Chapman Jonathan Barret and Wayne Jackson) Having to Fend off The KA Number 16 of Team (M and D Racing's Alex Martin Daniel Martin Tony Perfect and Mathew Rowling) as they Also were Looking to be in an Intense Battle Thought the Lap with Many Other Teams and Drivers Now Settling into a Rhythm. at The Endo f The Second Hour The KA't Mobile Number 49 of Team (LDR Performance Tuning's David Bywater Adrian Clarke Andy Grear Hardy and Sammy Bryan) is Seen Making its way Through Paddock Hill Bend and Through the Gravel Trap but Manages to Get Out Unaided and Safely.

At 12:12PM a Huge and Very Loud Crash is Heard at The Bottom of Paddock Hill Bend and Seen Rowling Through The Gravel Trap and Ending up on its Wheels is the KA Number 3 of Team (Windgat Racing) Bringing out the First Safety Car of The Endurance Race. Lucky The Driver was Fine and After a Few Minutes Due to The Recovery Taking Place they Are Back out in the Race But with a Lot of Catching Up to do.

Hour 3 (13:08PM)

With the Safety Car Now in the Race gets Back Underway and Already each Driver was Pushing Even Harder trying to either Create a Gap or Make Up for Lost Time Due to The Safety Car Intervention.

At The Top of Paddock Hill Bend a Fierce Battle is Taking Place Between the Two Teams of KA Number 13 and KA Number 155 Team (Deranged Motorsport's Jason Pelosi Josh Larkin and Alex Kelby) and Team (JRS's Nick Walker Alex Day and William Foster) as they Duel Thought the Whole of Paddock Hill Bend Starting at The Top and Still Keeping the Fight Going Right Up towards Druids in The End Deranged Motorsport Wins Out and Takes The Position Away from JRS.

At 13:24PM The Fighting Between each Team Continues at The Top of Paddock Hill Bend which is Proving to be the Best Overtaking Area as Each Car has Only 73 Break Horse Power so Carrying as Much Speed as Possible from the Main Straight Towards Paddock is Essential for a Successful Overtake.

Team (Piston Heads Peter Dignan Oliver Lewis Benjamin Lowden and Sam Sheehan) Battles it out with Team (LDR Performance Tuning's Laurence Davey Mike Paul James Parker and Glen Copeland) as The Two Cars Do Battle for All to See with Team LDR Taking The Position Away.

At 13:39PM A Set of 4 KA's are Seen Fighting Their Way up Towards Druids with All Four Teams not Giving up the Fight as they Swap Positions Relentlessly with not One Driver Willing to Give Up his Position.

The 98 55 53 and 13 All Really Having a Good Go at One Another Thought their Fight. As The Sun Starts its Slow Dissent Down Over The Hills and Valleys that Surround The Circuit Bottom Bend was Providing Some More Opportunities for Drivers to do Battle with One Another. A Four way Fight Between KA's Number 56 51 44 and 64 was Occurring with Number 56 Holding Strong at The Front of This Fight and Leading them on Towards Clearways.

Finally at 13:48PM An Epic Battle Between KA's Number 64 and 44 was Witnessed Through Bottom Bend with The Likes of The Number 64 Bouncing a Wheel Into The Air as The Car Took the Tight Racing Line making for an Amazing Picture and a Superb bit of Car Control To Keep that KA Pointing The Right Way.

Hour 4 (14:02PM)

The Fourth Hour and Pit Stops and Driver Changes were Imminent with Many Teams Choosing to Go into The Pits to Change Both Drivers and Top Up the Fuel as Well as Change Tyres if Necessary. Every Team was Running to a Different Strategy Depending Upon the Amount of Drivers they Had with Teams of Four Drivers Taking 2 Hours in the Car Each While Teams of Three or Less would Have to Take on Longer Stints of 3 To Maybe Even 4 Hours in the Car Hoping that Having to do Fewer Driver Changes would Mean they could make Up The Difference on Track.

Back on The Track at 14:02PM More Battles were Commencing Through Pilgrims Drop With KA's Number 81 Team (GM Performance's Gary Mitchell and Ian Mitchell) Going Head to Head with KA Number 46 Team (JDC Motorsport's Stu Neal Andy Gaugler and Simon Walker Hensell) with The KA of GM Performance Narrowly Taking The Place From JDC Motorsport on the Run towards Clearways.

At 14:20PM a Fantastic Battle Between KA Number's 18 100 127 3 55 and 115 was Seen as they Powered their Way onto Clearways with 155 Leading Followed by 55 and 3 127 100 and 18 All Slowly Gaining Ground to the Two Leading KA's at The Front of This Train.

Shortly After This Train of Cars Came Through Another Train of 5 KA's was not Far Behind this Time Being Lead by Number 13 Deranged Motorsport with 131 (Team Viking's Mark Holme Harry Nunn and Nick Nunn) Then came Number 4 Alex Read Motorsport with 98 Piston Heads and 41 (Rowe Rage Motorsport's Alex Butler Greg Caswell Jason Handcock and Sam Rowe) As they All Fought Hard to Catch One Another Thought their Fight.

KA's Number 98 4 and 64 were Also Seen at 14:48PM Having a Really Good Three Way Fight with 64 and 98 Side by Side down Pilgrims Drop with The Number 4 Car Closing Fast.

At 14:54PM A Final Battle was Seen on the Run Up Towards Clearways with The KA's of Number 60 (Powerflex's David Power Paul Cowland and Dom David) Battling Hard with KA's Number 7 (G and B Finch's Joe Bragg Lee Finch Steve Finch Benjamin Smith and Arthur Thurtle) and Number 127 (Fat Boys Racing's Charlie Jackson and Matt Pinny) with The Number 7 KA Leading The Trio On Towards Clearways as The Sun Began to Set.

