Empire Building
Encyclopedia
The Empire Building at 71 Broadway, Manhattan
, New York City
is a 21 story steel frame
d curtain-wall skyscraper
designed by Kimball & Thompson
and built by Marc Eidlitz & Son
in 1895. It is one of the earliest skyscrapers built on pneumatic caissons and one of the oldest still standing today. It was the home of United States Steel Corporation from 1901 to 1976. Since 1997, it has served as an apartment building. It was designated a New York City Landmark building in 1996 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1998.
purchased a six-story 1859 brownstone office building at 71 Broadway. It was the site of an assassination attempt on Russell Sage
in 1891. After Potter died suddenly in 1894, his estate, managed by his children, commissioned the current building.
On April 23, 1919, the United States Steel Corporation, a major tenant since its formation in 1901, bought the building from the Potter trust for approximately US$
5 million in cash. It was their world headquarters until 1976, even after they sold the building in 1973. They remained in the building until the mid 1980s.
The Empire Building was converted to 237 apartments in 1997 by World-Wide Group of Manhattan who had purchased the foreclosed property for approximately US$
10 million.
.
. The original design called for architectural terracotta
sheathing, but the owners switched to granite
. The base is four stories of polished gray granite. The shaft is twelve stories of a white rusticated granite. The capital is four stories tall with colonnade
d loggia
s and a metal cornice. There is a full basement which is exposed along Rector Street and a full-height storefront on Trinity Place due to the difference in elevation between the front and the back of the building.
The main entrance on Broadway is based on a triumphal arch
with a main archway and two smaller flanking ones which leads to first floor stores.
style by Walker & Gillette
in 1938.
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
is a 21 story steel frame
Steel frame
Steel frame usually refers to a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal -beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame...
d curtain-wall skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
designed by Kimball & Thompson
Kimball & Thompson
Kimball & Thompson was the name of an architectural partnership made up of Francis H. Kimball and G. Kramer Thompson from 1892 to 1898. They were early proponents of steel framed curtain-walled skyscrapers...
and built by Marc Eidlitz & Son
Marc Eidlitz
Marc Eidlitz was a builder active in New York City, where he was prominent in the construction industry, in partnership with his son....
in 1895. It is one of the earliest skyscrapers built on pneumatic caissons and one of the oldest still standing today. It was the home of United States Steel Corporation from 1901 to 1976. Since 1997, it has served as an apartment building. It was designated a New York City Landmark building in 1996 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1998.
History
In 1884, Orlando B. PotterOrlando B. Potter
Orlando Bronson Potter was a U.S. Representative from New York.Born in Charlemont, Massachusetts , the son of Samuel and Sophia Rice Potter, he attended the district school, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, and the Dane Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts. MA 1867, LLD 1889...
purchased a six-story 1859 brownstone office building at 71 Broadway. It was the site of an assassination attempt on Russell Sage
Russell Sage
Russell Sage was a financier, railroad executive and Whig politician from New York, United States. As a frequent partner of Jay Gould in various transactions, he amassed a fortune, which passed to his second wife, Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, when he died...
in 1891. After Potter died suddenly in 1894, his estate, managed by his children, commissioned the current building.
On April 23, 1919, the United States Steel Corporation, a major tenant since its formation in 1901, bought the building from the Potter trust for approximately US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
5 million in cash. It was their world headquarters until 1976, even after they sold the building in 1973. They remained in the building until the mid 1980s.
The Empire Building was converted to 237 apartments in 1997 by World-Wide Group of Manhattan who had purchased the foreclosed property for approximately US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
10 million.
Site
The plot measures 78 feet (23.8 m) along Broadway, 223 feet (68 m) along Rector Street, and 50 feet (15.2 m) on Trinity Place with a footprint of approximately 14000 square foot and a total floorspace of 300000 square foot. Some portions of the Broadway entrance cross over the lot line. Along Rector Street it is adjacent to the churchyard of Trinity Church, providing a dramatic backdrop for the church and ensuring open views for the building.Foundation
Charles Sooysmith designed the foundation which was a mix of grillage and 23 pneumatic concrete caissons which went 23 feet (7 m) down to bedrockBedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
.
Design
The building has a tripartite design with a base, shaft, and capital sections, as in the column of a classical orderClassical order
A classical order is one of the ancient styles of classical architecture, each distinguished by its proportions and characteristic profiles and details, and most readily recognizable by the type of column employed. Three ancient orders of architecture—the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—originated in...
. The original design called for architectural terracotta
Architectural terracotta
Terracotta, in its unglazed form, became fashionable as an architectural ceramic construction material in England in the 1860s, and in the United States in the 1870s. It was generally used to supplement brick and tiles of similar colour in late Victorian buildings.It had been used before this in...
sheathing, but the owners switched to granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
. The base is four stories of polished gray granite. The shaft is twelve stories of a white rusticated granite. The capital is four stories tall with colonnade
Colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....
d loggia
Loggia
Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...
s and a metal cornice. There is a full basement which is exposed along Rector Street and a full-height storefront on Trinity Place due to the difference in elevation between the front and the back of the building.
The main entrance on Broadway is based on a triumphal arch
Triumphal arch
A triumphal arch is a monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crowned with a flat entablature or attic on which a statue might be...
with a main archway and two smaller flanking ones which leads to first floor stores.
Additions
The twenty-first floor designed by John C. Westervelt was added in 1930. The main entrance on Broadway, the Trinity Place entrance, and the connection to the elevated train on Trinity Place were all refashioned in an Art DecoArt Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style by Walker & Gillette
Walker & Gillette
Walker & Gillette was an architectural firm based in New York City, the partnership of A. Stewart Walker and Leon N. Gillette , active from 1906 through 1945.- Biography :...
in 1938.