If you are a map junkie, just the scale of this impressive work may distract you from subject at hand.īelow: George Post’s Produce Exchange Building (1884-1957) which once sat near Bowling Green.īy studying this map, two facts about New York’s earliest skyscrapers will become obvious - 1) they weren’t merely a lower Manhattan phenomenon, and 2) builders sure loved to line Broadway. This alone is worth the price of admission.  The show is based on the research of structural engineer Don Friedman who organized this special group on Manhattan structures (252 in all) in chronological order here.Ĭentral to the exhibition is a gloriously massive map of Manhattan,  arduously stitched together from dozens of map plates derived from the 1909/1915 G. Or rather, a living map, specifically this one, illustrating the development of every tall building in Manhattan up to the start of the 20th century. The subtitle to the show is key - “Mapping all Manhattan buildings ten stories or taller by use and date.” The show is a living catalog come to life. And a concise new show at the Skyscraper Museum in Battery Park City - Ten & Taller: 1874-1900 - excellently lays out New York’s contributions to the form. Skyscrapers are older than subways, recorded music, and the cinema. Skyscrapers feel like constructs of the modern age because their appearances are constantly evolving - from Frank Gehry’s 76-floor twisty, silvery rocket at 8 Spruce Street to the elegant glass monolith of One World Trade Center.īut buildings with ten or more floors are an invention of the Gilded Age.
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