Tag Archives: New York City

Gansevoort / Meatpacking District

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The Gansevoort / Meatpacking District is tucked under Chelsea – just a block downtown from Chelsea Market: from 14th Street south to Horatio Street, Hudson Street to Tenth Avenue. The warehouse loading docks are mostly empty and quiet; high fashion boutiques have edged out most of the wholesale meat suppliers. (Navigating the cobblestone streets must be murder in high heels!)

Meat packers were once supplied by rail – Gansevoort Street is the southern terminus of The High Line, the abandoned elevated rail line now turned into a park. (Also see High Line Park gallery.)

One of the architectural standouts is The Standard Hotel – which straddles The High Line on massive supports. The hotel entrance is in a bright yellow cylinder – there’s no sign anywhere to tell you it’s a hotel. I asked the doorman about that – he explained: “This is not your standard hotel.”

Gansevoort / Meatpacking District Recommended Reading

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NewYorkitecture.com Photography Technique

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Digital photography is wonderfully fast and cheap compared to conventional film photography: There’s no film to buy (or run out of!) or process – a single memory chip can store more than a thousand images, and be reused indefinitely. But digital photo display can be challenging, because digital photos don’t capture and store all of the image the same way that the human eye sees it. Frequently, what we see on the screen lacks shadow details or highlight details or both. And cameras are easily tricked by unusual lighting conditions, such as scenes with strong backlighting.

Architectural photography typically includes strong backlighting – a building with sky as backdrop – and/or shooting in bright sun, where shadows are especially deep and dark compared to the rest of the photo. Consequently, a typical building photo will have some areas that are underexposed and/or some areas that are overexposed. You won’t be able to see (on the computer screen) the details in shadows or highlights that the eye would normally see in real life.

When I started taking photos for this website I had to discard many photos because the camera meter was tricked by the backlighting. Then I started bracketing photos – taking shots that were intentionally overexposed and underexposed. The best of the three exposures would make it to the website. This was better, but still lacking.

In January, 2013 I began using High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography for NewYorkitecture.com. I was still bracketing each shot. But instead of selecting one of three images I used software to combine all three images. The normal exposure provided the photo’s midtones; the underexposed image provided the highlight details; the overexposed shot contributed the shadow details.

This technique imposes its own set of challenges: To work, the three images have to be EXACTLY the same. If the camera shifts even a fraction of an inch the final result won’t be sharp. And anything that moves between images – like cars, pedestrians, birds or planes – will be blurred or “ghosted” in the final image. So every shot has to be taken on a heavy tripod, and usually multiple times to catch breaks in traffic. But the results were often worth the extra hassles.

The software that I use can also create special effects with those three images – I’ve included a couple in the gallery above – but I only use the default “natural” setting for the galleries in this site.

If you’re interested in using this technique yourself, you’ll need: A good tripod; a camera that lets you over/under expose (preferably with an automatic bracketing mode); software to combine the images. I’ve tried a few different software packages, I like Photomatix from hdrsoft.com. They have a $39 “Essentials” version (free trial), and a $100 “Pro” version that has added features – the most important being the ability to automatically batch process hundreds of images.

In late April, 2013 I started using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 to make additional improvements – the most important being perspective correction. When you point a camera upwards to capture a whole building, vertical lines converge toward the top; the building seems to lean backwards. Occasionally, this makes a dramatic photo, but as a steady diet…. Lightroom (or Adobe Photoshop) can correct this, bringing all verticals back to vertical. The program also gives me greater exposure control than I have with HDR alone, so I can bring out even more detail. Many of Lightroom’s features are available in the free Gimp program, but Lightroom’s interface is so much easier to use.

I’ve stopped using HDR as a regular practice. I’m now using Lightroom and Photoshop to tweak exposures most of the time, saving HDR for only the most challenging lighting conditions.

GIMP – The GNU Image Manipulation Program is available at: www.gimp.org/. Adobe now “sells” Lightroom and Photoshop together as a Creative Cloud bundle for photographers, at $9.99 per month. This may seem odd, if you’re used to buying software, but in practice it’s far more economical than the old purchase-and-annual-upgrade cycle. As a bonus, you always have the most powerful, up-to-date software. You can get the details at Adobe.com.