Hour 5 (15:25PM)

The Fith Hour and a Swarm of KA's were Seen Storming Down the Main Straight towards Paddock Hill Bend with the Number 131 Car of (Team Viking) in the Lead by Some Distance Followed by Number 64 125 18 81 and 155 as they All Made their Way Towards Paddock for another Chance at an Overtake.

Another Battle Followed Closely Behind with KA Numbers 11 18 49 and 111 All Fighting as Well in order to Maintain or Improve their Positions as The Race Went on.

At 15:28PM The Safety Car was Out again While Another KA Somewhere on Track was Being Recovered and The Leading car Number 36 IP Racing's (Adam Blair Scott Parkin Oliver Wilmot and Mark Witherington's Lead Evaporates as the Field is Once again Bunched up.

Behind Them are KA's Number 44 (Mini Challenges Max Coates Dominic Wheatley Lewis Saunders and Dan Zelos) Looking to Make a More Once the Safety Car Period Ends The 14 of (Frugal Racing) and 51 of (Barwell Autosport's Taylor Norton Kamran Tunio Ryan Brinsted and Kester Cook) Also Looking to Take the Lead of This Endurance Race.

At 15:36PM The Car that Had Caused The Safety Car was Seen Being Recovered into the Outer Garage Area where cars are Held Before the Start of Each Race. KA Number 46 (JDC Motorsport) Had Made Contact Somewhere on the Circuit and Looked to Have a Broken Front Left Steering Arm with the Wheel Being Completely Bend Backwards into The Car with the Car Heading Back to the Garage for Repairs Before Rendering The Race Quite a Few Laps Down.

15:38PM and The Two KA's of Positive Motorsport's Andrew Rogerson Samuel Rendon and Ryan Frith Battle it Out with Number 13 Deranged Motorsport Through Westfield Towards Dingle dell with The Number 13 Beautifully Sweeping Around the Outside to Take The Position Away.

Another Battle was Seen at 15:38PM with (Alex Read Motorsport) Number 4 Battling Number 64 (Auto Teach Motorsport's Reece Kellow Andrew Howell Luca Ataccini Anzanello and Megan) through Westfields Side by Side on Towards Dingle dell.

Finally at 15:57PM Another KA Had Fallen Victim to an Issue with the Number 23 Car of (PSR's Carl Beresford Russel Danzey Tom Gilbert and Jack Wood) Being Taken on the Back of the Recovery Truck to The Garages for Repairs Before Going back Out into The Race as Night Began to Fall Upon The Indy Circuit.

Hour 6 (16:15PM)

As The Light Slowly began to Fade Away from the Indy Circuit Many Drivers were Now starting to use their Headlights as The Lighting Conditions got Darker and Darker as Time went by.

At 16:15PM A Massive Group of Cars came Flying Down Through Paddock Hill Bend with KA Number 55 Al Most Racers on the Inside Line 127 Fat Boys Racing on the Middle Line and 39 Kameleon Racing's Chris Bright Richard Cox Steve Goldsmith and Leigh Youles Michael on the Outside Line as they Fought their way Through the Bend and Up Towards Druids.

At 16:21PM Piston Heads Racing KA Number 98 was Seen Leading another Group of Cars Through Paddock Hill Bend with Numbers 41 52 33 and 2 All Fighting for Places as they Came Towards Paddock Hill Bend.

16:24PM and The Paddock Hill Bend Gravel Trap Claims Another Victim This Time the Number 131 KA of Team Viking Had Ended up Taking a Trip Through it Before a Half Spin Left Him Facing the Marshalls Post Opposite before Returning to the Track after Losing a Few Places. Recovery Teams set to work Once Again with The Safety Car Being Called into Action for The Third Time.

16:40PM and at The Top of Paddock Hill Bend a Three way Fight Becomes a Two Way Fight as The Number 127 KA of Fat Boys Racing Goes for a Spin after Trying to Get a Run on the Number 19 KA of LDR Performance Tuning with The Number 14 Car of Frugal Racing Just Narrowly Missing The Spinning Car.

16:42PM and a Final Intense Battle Between the Number 44 KA and The Number 1 KA of Burton Power Racing's Andy Burton Kyle Sagar Tom Valentine and Sammy Venables as They Fight Hard to try and Take that Position away from Mini Challenge to Round off The 6th Hour.

Hour 7 (16:50PM)

The Seventh Hour and at The Bottom of Surtees a Massive Crash is Heard as The KA's of Number 42 The K Teams (Paul Simmons Edward Simmons Glen Woodbridge Damo) is Seen Running off Track with Number 13 Deranged Motorsport Onto The Grass and Number 81 GM Performance Being Spun Out Trying to Avoid The Carnage in Front. All Drivers Okay and They Get back on Track and Continue on As Day Turns into Night.

17:02PM and a Top of Druids The Ka's of Number 72 Misty Racings (Adam Bonham and Simon Bonham) are Fighting Hard to Keep their Position from the Number 49 Car of LDR Performance Tuning as well as Number 7 of G and B Finch Trying to Find a Way Through on the Outside of Druids. The 98 of Piston Heads is also Closing in by This Stage with Headlights A Blaze.

17:05PM and Coming Towards Druids is a Sea of KA's All With Headlights A Blaze as they Fight for Positions Cars Number 60 3 19 and 39 All in Different Positions and Yet Still Fighting to try and Gain an Advantage that Could Swine this Endurance Race in Any of the Teams Favours. Further Back 127 and 140 Are Doing Battle on the Run Up Towards Druids.

17:09PM Once Again Another Battle at Druids This Time its The Trio of Number 127 36 and 60 That are All Trying to Better One Another in their Attempt to Gain a Place with Number 36 IP Racing Leading The Way.

17:14PM One Final Battle is Seen Coming Up towards Druids with The Number's 18 44 55 and 2 Fighting it Out Number 2 Kastrol's Has The Lead of This Group of Cars with Blazing Bright Headlights to Aid the Drivers Around The Circuit.

