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Divine Lorraine Hotel

Philadelphia, , , , , , , ,

Divine Lorraine Hotel is a fabulous Philadelphia ruin awaiting revival – ten blocks east of Philadelphia’s other fabulous ruin, Eastern State Penitentiary.

What earns it a spot in NewYorkitecture.com is that it was a New Yorker who made it Divine in the first place.

This building began life as the Lorraine Apartments – abodes for well-heeled Philadelphians. After a mere six years it was sold and converted to the Lorraine Hotel, a role it filled for almost half a century.

Then along came Harlem’s Reverend Major Jealous Divine, better known as Father Divine, whose Universal Peace Mission Movement bought the hotel in 1948. Divine, a black man who married a white woman at a time when interracial marriage was unthinkable, promptly radicalized the hotel. He renamed it Divine Lorraine Hotel, made it the first integrated U.S. hotel, required men and women (even if married) to stay on separate floors, converted ballrooms to places of worship, and installed a low-cost restaurant for the poor.

Though Father Divine died in 1965, his followers continued the hotel until 2000, when they sold it to developers. In 2006 the building was gutted for renovation, but the project was abandoned until fairly recently. Developer Eric Blumenfeld bought the property at auction in October 2012, with plans to revive it as apartments.

Divine Lorraine Hotel’s architect, Willis G. Hale, was born 1848 in Seneca Falls, N.Y. but moved to Philadelphia in the 1860s. His creations are known as wildly inventive – but few examples survive.

Divine Lorraine Hotel Vital Statistics
  • Location: 1370 Fairmount Avenue at N Broad Street
  • Year completed: 1894
  • Architect: Willis Gaylord Hale
  • Floors: 10
  • Style: Victorian
  • Pennsylvania Historical Landmark: 1994
  • National Register of Historic Places: 2002
Divine Lorraine Hotel Recommended Reading

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Grand Madison Apartments

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Grand Madison Apartments is now in its third life. It was originally conceived as a replacement for the Brunswick Hotel, but built as offices instead under the name Brunswick Building. Later it became a showroom center, the Gift and Art Center Building. And since 2006, it has been luxury condominium apartments, attracting the likes of Chelsea Clinton and her husband (who have since moved, but I felt like name-dropping).

Curiously, although Grand Madison Apartments overlooks Madison Square Park and the Flatiron Building, the official website identifies instead with Gramercy Park – eight blocks away.

Grand Madison Apartments Vital Statistics
  • Location: 225 Fifth Avenue between E 26th and E27th Streets
  • Year completed: 1907
  • Architect: Francis H. Kimball and Harry E. Donnell
  • Floors: 12
  • Style: Beaux Arts
  • New York City Landmark: June 26, 2001
Grand Madison Apartments Recommended Reading

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Library Hotel

Manhattan, , , , , , , ,

Library Hotel, a Gothic Revival sliver on Madison Avenue at E 41st Street, stands out. Literally. The building’s distinctive copper-skinned bay windows project out from the building line, so occupants can look straight up Madison Avenue.

Built in 1913, the 12-story office building was originally headquarters of the Fred F. French company, a vertically-integrated real estate/architectural/construction firm. French eventually moved to Fifth Avenue and the character (and number) of tenants at 299 Madison changed over the years, until it lay vacant in the 1990s.

In 1999 new owners converted the offices into a library-themed boutique hotel – somehow fitting six rooms into each 25-by-100-foot floor. Stephen B. Jacob Group was the conversion architect.

Library Hotel Vital Statistics
  • Location: 299 Madison Avenue at E 41st Street
  • Year completed: 1913
  • Architect: Hill & Stout
  • Floors: 12
  • Style: Gothic Revival
Library Hotel Recommended Reading

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Museum of Arts & Design

Manhattan, , , , , , , , ,

Museum of Arts & Design is, by almost all accounts, an improvement over the former Gallery of Modern Art – on the inside. But the exterior changes brought forth a firestorm of criticism and even charges that the museum tried to subvert the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Preservationists wanted to keep the Edward Stone-designed facade intact; the museum envisioned radical changes.