Posterized Photos

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This gallery is just for fun – posterized versions of images used elsewhere in this site. These images all started out normally – sets of bracketed exposures. Then I used Photomatix software to apply color shifts and luminosity effects with the “Grunge” preset. (See NewYorkitecture.com Photography Technique for more information about this technique.)

The images in the gallery are of buildings in the Chelsea, Soho, Ladies Mile, Civic Center, Astor Plaza and Flatiron districts.

Chelsea

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Chelsea began in 1750 as a single estate, extending from what is now 28th Street south to 19th Street, and from the Hudson River east to Eighth Avenue. Now in its third century of subdivision, the neighborhood’s definition has expanded south to 14th Street and east to Seventh Avenue.

Chelsea’s commercial and residential makeup has shifted like the tides: Breweries, warehouses, factories, film studios, theaters, town houses and tenements have come and gone; multiple rail lines, both street level and elevated, brought goods in and out (the last remnant is now The High Line park).

Contemporary Chelsea has luxury housing, shops and art galleries – overflow from SoHo. And although the neighborhood boasts three historic districts – Chelsea Historic District, Chelsea Historic District Extension, and West Chelsea Historic District – the neighborhood has a tremendous variety of architectural styles. You’ll find modern landmarks such as the IAC Building (2007) and 100 Eleventh Avenue (2009) just two blocks from the Gothic Revival style General Theological Seminary (1883).

For NewYorkitecture.com’s purposes, we are dividing this area into two parts: West Chelsea, the area between W 28th Street and W 15th Street west of The High Line; Chelsea, from W 28th Street south to W 15th Street and The High Line east to Seventh Avenue.

Among the Chelsea landmarks that are outside the Landmarks Preservation Commission-designated historic district are four notable whole-block structures.
Chelsea Market, the interconnected buildings between W 15th and W 16th Streets and Ninth to Tenth Avenues, is the former Nabisco plant where Oreos were invented and produced (now that’s historic!). An extension from Tenth to Eleventh Avenues is connected by a bridge. Today the buildings house stores, restaurants, offices and television production studios – including, appropriately, The Food Network. See more on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Market.

Just across Ninth Avenue from Chelsea Market is Port of New York Authority Commerce Building/ Union Inland Terminal No. 1. This is the one-time headquarters of the Port Authority (before they moved into the World Trade Center). Conceived as a warehouse/distribution center at a time when Hudson River piers were active and rail lines served Tenth Avenue, the building is now offices, and was purchased by Google in 2010. Some interesting background at: http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4949&page=73.

London Terrace Gardens apartments is 14 interconnected buildings between W 23rd and W 24th Streets, from Ninth to Tenth Avenue. When built in 1930, the complex was the world’s largest apartment building. The set has been broken up – the 10 inner buildings and the four avenue-facing towers have separate owners. See more at: http://www.londonterrace.com/building/history-photography.htm.

The Fashion Institute of Technology campus occupies eight buildings on two blocks: from Seventh (Fashion) Avenue to Eighth Avenue, W 26th Street to W 28th Street. The campus was built over the period of 1958 to 2001. See the Wikipedia article at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion_Institute_of_Technology.

Chelsea Recommended Reading

Also see High Line Park gallery.

Google Map

West Chelsea

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Chelsea began in 1750 as a single estate, extending from what is now 28th Street south to 19th Street, and from the Hudson River east to Eighth Avenue. West Chelsea, the area bordering the Hudson River, became a massive warehousing district due to its proximity to Hudson River piers, freight yards and rail lines along Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. Now the piers have been converted to other uses and the last rail line was converted to The High Line park.

West Chelsea has a wide range of architectural styles. You’ll find modern landmarks such as the IAC Building (2007) and 100 Eleventh Avenue (2009) just seven blocks south of Starrett-Lehigh Building (1931) and Terminal Warehouse (1891).

(For NewYorkitecture.com’s purposes, we are defining West Chelsea as the area between W 28th Street and W 15th Street west of The High Line.)