17:27PM and Now Darkness was Everywhere Making Visibility Very Difficult and Yet this did not Stop the Likes of Cars Number 128 JTR's Eliot Mason Nick Tandy David Mason and James Rhodes from Battling with Car Number 16 M and D Racing's Alex Martin Daniel Martin Tony Perfect and Mathew Rowling. In a Daring Move in the Pitch Black Darkness The Two Cars Go Side by Side Trying to Gain One over The Other Before JTR's Takes The Inside Line and The Position.

17:30PM Another Daring Battle is Captured Between The Number 180 Car of (Shine Auto motive's Colin French Mathew Eldridge and Wayne Clelland) and Number 44 (Mini Challenge's Max Coates Dominic Whitely Lewis Saunders and Dan Zelos) Defending The Outside Line as Best as they Can but Ultimately Shine Automotive Makes their way Through.

17:51PM A KA is Seen Flying Down Through The Bottom of Druids and into a Cloud of Dust Caused by Another KA Going off The KA is Just Barely Visible Showing The Dangers of what can Happen at Night When Visibility Becomes Low or Obstructed. Other KA's Soon Followed Through the Dust Cloud as Well with Many Backing off Slightly In case a Car was Stuck out on The Track but Thankfully All was Good as Hour 7 Ended.

Hour 8 (17:56PM) (THE FINAL HOUR)

The FINAL Hour of The 8 Hour Indy KA 500 and With Every Driver Now Getting into a Rhythm it was Up to Each Teams Last Driver to Strap in and Go for it to the Checkered Flag. However not All had gone to Plan for every Driver as The Number 29 KA of LDR Performance Tuning Found Out Slipping into the Gravel and Costing Them a Ridge Back to the Pits for Repairs with Less than 1 Hour to go.

18:00PM and The Number 2 KA of Kastrol's was Captured Racing Through Paddock Hill Bend During The Night Pushing Incredibly Hard to Ensure a Good Top 25 Finnish in the Points with Headlights Illuminating their way Around Paddock Hill Bend as The Car Flew Through The Bend.

18:30PM The Safety Car was Out for The Last Time During The Race and was Captured Leading a whole Train of KA's Through Pilgrims Drop and Onto Clearways with Each Driver Poised and Ready to Get Going Once the Safety Car Had Come In.

19:07PM An Amazing Sight to Behold with Just 15 Minutes Left on the Clock a Huge Rush of KA's Flooded their way Down The Main Straight and Past The Start Finnish Straight with Headlights on Full Beam to Aid in Visibility. The Number 8 KA Leads The way in This Group of Cars with The Number 18 CHR Hoonikan Car of Stratton MacKay Dave Mayer and Paul Robson Closing in Behind.

19:09PM And The Green Flag is Dropped for The Final Time as The Safety Car Comes into the Pitlane All 44 Remaining KA's Race Towards Druids with the Field so Bunched up this is Anyone's Race to both Win or Lose at This Stage.

The Number 42 KA of The K Teams Paul Simmons Edward Simmons and Glen Woodbridge Damo takes off Leading from Number 20 A Reeve's Motorsport Aron Reeve Stuart Lane and Andy Godfrey while The Number 127 of Fat Boys Racing Chases Them Down into a Nail Biting Finnish at The Centre of The Field.

19:13PM A Group of Six KA's are Captured Having an Intense Battle with Only 5 Minutes Left to Run The Likes of KA Number 127 36 and 128 All Putting Up One Hell of a Good Fight in The Closing Stages of The Endurance Race with Some Drives Having Driven for 4 Hours Straight.

19:21PM and after 8 Hours of Continuous Racing and 5 KA's Out of The Race The Checkered Flag was Ready and Waiting as The Number 81 KA of GM Performance's Gary Mitchell and Ian Mitchell Takes the Victory at The 2021 8 Hour Indy Car 500!!!! Followed Closely by The Number 72 Car Misty Racing's Adam Bonham and Simon Bonham in Second Place with KA Number 14 Frugal Racing's Jim McDougal Callum McDougal Mike Marais and Leon Bidgeway Taking Third Place.

A Huge Congratulations to The Overall Top Three Winners and to All of the other Teams and Competitors for Showing some Incredible Racing To End of The 2021 Motorsport Season. From

Historic Formula 1 to Classic Touring Cars To The Indy KA 500 This Season Has been One of The Best to Date.

See You All Again Next Year Where We Will do it All Over Again.

Engineers' Club Building by Emilio Guerra

32 West 40th Street, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

The Engineers’ Club was founded in 1888 at a time when professional engineering was becoming increasingly important to the industrial and economic development of the United States. While the city was well supplied with professional and trade associations related to engineering, the Engineers’ Club was the first purely social organization founded in the United States for engineers or those connected to the field. Prominent members have included Andrew Carnegie, Herbert C. Hoover, Thomas Edison, Charles Lindbergh, Cornelius Vanderbilt, H.H. Westinghouse, and Nikola Tesla.

While the club originally leased space in Midtown Manhattan, it began to plan for a larger, purpose-built clubhouse around the turn of the century, acquiring land facing Bryant Park and the future home of the New York Public Library (both New York City Landmarks). Around the same time, industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie offered the sum of $1 million for a separate project - the creation of a joint headquarters for New York City’s professional engineering clubs. In 1904, Carnegie increased the amount of his proffered gift to $1.5 million in order to incorporate the plans of the Engineers’ Club. Ultimately, the decision was reached to erect two separate but related structures, allowing for a direct flow between them.

