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October 31/ 1908
KECOKD AND GUIDE
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ESTABDSHED ^ MRRPH 21^^ 1S68.
Dented to mi. Estate . BulLâ–¡I^b Atlorf'TEeiuRE .KouseUoid DEi^cuiATiorf.
Bilsit/Ess A1&Themes of GE]M^V IKter,est.
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Communications should be addressed to
C. W. SWEET
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By THE RECOKD AJSD GUIDE CO.
President, CLINTON W. SWEET Treasurer. P. W. DODGE
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(Telephone, Madison Eo.uare, 4430 to 4433.)
"Entered at Ihc Post Offiee at Nev) York, N. Y., ns second-class viatter,"
Copyrighted, IOOS, by The Record & Guide Co.
Vol. LXXXII.
OCTOBER 31, 190S.
No. 2120
AN eminent French, architect, M. Augustin-Adolphe Rey,
has recently made a tour of Manhattan with a rep¬
resentative of the New York Times for the purpose o'f
appraising the architectural value of some of the more prom¬
inent buildings. Some of these appraisals are worth con¬
sideration as tbe product of a highly trained architectural
vision. In the financial district, for instance, he described
the plain hrick facade of No. 1 Wall street as the "worst
thing in New York," which in our opiiiioii is an unfair dis¬
crimination against many other Manliattan structures. The
Custom House he liked, but thought that the roof should
be higher—which is assuredly a just criticism. The build¬
ing of tke Knickerbocker Trust Company he also approved,
as well as the new Morgan Art Museum in East Thirty-sixth
street- The new Public Library he described as good, but
considered the attic story as proportionately very much too
high for the rest of the facade. The Vanderbilt houses ap¬
pealed to his idea of propriety in urban architecture, and
as to the Plaza Hotel, he considered it acceptable in design,
but ghastly in color. The house of ex-Senator Clark he
described as heavy and overloaded with ornament—which
sounds like a very mild expression of disapproval. The Met¬
ropolitan Museum he" emphatically condemned, while the
Schwab house on Riverside Drive he considered wholly
inappropriate for an urban residence. The two buildings
which he most admired in New York were an apartment
house at No. 4 East Sixtieth street, and the Gorham Building
on Fifth, avenue. His comment on the second of these
edifices is worth quoting in detail: "That is the most beauti¬
ful busmess building in the world!" he exclaimed again and
again. "See, it has only three horizontal lines—distinct,
strong ones above and below, and one short one made by
that little balcony. There is no line more effective in archi¬
tecture than such a short one if used exactly right." It is
comforting to think that New York, with all its architectural
defects, possesses none the less the "most beautiful business
huilding in the world," and it may not be irrelevant to recall
that this building is described by those who know as the
personal work of the late Stanford White.
--------------•--------------
ON TWO SUBJECTS of great local architectural impor¬
tance M. Rey became discursive; and these two mat¬
ters are worth more detailed attention. In bis comments
of the skyscrapers of New York, M Rey by no means assumed
the attitude of unciualified condemnation which appeals to
so many foreign architects. He recognized the desirability
of limiting their number because of the inevitability of sub¬
sequent congestion in the streets, and he profoundly objected,
of course, to tiie architectural juxtaposition of two towers—-
such as those of the Singer and City Investing buildings—
one of which kills the other. But he foresaw and approved
of the architectural possibilities of this class of building.
"New York of the future," he declared, "should be a city of
white towers. There should he a law limiting the height of
buildings, but allowing the construction of a limited num¬
ber of towers on each block." There can be no doubt that
in case the height of buildings is restricted in the manner
suggested. New York will become in the course of time one
of the most picturesque, impressive and individual archi¬
tectural creations in the world. The insular situation of
Manhattan and the enormous population which will use the
lower part of Manhattan Island as the place in which to
transact business and enjoy amusements, will bring about
an enormously high level of real estate values throughout
the whole district south of Fifty-ninth street. It is entirely
possible that during the next fifty years real estate will be¬
come valuable enough all over this district to justify the
erection of skyscrapers in almost any part of it. One has
only to remember that the skyscraper is only about twenty
years old and how numerous are the buildings over ten sto¬
ries high erected during that period to realize what the
result will be of the action of similar forces over a period
of fifty years. Even allowing for the fact that population
and business will not increase as rapidly in the future as
they have in the past. New York will be likely at the end
of that time to possess somewhere between 12,000,000 and^
15,000,000 inhabitants, and to need accommodations in Man¬
hattan for the transaction of five or six times as much
business as that which now takes place. The pressure on
available space will be so tremendous that skyscrapers will
become commercially profitable throughout all the business
districts, and Manhattan will, as M. Rey declares, become
literally a City of Huge Towers—similar to a mediaeval city
in general contour, but immensely more impressive because
of the scale of its architectural mass and projections. In
this matter also, the demands of safety and of health coin¬
cide with those of business and of architectural effect. A City
of Towers would combine the greatest aesthetic advantages
with the most economical use of space, while at the same
time, if the towers were erected under proper restrictions,
nobody's health or safety would suffer because of their
erection.
/~V NE MORE illustration of M. Rey's architectural jiidg-
^-^ ment is worth notice. He was vehement in his de¬
nunciation of the propriety of the architectural design of
the new Pennsylvania station. "What—a railroad station!"
he exclaimed as the automobile showed up in front of the
great white colonnade. "Why, then, is it huilt like a Roman
temple and what is the use of all those columns on a railroad
station! If there is one thing to which the newest ideas in
architecture should be applied, it is a great railroad station.
The railroad belongs essentially to modern times, and yet
you apply to your greatest railroad terminal bric-a-brac bor¬
rowed from bad ancient architecture. The Pennsylvania
station is a great mistake-—a splendid white stupdity! As
a library it would be good. For its real purpose it is a
colossal mistake." Undoubtedly there is a great deal to be
said in condemnation of converting a modern railroad sta¬
tion into a huge pseudo-classic temple. The progress of
architectural design does not lie in that direction. But in
one respect M. Rey does the architects of the station a
palpable injustice- Admitting the lack of architectural real¬
ism in the design, it remains none the less true that the
actual design is of a very unusual merit. It is, of course, too
early to judge just what the ultimate effect will be, but it be¬
gins to look as if McKim, Mead & White had designed one
of the most sober and dignified pieces of pseudo-classic
architecture in this country. Much as one may object to
this sort of thing, it almost justifies itself when ll..;.^ so very
well done. The firm certainly possessed among modern
American architects a unique gift for the design of huge
colonnaded structures, and while we may wish they will not
bave any successors, that is partly because they are not likely
to have any equals.
N the last issue of the Record and Guide, a "Subscriber"
objected to a real estate note published the week before
which had predicted the probability of some liquidation in
the Pennsylvania district and a consequent decline of prices.
Our correspondent states that he is thoroughly familiar with
local conditions and that there is no danger of any liquida¬
tion sufficient in amount to cause a decline in prices. Specu¬
lators who have bought thereabouts have done so with the
expectation of being obliged to hold the property until after
the station is opened. Many of them are, doubtless, not
getting enough income out of their properties to pay carry¬
ing expenses, but in that case they fully counted upon such
a preliminary loss and would hardly have made themselves
liable thereto, unless they could hold on until the time of
probable reimbursement arrived. When the station is
opened the demand for property in the vicinity of the station
for imperative business purposes will be such as to justify
prices higher than those which now prevail. It remains to
be seen whether the foregoing'interpretation of the specula¬
tive condition and prospects of this section will prove to be
correct; but in the meantime a very remarkable state of