Two massive full-block structures anchor the landmark district: Central Stores and Starrett-Lehigh Building. Outside the Landmarks Commission district – but certainly modern landmarks – are the IAC Building and neighboring 100 Eleventh Avenue.

Central Stores, Terminal Warehouse Company is actually 25 separate buildings between W 27th and W 28th Streets, from Eleventh to Twelfth Avenue. At one time, railroad tracks ran through the building, allowing transfer and storage of freight to/from trains. Modern-day uses included the Tunnel nightclub (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_%28New_York_nightclub%29). Galleries, exhibits and events are now under development.

Just across W 27th Street, neighboring Starrett-Lehigh Building is a massive warehouse and office complex. Like Terminal Warehouse, Starrett-Lehigh was built to accommodate freight trains on its ground floor (previously the location of Lehigh Valley Railroad freight yards.) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starrett-Lehigh_Building for more details.

The headquarters of InterActive Corp. (Eleventh Avenue from W 18th to W 19th Street) was designed by modern-day “starchitect” Frank Gehry. The massive glass “sails” were described by Vanity Fair as perhaps the world’s most attractive office building. But you can’t please everyone: “AIA Guide to New York City” sniffs, “Much has been made of Gehry’s use of the computer to transform the instant gesture into architecture, but here the gesture is static.” Wikipedia’s brief entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAC_Building.

Next-door-neighbor 100 Eleventh Avenue uses layer upon layer of glass, set in steel frames – each frame different – to achieve its memorable mosaic façade. The luxury condominium apartment tower was completed in 2009. See the owner’s website: http://nouvelchelsea.com/architecture.php and the City Realty article: http://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/chelsea/100-eleventh-avenue/37641.

West Chelsea Recommended Reading

Also see High Line Park gallery.

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Windows – The Eyes of the Building

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Whoever said it first said it right: Windows are the eyes of the building. What’s more, it’s true whether you’re standing inside or outside.

From the outside, windows reveal a building’s purpose, character and personality. In many cases you can even predict the mood of its occupants. From the inside, windows shape the view and invite – or exclude – the sun. “When you are designing a window,” said Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, “imagine your girlfriend sitting inside looking out.” (From the book “100 Ideas that Changed Architecture” by Richard Weston.)

Windows were even considered an indication of wealth: England’s King William III had a “window tax” (derided as “daylight robbery”) that was a royal attempt at a progressive property tax. The more windows in your house, the more tax you paid.

Philosophical and political points aside, what started out as a rough hole covered by animal hide has become one of the most important aspects of a building’s architectural style, as well as a component of the architectural system. New York is blessed with examples of dozens of traditional and modern window types and styles. Some people have even made a hobby of “collecting” windows, photographically – just search Pinterest.com, Flickr.com, or Picassaweb.google.com for fun!

Windows in the classical Greek style had formal embellishments: pediments, architraves, and cornices. Both Greek (post-and-lintel) and Romanesque (round arch) styles often grew columns or pilasters. Gothic (pointed arch) styles could become quite complex, with arches wrapped in more arches, sometimes combined with circular windows.

The earliest windows were casement windows: the moving frame swung out to permit ventilation. Sliding sash windows are a more recent development. Stationary windows are a byproduct of air conditioning.

The size and shape of windows were limited by engineering considerations. A building’s exterior wall was a structural element – too many windows and the building falls down! But as iron, steel and concrete replaced brick and stone, these stronger structural materials allowed bigger windows. Finally, frame construction shifted all of the structural load from the wall to systems of columns. This gave us “ribbon windows” (one Le Corbusier’s “Five Points of a New Architecture”) and all-glass curtain walls.

Although modern windows are simpler visually – pilasters and pediments are quite unlikely – they have become complex from a manufacturing standpoint. Glass is a poor insulator, and in an energy-conscious world designers have created window systems of two or even three plates of glass locked in a sealed frame. The glass may be tinted or coated to reduce transmission of infrared rays – or for aesthetic effects.

Here’s a modest captioned photo gallery of interesting windows I’ve collected around New York – see if they don’t make you look at (and though) windows in a new way. Windex is optional.