The design of the Engineers’ Club building was determined by an architectural competition in which the young firm of Whitfield & King bested more established names such as Carrère & Hastings and Clinton & Russell. The 12-story Renaissance Revival style building, completed in 1907, featured a tripartite configuration consisting of a three-story base clad in white marble with prominent Corinthian pilasters, a seven-story red brick shaft embellished with marble quoins and molded window enframements, and a three-story capital capped by a deeply projecting modillioned cornice. An early example of the high-rise clubhouse building type, the Engineers’ Club building also featured 66 sleeping rooms in addition to its public and social spaces.

The Engineers’ Club occupied the West 40th Street building until 1979, at which point the structure was converted into residential apartments. Today, the building looks almost exactly as it did more than a century ago, standing as an architectural reminder of the emergence of New York State as the engineering center of the country and of the United States as an industrial and economic power. As the last remaining club building on the block, it is also a visual reminder of the prominence of the social club and of the bachelor apartment at the turn of the 20th century.

DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS

West 40th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues

At the turn of the 20th century, West 40th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, the future site of the Engineers’ Club building, was at the crossroads of several rapidly-evolving Midtown neighborhoods. In the late 1800s, Fifth Avenue between 34th and 59th Streets had been established as one of the most fashionable addresses in Manhattan, and residential rowhouses lined the blocks to the east and to the west. By 1900, however, various real estate forces were coalescing to permanently alter the character of this part of Manhattan. Construction of Grand Central Terminal (1903-13, a designated New York City Landmark) at East 42nd Street between Madison and Lexington Avenues and the decking of the railroad tracks running north from the station accelerated the commercialization of eastern Midtown and spurred the development of an important hotel and business district. With respect to the blocks surrounding the future site of the Engineer’s Club building, considered the northwest periphery of the Murray Hill neighborhood, the construction of or conversion of private residences into exclusive retail shops, restaurants and office buildings, was already well underway by the close of the century.

Midtown Manhattan, west of Fifth Avenue, was being similarly transformed at the turn of the 20th century. A growing transportation hub at Herald Square (at the intersection of 34th Street, Broadway and Sixth Avenue), featured cross-town streetcars, the Sixth Avenue Elevated, and the Hudson Tubes to New Jersey, and helped secure this area’s continued commercial development. The successful openings of two department stores at Herald Square, Saks & Co. in 1900 followed by R.H. Macy’s in 1901-02, anchored a new shopping district that encouraged similar businesses to relocate northwards from Madison Square. The construction of restaurants and hotels to meet shoppers’ needs logically followed. The opening of Pennsylvania Station at 34th Street and Seventh Avenue in 1910 precipitated even higher demand for realty in the blocks surrounding the station, which had become known as the ‘Pennsylvania terminal loft zone’ due to the large number of plans filed for manufacturing and business structures.

In 1899, the south side of West 40th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues was still lined with the four-story rowhouses that had been built in the mid-century. In 1903, the New York Times cited how commercial forces were “already being felt in the side streets” off of Fifth Avenue by “the recent leasing for business purposes” of houses in the area. Many of the residences that were not converted for commercial use were demolished for the construction of new, larger commercial structures. In 1900-01, several smaller lots were combined for the construction of Bryant Park Studios on the southeast corner of West 40th Street and Sixth Avenue, across from Bryant Park. On the southwest corner of West 40th Street and Fifth Avenue, opposite the future home of the New York Public Library (1898-1911), the Knox Building (a designated New York City Landmark) was built in 1901-02 as the headquarters of the Knox Hat Company. In 1902, the Republican Club was erected at 54 West 40th Street, the first club building to go up on the block. Another club, the New York Club at 18-22 West 40th Street, was erected shortly thereafter – the same year as the Engineers’ Club building. By the end of the 1920s, virtually no traces of the one-time residential character of the block remained.

Early History of Clubhouses and Bachelor Apartments in New York City

Social clubs for men had been organized in New York City since the 1830s. Largely modeled after those in London, the clubs were formed along lines such as social class, politics, ethnicity, business, sports, or other shared interests. New York City has also been host to a large variety of professional clubs, the Union Club for the law (1836), Lambs Club for the theater (1874), and Friars Club for comedians (1904) being among the most prominent. By the end of the 19th century, New York had over 100 men’s clubs (second only to London), many catering particularly to young bachelors and providing alternative options for living, dining and drinking, and socializing outside of boardinghouses or restaurants.

Initially, most clubs were established in former rowhouses and mansions, in areas such as Madison Square and Gramercy Park. In the late 19th century, a men’s clubhouse district developed in Midtown Manhattan, most highly concentrated along West 43rd and 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, but extending at least as far north as 54th Street and down into the 20s. The Union League Club, constructed in 1881 at Fifth Avenue and 39th Street (demolished) is considered the city’s first purpose-built clubhouse. Others followed shortly thereafter, including the Berkeley Athletic Club at 23 West 44th Street (1890, demolished), and the Harvard Club at 27 West 44th Street (1893-94, demolished). As late as the early 1890s, however, there was not a specific architectural style or type associated with clubhouse architecture in New York.

A development that paralleled the emergence of the clubhouse in New York was the emergence of a distinct residential building type for men: the bachelor apartment hotel, or “bachelor flats.” Throughout the 19th century, the population of bachelors living in New York was rising with the growth and industrialization of the city during the 19th century, which was accompanied by a workforce consisting of large numbers of unmarried men. Despite their large numbers, housing options for middle-class unmarried men in New York were severely limited. As rowhouses and better hotels were expensive, bachelors were forced to find quarters in boarding or rooming houses (usually converted rowhouses) with less privacy or security, in less-than-desirable rooms in cheaper hotels or apartment buildings, or in such facilities as clubs and YMCAs. The apartment hotel provided an alternative that could accommodate unmarried men along with couples, families, and widows, but this was considered awkward as single men were seen as threatening to married couples and traditional gender roles.

