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Flatiron Building

The Flatiron Building in New York City was an iconic skyscraper completed in the late 19th century that represented the rapid urbanization and modernization of New York. It gained fame through photographs that associated it with New York and depicted people looking up at the tall building. The triangular shape of the building was necessitated by the intersection of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, and it came to be known as "The Flatiron" due to this distinctive shape. The building helped popularize skyscrapers in New York and demonstrated how buildings could grow vertically to accommodate the city's growing population.

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SANYUKTA RAUL
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115 views

Flatiron Building

The Flatiron Building in New York City was an iconic skyscraper completed in the late 19th century that represented the rapid urbanization and modernization of New York. It gained fame through photographs that associated it with New York and depicted people looking up at the tall building. The triangular shape of the building was necessitated by the intersection of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, and it came to be known as "The Flatiron" due to this distinctive shape. The building helped popularize skyscrapers in New York and demonstrated how buildings could grow vertically to accommodate the city's growing population.

Uploaded by

SANYUKTA RAUL
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Flatiron Building (Fuller Building)

The Fuller Building was the center of conversions since completion due to its representation in the
city of New York. (which in turn caused it to be the very representation of New York)
It became iconic through the attention that it caught from various photographers whose works of
the building made people associate it with not only new york city but also the epitome of rapid
urbanisation
In the late 19th century the process of urbanisation had started rapidly increasing in New York city.
Apart from people migrating from across the country, immigrants had also started arriving at the
big apple.
There were over 3 million inhabitants in the city and as more people arrived, the value of land
began to increase and the only solution to the rapid increase in the cost of real estate was to build
vertically then horizontally.
Improved urban transportation also helped shape the modern city and aided in its development.
The triangular is located at the junction of the broadway and 5th avenue at 23rd street and it was
the way that the broadway cut the avenue that gave the plot its triangular shape.
At the start of the 20th century new york was mainly slums, tenements and shanty towns
But the increasing population was giving rise to a modern metropolis with skyscrapers.
The 4 major reasons that gave an impetus to the construction of skyscrapers were:
1. High demand of commercial space
2. Lack of regulations on building heights
3. A previously done mapping of the city
4. Availability of steel
The steel frame is covered in limestone and terracotta details made in the Beaux-Arts style which
was commonly used in the city at the beginning of the movement in the 20th century.
It’s facade can be broken down into three parts with the first four stories (G+3) forming the base,
the subsequent 13 stories forming the middle and the reminder ones at the top forming the capital.
This style is also reflected through the use of colonnades along with carved ornaments, faces,
figures, flora and fauna. The Fuller building (as it was initially known) however got iconic due to its
distinct shape giving it the name “The Flatiron”.
The Building was initially criticized and people were cynical about its abilities to withstand the
wind however its spaces got quickly occupied for commercial use with its more than 700 windows
overlooking the Madison park high above from the hustle and bustle of the city and its construction
down below.

Photography was introduced to the public in around 1839 and was used to document the rapid
urbanisation of the city. It was thought as capturing the very truth to which the architecture of the
city became a testament as well as a subject as it was stationary and thus easy to capture.
These photographs helped create an image of what the future of America would look like as well as
helped the public understand it's possible pros and cons.
The photographers would capture images of people looking up at (or craning their necks at) a
structure (which was not necessarily seen in its entirety ) which would symbolize the growing
metropolis.
The Flatiron was a favorite subject of these photographers along with the public who had begun
embracing it as the symbol of a modern city. It was depicted in postcards as a symbol of the future.
It was a must visit tourist spot in the city and just the kind to send back home to loved ones
through a postcard. Photography could not yet capture panoramas thus a postcard was used to give
one a panoramic view of the city and its attraction. Many such postcards were sent around the
world and brought the wonders of the urban world to the doors steps of those who could not
experience it.
The building also houses the flatiron restaurant that helped market this building and its modernity.

The Flatiron also gained attention for the wind currents its placement and shape created.
The wind was said to get cut as into two by the structure and come gushing down the opposite
sides. These winds would set skirts and hats flying and came about to be known as the windiest
corner in the city. Policemen had to patrol to this corner of the 23rd just to ward off crooks who
would stand by to sight the flying skirts that would expose the ladies ankels! While doing so they
would supposedly yell 23 skidoo which was an abbreviation for ordering the men to
skedaddle off (flee) the 23rd street. It is interesting to see how architecture helped introduce a term
to the vocaubury of the city.

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