Windows Recommended Reading:

Three Sisters – Downtown Brooklyn Apartment Towers

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These three neighboring Brooklyn apartment towers along Flatbush Avenue Extension aren’t actually called the Three Sisters, but maybe they should be. From north to south they are: Oro (Gold), Avalon Fort Greene, and Toren (Tower). Besides proximity, they are similar in height (40, 42 and 38 floors, respectively), have similar luxury amenities, and have glass corner designs (wraparound corner windows) for spectacular views.

For each of these towers, check out the developer’s website, of course, but also the City Realty articles. This real estate broker has its own architectural critic, Carter B. Horsley, who was a real estate/architecture reporter and critic for The New York Times and the New York Post.

C_IMG_6880_1_2Adjust [4/4/2012 9:04:57 AM]Oro, designed by Ismael Leyva, Architects, is the eldest sister, completed in 2008. The 40-story building contains 303 condominium apartments, with asking prices reported in the range of $365,000 to $1.2 million for studio through 3BR units. Apartments have nine-foot ceilings (eight feet is the norm), floor-to-ceiling windows, granite countertops and other luxury features. The building’s amenities include a health club with indoor pool and basketball/racquetball court. Oro’s irregular shape allows five of the seven or eight apartments on each floor to have wraparound corner windows. The condo’s name has a double meaning: Oro (Gold) of course implies luxury; but it so happens that the address is 306 Gold Street.

Oro website: www.orocondos.com

City Realty architectural commentary: www.cityrealty.com/nyc/downtown-brooklyn/oro-306-gold-street/42134

D_IMG_6937_8_9Adjust [4/4/2012 9:12:45 AM]Avalon Fort Greene – the middle sister – is a rental building offering 631 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments at monthly rents of $2,180-$5,000. Perkins Eastman Architects designed Avalon Fort Greene, which was completed in 2010. Like Oro, this 42-story residential tower has floor-to-ceiling windows and other luxury features.

Avalon Fort Greene website: www.avaloncommunities.com/

City Realty architectural commentary: www.cityrealty.com/nyc/fort-greene/avalon-fort-greene-343-gold-street/45851

B_IMG_6868_69_70Adjust [4/4/2012 9:02:21 AM]Toren is the smallest sister – just 240 apartments and 38 floors. Designed by Carl Galioto of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, it was completed in 2010. This is a condo development, also offering studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units at prices of up to $1.2 million. Toren’s unusual non-rectangular shape creates some odd-shaped living and bedrooms. Kitchens are open to the living/dining rooms – not even an “island” stands between sink, stove and sofa.

Toren website: www.torencondo.com/

City Realty architectural commentary: www.cityrealty.com/nyc/downtown-brooklyn/toren-150-myrtle-avenue/40806

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Downtown Brooklyn (Civic Center)

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Brooklyn has some amazing architecture, as these photos will attest. After all, Brooklyn was the second-largest city in America at the time that it joined New York City – so Brooklyn’s civic architecture was as impressive as New York City’s. (That Brooklyn even joined New York City is a surprise – why would it want to give up its identity?)

The Civic Center extends roughly from High Street south to Atlantic Avenue, and Cadman Plaza West/Court Street east to Flatbush Avenue Extension. The neighborhood is surrounded by equally historic districts: Fulton Ferry, DUMBO, and Vinegar Hill to the north; Brooklyn Heights to the west; Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill to the south; Fort Greene/Clinton Hill to the east. (Google Map of area)

In 2011, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated a tiny area (21 buildings in an area of about 2-1/2 blocks) the Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District. The Commission’s 63-page designation report includes a history of Brooklyn’s development; Brooklyn fans will enjoy it. Eleven individual buildings outside this district were (earlier) designated NYC landmarks.

While taxpayer-sponsored grandiose architecture makes up a large portion of the photos in this gallery, schools are also well represented. NYU’s Polytechnic Institute, Long Island University Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Law School, and City University have major contributions. MetroTech – a quasi-public commercial development – is a modern intrusion in the area.