Between 1880 and 1915, the real estate market began to catch up with demand and hundreds of bachelor apartment hotels were erected. By 1905, buildings of this type could be found mostly along Fifth Avenue south of Central Park, on the adjacent cross streets, on Broadway, and in other locations south to 23rd Street. Many of the purpose-built social and professional clubs erected around this time also began to include proper accommodations for bachelors. The Yale Club of New York building (a designated New York City Landmark), for example, constructed in 1900-01, devoted more than half of its floors to bachelor apartments. Similarly, the central seven stories of the Engineers’ Club building were designed to accommodate 66 bachelor apartments that could be used either in combination as a suite, or independently.

Early History of Professional Engineering and of the Engineers’ Club

New York State is often credited as the birthplace of professional engineering within the United States, the growth and development of which was a significant factor in the rise of the country as a major industrial and economic power during the 19th century. New York State was home to the first school in the country to offer engineering as an academic subject (civil engineering at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, beginning in 1801), and also to the first university to offer a degree in engineering (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, beginning in 1838). Moreover, the number and complexity of both private and public works projects throughout the state during the 19th century, including construction of the Erie Canal (1817-25) and the Croton Aqueduct system (1837-1842), relied heavily on advancements in the engineering fields – from civil engineering, commonly associated with public works projects, to those branches more allied with industry, such as mining, mechanical or electrical engineering. Construction of the Erie Canal, alone, has been cited as responsible for doubling the number of engineers in the country. New York City’s own emergence as a grand metropolis during this era was also dependent on the engineering innovations of the era, culminating in achievements such as the Brooklyn Bridge, the extensive subway system, and the city’s myriad towering skyscrapers.

By the mid-19th century, American engineers had begun to organize professionally, with the principal aim of educating peers by means of publications and conferences. The first such organization, the Association of Civil Engineers (ASCE) was formed in 1852 in New York City. Other emerging disciplines followed with their own professional organizations, including the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineering (AIME), organized in 1871, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), organized in 1880, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE), organized in 1884, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), organized in 1908, and the Institute of Radio Engineers (AIRE), organized in 1912. Many of these organizations, including ASME, AIEE and AIRE, were also formed in New York City.

The Engineers’ Club was organized in 1888 within the rooms of the ASCE clubhouse on East 23rd Street. While the city, by then, was well supplied with professional and trade associations related to engineering, the Engineers’ Club was the first purely social organization founded in the United States for engineers or those connected to the field. As would be spoken by President Arthur T. Hadley of Yale at the 1907 opening exercises for the completed Engineers’ Club building, “it is not enough to know the special sciences on which the practice of a profession is based. A man ought to have a clear conception of the public service which his profession can render, and the public duties that its members owe.”

The Engineers’ Club formally opened its doors on April 27, 1889, at a building it leased at 10 West 29th Street. Among its founding members was President James A. Burden of the Burden Iron Works in Troy, New York, Vice Presidents Henry R. Towne of the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company and James C. Bayles of the Spiral Weld Tube Company, Treasurer

A.C. Rand of the Rand Rock Drill Company, and Secretary David Williams, publisher of the Iron Age. Though located in New York, the club was in no sense local, embracing members from “all the States of the Union, as well as Canada and Mexico.” Initially there were two classes of members – resident and non-resident – though both had the same privileges. Any candidate wishing to become a member of the club had to be proposed, seconded and endorsed by the other members of the club.

The Planning of the Engineers’ Club Building

Three years after its founding, the membership of the Engineers’ Club totaled nearly 550 members. Although the constitution of the organization limited total membership to 1,000 members, the club was growing rapidly, reaching 650 members by the close of 1896. In 1897, the club relocated to larger rented quarters at 374 Fifth Avenue but continued to swell in size, reaching 769 members by the close of 1898. Around this time, the club began to discuss plans to construct a purpose-built clubhouse to meet the demands of a steadily increasing membership. A survey was circulated to members in 1898 concerning the “advisability of taking up the matter of a new house.” Although there was unanimous agreement by the Board of Management in 1902 as to the desirability of the club “to have a house of its own,” sufficient funds needed to be raised. In 1903, the Engineers’ Realty Company was formed and its stock made available for purchase by members of the Engineers’ Club. Every member of the Engineers’ Club was expected to subscribe in the company’s stock.

By 1903, the Engineers’ Club reached 1,000 members and had conclusively outgrown its Fifth Avenue quarters. That same year, enough of the Engineering Realty Company’s stock had been sold to purchase an available site on West 40th Street. The site consisted of two adjacent tax lots at 32 and 34 West 40th Street, together measuring 50 feet wide by 100 feet deep. The site was reported in Architects’ and Builders’ Magazine as an ideal location overlooking both Bryant Park and the future home of the New York Public Library, already under construction. In their annual report of 1903, the Board of Management of the Engineers’ Club said of the lot:

This location is the most desirable in the city of New York for a Club House. Fifth Avenue; the elevated railroad station; the station of the new underground road; the Broadway, Sixth Avenue, Forty-second street and Fourth Avenue surface railroads are all near the site. It is near the Theatre district and convenient to the New York Central Railroad Station, and near to the proposed station of the Pennsylvania Railroad at 33d Street, making it readily accessible to those arriving at either of those depots.

At the turn of the 20th century, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was one of the wealthiest men in the world. He had sold his holdings in the Carnegie Steel Company to the newly-formed

U.S. Steel Corporation and consequently amassed a considerable fortune. Carnegie, by this time, was already known for his extensive philanthropic activities, the focus of which were largely within the realm of education. In 1895, Carnegie was approached by W.D. Weaver of the AIEE about creating a joint headquarters for the city’s numerous engineering societies. Nothing came of this initial suggestion, and in 1903 the proposal was made again. By this time, Carnegie had already contributed to a library fund for the AIEE and had even spoken of “co-operation among engineers” at a dinner held by the organization in honor of the library’s opening. Carnegie, it seemed, had come to agree that the engineering disciplines needed to be better unified and that housing the independent clubs in a centralized home would help achieve this goal.