The issue was never formally considered by the Commission – no public hearings were ever held. The Department of Buildings issued the necessary permits, and reconstruction proceeded according to Allied Works/Brad Cloepfil plans.

One might consider the glass-slashed design bizarre – but there were also many who felt pretty strongly that the old design was also bizarre.

Personally, I was not a fan of the old design. Eight windowless floors of marble was too cold – like a tombstone or a Verizon switching center. I’m not too fond of the new design, either, but it strikes me as at least more dynamic and in keeping with the swirling traffic of Columbus Circle.

Meanwhile, back on the inside… Those slashes in the facade bring natural light into the galleries where before there was none. And the stairs were redone so they’re usable, not just emergency exits; it’s easier to get up, down and around the building. Those improvements appear to have been made without sacrificing wall or gallery space, so I’d count that as a net gain.

The “Recommended Reading” links explore the history and controversy in depth; the Steel Institute and Allied Works links reveal under-the-skin construction details. Enjoy!

Museum of Arts & Design Vital Statistics
  • Location: 2 Columbus Circle
  • Year completed: 1964; reconstruction: 2008
  • Architect: Edward Durell Stone; redesign: Brad Cloepfil
  • Floors: 11
  • Style: Postmodern
Museum of Arts & Design Recommended Reading

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Towne House

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , , ,

Towne House stands out in the Murray Hill Historic District. Amid blocks of low rise brownstones, Towne House towers 25 floors in Art Deco brick. It replaced five mid-1800s row houses, and touched off a lawsuit by neighbors who tried to block construction.

Despite its height and architectural style, at street level the building does blend in with the block; the most remarkable aspect is Towne House’s colorfully detailed tower, which catches the eye from blocks around.

Towne House Vital Statistics
  • Location: 108 E 38th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues
  • Year completed: 1930
  • Architect: Bowden & Russell with Emery Roth
  • Floors: 25
  • Style: Art Deco
  • New York City Landmark: 2002 (part of Murray Hill Historic District)
Towne House Recommended Reading

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Fraternity Clubs Building

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , ,

Fraternity Clubs Building, aka Jolly Madison Towers Hotel, was built in 1923 by the Allerton Hotel Group, which specialized in club-like residence hotels. Allerton had six hotels in New York City. Now under its fifth name, the hotel still honors its past.

The Fraternity Clubs Building became Midston House in the 1930s, then Hotel Lancaster in the 1960s, then Madison Towers, and currently Jolly Madison Towers. The building is scantly covered in traditional architectural sources – but detailed on page 4 of the Delta Chi Quarterly 1994-95 Winter.

At street level the Renaissance Revival-style building is distinctive but not remarkable – the Madison Avenue facade looks a bit run down. A series of nine fraternal crests adorn the second story along both the Madison Avenue and E 38th Street facades; an unidentified bas relief ship (the Mayflower?) decorates the corner. The best views are the building’s east side, seen from Park Avenue. The tower’s tapestry brickwork, arches, arcades, octagonal cupolas, and red-tiled roofs are glorious.

Fraternity Clubs Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 22 E 38th Street
  • Year completed: 1923
  • Architect: Murgatroyd & Ogden
  • Floors: 16
  • Style: Renaissance Revival
Fraternity Clubs Building Recommended Reading

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Riverside Church

Manhattan, , , , , , , , ,

Riverside Church is the tallest church in the U.S., visible for miles along Riverside Drive and Riverside Park (as is the neighboring General Grant National Memorial). Interestingly, the 392-foot tower isn’t just for the bells – it’s the equivalent of an office building. As The New York Times reported, “The tower was not simply symbolic; it held offices, social rooms, classrooms, a bowling alley, a theater and similar spaces.”

Although Riverside Church is designed in the Gothic style, it is structurally modern: A steel frame, not the too-shallow buttresses, supports the weight of the tower.