Several commercial and civic landmarks – most notably 75 Livingston Street and 110 Livingston Street – have been converted to residential use. A few striking new apartment towers have been erected – I’ve taken the liberty of dubbing a trio the “Three Sisters,” and gave them their own gallery.

Downtown Brooklyn Suggested Reading

  • Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District Designation Report [63-page pdf]. Includes photos and architectural details for 21 buildings in the district, plus history of Brooklyn (as context for the district) and profiles of significant architects.
  • Brooklyn Historical Society web site.
  • Brooklyn Historic District maps.
  • More Brooklyn historic maps – including early subway and trolley routes.

Google Map of area

The Wright Stuff: Frank Lloyd Wright in NYC

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Frank Lloyd Wright is one of America’s most famous and prolific architects,* but New York City has only three projects to remember him by – and two were transplanted from the Midwest.

The landmark Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on Fifth Avenue (between 88th and 89th Streets) is instantly recognizable for its helical shape – decades ahead of its time when completed in 1959. Just a few blocks away, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Frank Lloyd Wright Room (gallery 745 on the first floor of the American Wing) preserves the living room from a 1914 home originally built in Wayzata, Minnesota for Frances W. Little. But you’ll have to trek to Staten Island to see the third project: The “Crimson Beech,” aka the William and Catherine Cass House, on Lighthouse Hill. [Note: This is a private home, please respect their privacy. You can see and photograph the front of the house from the road, but don’t trespass or expect a tour.] The house was actually prefabricated in the Midwest and shipped to Staten Island; it was completed in 1959, shortly after Wright’s death.

Frank Lloyd Wright Suggested Reading

Visiting Crimson Beech by public transit is challenging. Weekdays: From the ferry terminal on Staten Island, take Staten Island Railway to Great Kills; transfer to the S54 bus toward West New Brighton – get off where the bus turns from Arthur Kill Road onto Richmond Road (about 10 minute ride). On weekends, take the S74 bus from the ferry terminal instead of the rail/bus combo (the S54 does not run on weekends). From the intersection of Arthur Kill Road and Richmond Road, walk uphill on Arthur Kill Road to Edinboro Road. This is a steep, winding route with no sidewalks and narrow shoulders – exercise caution. Oh, a little extra challenge: Edinboro Road has no street sign. Look on the right for a white sign for La Tourette Golf Course, turn right (east) there and follow the road (keep to the right) until it comes out on Rigby Avenue; turn right 1 block to Manor Court; on Manor Court, Crimson Beech will be the second house on the right, #48.**

Print the Google Map.

*In 1991 the American Institute of Architects declared Frank Lloyd Wright “the greatest American architect of all time.” In his 70-year career he designed 1,000 structures and completed 500. And what other architect has a song? (Simon and Garfunkle’s “So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright.”)

**If you’ve made it all the way to Crimson Beech, you deserve a bonus: Go back up to Edinboro Road and walk east about a block to see the Staten Island Lighthouse (aka Richmond Light, aka Staten Island Range Lighthouse).

Lincoln Center

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The Lincoln Square neighborhood got its name in May 1906, but it took the Lincoln Center Redevelopment project to really put the area on the map. The 1955 public/private urban renewal project turned a slum into a cultural complex. Some fifty years later, the center was renovated and extended with the addition of less formal features, such as the Illumination Lawn and the plaza, grandstand and cafe on Broadway between West 65th and West 66th Streets.

The project’s enduring flaw is the lack of mass transit: A single subway stop – and a local stop at that – serves Lincoln Center.

Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus occupies two square blocks south of Lincoln Center; Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and Martin Luther King, Jr. High School occupy two blocks west of Lincoln Center. Capital Cities/ABC has a cluster of four buildings at Columbus Avenue and West 66th Street. Retail culture – in the form of Tower Records and Barnes and Noble – used to be Lincoln Center’s neighbors on opposite sides of Broadway at West 66th; they’ve been succeeded by Raymour & Flanigan furniture and Century 21 discount department store.

The slide show begins with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, then continues with the Lincoln Square neighborhood outside Lincoln Center.

Lincoln Square and Lincoln Center Suggested Reading

Google Map