In early 1903, Carnegie offered the sum of $1 million for the purpose of providing a suitable professional building for the various engineering societies already centered in New York City. As reported in the New York Times, Carnegie’s objective was to make “New York a sort of intellectual engineering centre [sic], at least of the Western Hemisphere.” Carnegie, made aware of the existence of the Engineers’ Club and its plans to construct a new club house at West 40th Street, declared the location to be wholly appropriate for a central engineering building. In order to incorporate the plans of the Engineers’ Club, Carnegie increased the amount of his proffered gift to $1.5 million in 1904. He invited three of the largest professional clubs – AIEE, ASME and AIME – to participate alongside the Engineers’ Club. Hoping to ensure the success of his enterprise, he made his gift contingent on the participation of each of the professional clubs, which had a combined, rapidly rising membership of approximately 9,000 members. The chief opposition was expected to come from AIME, who expressed concerns that any appearance of localism might diminish the national standing of the organization. AIME’s fears were apparently overcome and in 1904 the professional groups formed the United Engineering Society. Soon thereafter, a joint Conference Committee was formed to carry the construction of the proposed building through to completion. This committee consisted of 12 men, three from each of the aforementioned organizations, and was headed by William R. Ware, founder of the school of architecture at Columbia University.

Shortly after beginning its work, the committee determined that it would be too difficult to purchase the amount of land required to combine all of the social and technical requirements of the unified engineering organizations into one building. Instead, the decision was made to erect two separate structures – one for the Engineers’ Club on the existing West 40th Street lot, and a second for the professional societies, to be located on West 39th Street. The completed buildings would abut one another at the rear, allowing for a direct flow between them. A larger allotment of $1.05 million was allocated for the proposed building for the professional organizations, which would be known as the Engineering Societies’ building, while the remaining $450,000 was assigned to the smaller Engineers’ Club building.

In 1905, the Trustees of the Engineers’ Club published a pamphlet for its members titled The New Club House of the Engineers’ Club: Being a Preliminary Description of the Plans and Details. Alongside a color rendering of the proposed exterior and detailed plans of each of the building’s 12 stories, the organization printed its anticipation that “the Engineers’ Club will shortly be in the enjoyment of one of the finest and most luxurious clubhouses in the United States” and one that every member “can take individual and professional pride in.” The cornerstone of the building was laid in 1905 by Louise Whitfield Carnegie – Andrew Carnegie’s wife and sister of one of the two architects. The new building opened its doors on April 25, 1907, despite “the delay of general contractors in completing their work, strikes, and other labor troubles.” In the end, the project far exceeded original cost estimates, with construction of the building alone, exclusive of the land or interior furnishings, costing approximately $550,000. In total, the project is said to have cost closer to $870,000, with Carnegie’s grant covering only the initially promised $450,000. Upon the opening of the building, the Board of Management of the Engineers’ Club pronounced it to be “one of the most comfortable and convenient Club Houses in New York City, the center of American club life.”

The Architecture of the Engineers’ Club Building

As noted in The American Architect and Building News in 1907, the worldwide fame of the donor, coupled with the magnitude of the gift and the national character of the organizations involved, made the selection of an architect for the two proposed buildings a semi-public matter of “more than ordinary importance.” The selection process for the Engineers’ Club and Engineering Societies’ buildings took the form of a competition in which six well-known and established architects were invited to participate. Each was to be paid $1,000 for his submission, whether it was accepted or not. A number of other architects were also invited to present plans, though without compensation. Additionally, the competition was made open to any architect in New York City who had been in actual practice for two or more years under his own name, incentivized by cash prizes to be awarded to the four best submissions among this open class. All plans were to be submitted anonymously.

In July 1904, the Conference Committee examined 28 sets of plans for the two buildings, comprising more than 500 drawings. The award for the Engineers’ Club building went to the firm of Whitfield & King, a young partnership who had, implausibly, been invited to participate as one of the six well-known and established firms, and who were selected over some of architecture’s most renowned names at the time, including Carrère & Hastings and Clinton & Russell. The award for the Engineering Societies’ building went to the firm of Hale & Rogers, with H.G. Morse as associate. Despite the measures purportedly taken to ensure an open and democratic selection process, it is difficult not to question the determinations – most notably, the fact that James Gable Hale, of Hale & Rogers, was the son of Edward Everett Hale, president of the Engineers’ Club, while Henry D. Whitfield, of Whitfield & King, was Carnegie’s own brother-in law.

In 1904, the New York Times reported on the winning designs, writing “it is doubtful if anywhere in the world there will be two buildings more perfectly fitted for their respective needs and more artistic in conception and execution than these two structures.” The article went on to describe the design for the Engineers’ Club building as “sumptuous in the extreme,” which is consistent with the notion that, while the buildings erected east of Fifth Avenue after the turn of the 20th century tended to exhibit a more subdued architectural and social atmosphere, those constructed west of Fifth Avenue were typically more exuberantly ornamented. Upon completion in 1907, the 12-story Engineers’ Club building featured an impressive three-story marble base with prominent Corinthian pilasters separating three round-arched windows and supporting an ornate frieze and cornice. The seven-story red brick shaft of the building featured marble quoins at its sides and marble trim surrounding its windows. A three-story capital was highlighted by an ornamental balcony, Ionic columns, round-arched windows, and a deeply projecting modillioned cornice.