Riverside Church Vital Statistics
  • Location: 490 Riverside Drive between W 120 and W 122 Streets
  • Year completed: 1930
  • Architect: Henry C. Pelton and Charles Collens
  • Floors: 22 (equivalent)
  • Style: neo-Gothic
  • New York City Landmark: 2000
  • National Register of Historic Places: 2012
Riverside Church Recommended Reading

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Gilsey House Hotel

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , , ,

Gilsey House Hotel is one of the last reminders that this stretch of Broadway – between Madison Square and Herald Square – was the social center of the city. There were six theaters on the three blocks between 28th and 31st Streets; so many music publishers were on neighboring 28th Street, the sound of their pianos gave rise to the name “Tin Pan Alley.” A block west, meanwhile, was the notorious “Tenderloin” district of brothels and gambling clubs.

The Gilsey House Hotel was among the most luxurious in the city, but a legal battle between the Gilsey family and the hotel operator shut the property down. In 1911 the Gilsey House Hotel became lofts serving the garment industry. In 1980 the building was converted to condominium apartments, and the facade was restored in 1992 – though missing most of the outer set of columns, which had extended over the building line. (See the Wikipedia article for a photo of the original design.)

Gilsey House Hotel Vital Statistics
  • Location: 1200 Broadway at W 29th Street
  • Year completed: 1871
  • Architect: Stephen Decatur Hatch
  • Floors: 8
  • Style: Second Empire
  • New York City Landmark: 1979
  • National Register of Historic Places: 1978
Gilsey House Hotel Recommended Reading

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300 Madison Avenue

Manhattan, , , , , , ,

300 Madison Avenue is the boxy glass and steel tower on 42nd Street whose mirrored facade is scored with steel fins. But it’s what’s under the skin that’s innovative.

Excavation was already under way when two events dictated radical design changes: 9/11, and the space requirements of Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), which leased two-thirds of the building from prime tenant Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) World Market.

The owners, Brookfield Financial Properties, decided to harden the design to withstand catastrophic damage, and at the same time create large trading floors in the eight-story base for PWC. Oh, and by the way, while making the building stronger, could you remove one of the columns? Adding to the challenge, the redesign and construction had to stay within the original schedule: Move-in dates were fixed.

Engineers added bracing, used stronger steel beams, replaced some sheetrock walls with concrete, and beefed up fireproofing. Firefighting systems got additional high-capacity water tanks and sprinkler lines. The owners strengthened the electrical system with addition of backup generators. (See the Recommended Reading for details – this building is unusually well documented.)

None of this is obvious from street level. Instead, the mirror glass facade is a pleasing surprise: It makes surrounding buildings more visible, by increasing their apparent distance from the viewer. The upper floors’ fins and alternating bands of glass and steel create interesting patterns, especially because the fins vary in size. The fins save it from being Just Another Glass Box.

300 Madison Avenue Vital Statistics
  • Location: 300 Madison Avenue between E 41st and E 42nd Streets
  • Year completed: 2003
  • Architect: Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM)
  • Floors: 35
  • Style: Postmodern
300 Madison Avenue Recommended Reading

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Johnston Building

Manhattan, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Johnston Building, aka NoMad Hotel, was built in 1903 as a store and office building. It is notable for its limestone facade – an expensive finish for an office building – and for its corner tower and cupola. Last but not least, it is also notable (for 1903) that the owner was a woman: Caroline H. Johnston.

After a lengthy conversion (2008-2012) by Sydell Group, the building is now a Parisian-inspired boutique hotel with interiors designed by Jacques Garcia.

Sydell Group also operates the Ace Hotel – the former Breslin Hotel – located one block to the north.

Johnston Building Vital Statistics
  • Location: 1770 Broadway at W 28th Street
  • Year completed: 1903; 2012 (conversion)
  • Architect: Schickel & Ditmars; Stonehill & Taylor (conversion), Jacques Garcia (interiors)
  • Floors: 12
  • Style: Beaux Arts
  • New York City Landmark: 2001 (Madison Square North Historic District)
Johnston Building Recommended Reading

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