While the Engineering Societies’ building was designed to meet the professional requirements of the engineers who would occupy the space, the interior configuration of the Engineers’ Club building was designed to meet the social needs of club members. The interior of the building (not part of this designation) featured a broad hallway and stairway leading to social rooms on the second and third stories. The fourth through ninth stories contained 66 bedrooms, planned in such a way as to be used either in combination as a suite or separately. On the 11th story, the main dining room, or banquet hall, contained room for 300 and was accessible by means of a service bridge across the dumbbell-shaped building’s east court. Associated facilities, including two large private dining rooms, were divided among the 10th through 12th stories. A half-story penthouse located at the rear of the building while a garden occupied the front portion of the roof. The tripartite exterior configuration of the main elevation of the Engineers’ Club building is a direct reflection of each of these interior functions: the prominent exterior columns of the base enframe the windows of the large “club” and billiard rooms, while the stories devoted to bedrooms, at the shaft of the building, are treated in a red brick and accentuated by the marble quoins; lastly, the ornamental balcony at the building’s capital serves to denote the location of the 11th-story banquet hall, overlooking the park.

Subsequent History

The increased size and prominence of the Engineers’ Club’s accommodations contributed to a significant growth in membership in the years following construction of the new building. Between 1906 and 1909, the club’s membership rose nearly 35% to 2,000 members. By 1910, just three years after the club opened, the Board of Management declared that it would be forced to consider the provision of additional facilities to meet the “reasonable requirements of the members.” To satisfy the growing demands, the Engineers’ Club began construction in 1913 of a five-story building at 23 West 39th Street (not part of this designation), directly abutting the Engineers’ Club building to the rear and the Engineering Societies’ building to the east. The space, formerly utilized as a carriage entrance for the complex, opened for use by the club in April 1915. A decade later, in need of further expansion, the Engineers’ Club purchased the buildings located on both sides of it – 28 and 36 West 40th Street. No. 28 was used for additional bedrooms and a lounge area, while no. 36 was used as office space. Today the Engineers’ Club building continues to tower over its diminutive neighbors, rising almost nine stories above the rooflines of the smaller buildings.

For nearly six decades, the Engineers’ Club and the Engineering Societies’ buildings served as the epicenter of American engineering, with each establishment frequented by some of the world’s most renowned engineers and scientists. Among its most prominent members, the Engineers’ Club has counted Andrew Carnegie, President Herbert C. Hoover, Thomas Edison, Charles Lindbergh, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Henry Clay Frick, H.H. Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla. Countless national and international engineering conferences were held regularly in the buildings, with some of the country’s largest corporations as participants. In 1960, the United Engineering Society sold its West 39th Street property and relocated to the new United Engineering Center building at 345 East 47th Street, opposite the United Nations. With that action, the engineering center was officially disbanded. As of 1972, the Engineers’ Club was also the only remaining club on West 40th Street.

By the mid-1970s, the Engineers’ Club was facing serious financial difficulties which culminated in the club declaring bankruptcy in 1977. Among the assets the club was forced to put up for sale were the Engineers’ Club building at 32 West 40th Street, and each of the three associated buildings at 28 and 36 West 40th Street and 23 West 39th Street. In 1979, the Engineers’ Club building and its three associated structures were purchased by a developer who converted the buildings for residential use. Changes were also made around this time to the penthouse units, which were expanded to cover a greater portion of the roof. Upon completion, the now-apartment building also featured ground floor retail and was advertised as “The Columns,” probably in reference to the four prominent columns which adorn the base of the building. The celebrated history of the Engineers’ Club was used in advertisements that appeared in the New York Times boasting: “CARNEGIE BUILT IT! Edison & Nobel Lived Here! NOW… SO CAN YOU!” The building was converted into a cooperative apartment house in 1983, and remains one today.

In the mid-1990s, it was discovered that the exterior of the Engineers’ Club was suffering from physical deterioration, particularly of the ornamental marble and metal elements. The architectural firm Midtown Preservation Architecture & Engineering, P.C. was hired to assess the condition of the building and make necessary repairs. The firm proceeded to repair elements including the marble arches and keystones of the 12th story, and replaced much of the original material, particularly at the building’s base and at the 11th-story balcony, with lightweight fiberglass replicas due to the advanced state of deterioration of the existing marble and metal cornices. Both the cornices at the third and at the 12th stories have been replaced with fiberglass replicas. Further repairs to the exterior facade were also made c. 2001.

Today, the Engineers’ Club is known as Bryant Park Place and continues to thrive as a cooperative apartment house. The building looks almost exactly as it did when it was constructed more than a century ago, standing as an architectural reminder of the commercial transformation of this part of Midtown Manhattan and of the emergence of New York State as the engineering center of the country and of the United States as an industrial and economic power. As the last remaining club building on the block, the Engineers’ Club is also a prominent early example of the high-rise clubhouse building type and a visual reminder of the prominence of the social club and of bachelor apartment at the turn of the 20th century. The building also significantly contributes to the recognizable south street wall of Bryant Park. A commemorative plaque celebrating the history of the building as the Engineers’ Club was placed to the left of the primary entrance by the Co-op Board in 2007. The Engineers’ Club building and the adjacent Engineering Societies’ building were jointly listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2007.

The Architects: Whitfield & King

It us unknown when the partnership of Henry D. Whitfield (1876-1949) and Beverly S. King (1879-1935), architects of the Engineers’ Club building, was formed. The first known work of the firm was the parish house of the Flatbush Congregation Church, completed in 1899, an unusual polygonal Shingle-style structure (part of the Ditmas Park Historic District). The partnership appears to have benefited greatly from Whitfield’s familial relationship with Andrew Carnegie. Prior to their work on the Engineers’ Club building, Whitfield & King were probably best known for the neo-Federal style parking garage designed in 1904 for Carnegie, Whitfield’s brother-in-law. The garage, erected at 55 East 90th Street (part of the Expanded Carnegie Hill Historic District), near Carnegie’s Fifth Avenue mansion (a designated New York City Landmark), was one of the first structures erected in Manhattan specifically as a private automobile garage. Following completion of the Engineers’ Club, Whitfield & King went on to complete at least two more commissions associated with Carnegie, including the Cleveland Public Library in Ohio (1911) and Taylor Hall, Lehigh University’s first dormitory building (1907). Whitfield & King are also credited with the c. 1906 design of the Phipps Houses, model tenements constructed between West 63rd and 64th Streets at West End Avenue in Manhattan, underwritten by Henry Phipps, a former partner of Carnegie’s.

King began working as an architect in New York City before the turn of the century and appears to have worked both independently and as part of various architectural partnerships over the course of his career. In 1909, King was noted as having formed the partnership of King & Walker with Henry Leslie Walker. Pomander Walk (a designated New York City Landmark), a complex of 27 two- and three-story houses organized around a private walk on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, is probably King’s best known project outside of the Engineers’ Club building. The complex was designed in 1921 while King was associated with the partnership of King & Campbell. In the 1920s, King moved his practice to White Plains, New York and was responsible for several public buildings in Westchester, including the White Plains Public Library, financed by Carnegie. At the end of his career (c. 1933), King went to Washington, D.C. where he served as deputy administrator of the National Recovery Administration (NRA), one of the New Deal agencies created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Whitfield graduated from Harvard University in 1898 and served as an Army officer in World War I. Whitfield appears to have practiced largely independently from 1910 to 1924, following the dissolution of his partnership with King. He worked on numerous Carnegie-funded projects throughout the country, including several libraries, such as the Muskogee Carnegie Library in Oklahoma (1914) and the Hawai’i State Library in Honolulu (1911-13), as well as several university science buildings including the Carnegie Hall of Chemistry at Allegheny College (1915-18), the applied science building at the University of Rochester (c. 1913), and the Carnegie Science Hall at Bates University (1913). Shortly following completion of the library in Honolulu, Whitfield was commissioned to design the Federal Building, U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in Hilo, Hawaii, one the first buildings in Hawaii to use reinforced concrete, already common on the mainland. Within New York City, Whitfield is probably best known as the architect of the National Collection of Heads and Horns (1922, later the Security, Education and International Conservation Offices, a designated New York City Landmark) located on the east side of Astor Court at the New York Zoological Park (later the Bronx Zoo). Andrew Carnegie and his wife Louise were great supporters of the New York Zoological Society (later the Wildlife Conservation Society), and may have helped initiate contact between Whitfield and the society.

Description

North (West 40th Street) Facade:

Twelve stories; Renaissance Revival style; one visible and two partially visible elevations; tripartite vertical composition; three bays at each story; dumbbell-shaped plan above third story; three-story base with marble facing and marble ornament; seven-story shaft with red brick in an English bond, marble quoins and other marble ornament; two-story capital with brick and marble facing and marble ornament; possibly original multi-paned windows with arched upper sashes at 11th-story window openings.

East and West Facades:

Partially visible; largely not designed; red brick laid in a Common bond; 11th-story service bridge at east facade.

Alterations:

Fiberglass replica cornices at third and 12th-stories (originally metal cornices; c. 1994-95); fiberglass replacements also at some areas of base, 11th-story balcony, and 12th-story (originally marble; c. 1994-95); aluminum replacement windows throughout (except where noted; first story originally one-over-one double-hung with arched upper sashes, replaced after c. 1940 New York City Tax Photograph; second story originally one-over-one double hung sashes with single-pane transoms; third story originally fixed multi-paned round-arched windows; fourth through ninth stories originally one-over-one double-hung sashes; 10th story originally one-over-one double-hung sashes with single-pane rectangular transoms; one-over-one double-hung sashes throughout east and west facades); original penthouse units altered and enlarged (c. 1980; penthouse units along West 40th Street further expanded into duplex units c. 1992); awnings at first-story window openings; metal globe lamps on painted metal armatures at primary door opening; plaque to left of primary door opening (2007); brass number “32” to right of primary door opening; security camera at first story; security lights at first story.

- From the 2011 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

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Barefoot solar engineers under training at Barefoot college. After six months hard training they will return to electrify their home villages. Ajmer, Rajasthan, India.

"Engineers' Corner" by Wendy Cope (1945 - ) by George Redgrave

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‘Why isn’t there an Engineers’ Corner in Westminster Abbey? In

Britain we’ve always made more fuss of a ballad than a blueprint

. . . How many schoolchildren dream of becoming great engineers?’

Advertisement placed in The Times by the Engineering Council

We make more fuss of ballads than of blueprints –

That’s why so many poets end up rich,

While engineers scrape by in cheerless garrets.

Who needs a bridge or dam? Who needs a ditch?

Whereas the person who can write a sonnet

Has got it made. It’s always been the way,

For everybody knows that we need poems

And everybody reads them every day.

Yes, life is hard if you choose engineering –

You’re sure to need another job as well;

You’ll have to plan your projects in the evenings

Instead of going out. It must be hell.

While well-heeled poets ride around in Daimlers,

You’ll burn the midnight oil to earn a crust,

With no hope of a statue in the Abbey,

With no hope, even, of a modest bust.

No wonder small boys dream of writing couplets

And spurn the bike, the lorry and the train.

There’s far too much encouragement for poets –

That’s why this country’s going down the drain.

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Royal Navy Air Engineers with CHF Service a Lynx Helicopter in Norway by Defence Imagery

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Engineers from 847 Naval Air Squadron, CHF ar pictured working on a Lynx Mk7 helicopter during a recent FOBEX.

Naval personal from Commando Helicopter Force (CHF) took part in a forward operating base exercise (FOBEX) in preparation for Exercise Cold Response which takes place in the middle of March in Northern Norway.

Two hundred naval personal from CHF were stationed at the Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) training base Bardufoss, Norway. The JHC base known as “Clockwork” provides survival and operational training and support facilities to enable aviation capable unit’s arms to survive, operate and fight in extreme C2 environments. Photographer: POA(Phot) Mez Merrill

Image 45153931.jpg from www.defenceimages.mod.uk

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Engineers' Club Building by Emilio Guerra

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