The Chrysler Building In New York

The tallest building in the world for a few months until surpassed by the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building in New York has been described by essayist Carter B. Horsley as “a magical sorcerer’s wand, a phantasmagoria pinnacle worthy of the land of Oz".

The project was conceived in the late 1920`s, when property developers in New York became obsessed with establishing records for the construction of the world’s tallest buildings. It was the golden age of Art Deco skyscrapers. Architect William Van Alen envisaged a design that was heroic in conception and romantic in execution rather than just a squat building. Walter P. Chrysler, the automobile magnate, was of the view that his enterprise could benefit from developing the tallest building in the world and took over the project and Van Alen’s design. The only additional briefs Chrysler gave to Van Alen, was to increase the height of the building and add some decorative touches to herald the branding of his automobiles.

The increase of the height of the building would make it marginally the tallest in the world. This proved to be one of the greatest secrets and publicity coups in the history of property development in Manhattan when a prefabricated corrosive resistant steel cladded tower was placed on top of the building in about 90 minutes during November 1929. The components were hidden in five pieces in the building’s shell and after hoisted up, was rivetted into position. In one bold move, the Chrysler Building became the tallest structure made by humans in the world, albeit briefly.

The added spire transformed the building’s crown into a terraced dome and the fantastic design was a cruciform groin vault sliced in seven concentric segments mounted one on top of the other. As the complex grew upward toward the centre, the shapes were progressively changed from semicircles at the bottom of the finial to a thin parabola that stretched into what Van Alen called the "vertex"of the building. The 53.6 m spire was inspired by a car radiator grill. Walter Chrysler was determined to leave an automobile imprint and had Van Alen incorporate some decorative designs associated with automobiles on the facades such as simulated hubcaps near the top of one rung of setbacks and giant stainless steel eagle gargoyles on the four corners of the shaft of the building. Margaret Bourke-White, the photographer, who had a studio in the building, posed atop one of the eagle gargoyles in a famous photograph.

Construction on the building commenced in 1928 and it was completed during 1930 at a cost of $15million, Some 21 000 tons of structural steel, 400 000 rivets, and 3 826 000 bricks were used and 3 000 workmen constructed the building. The building has a total of 3 863 windows. A sour note was struck when Walter Chrysler accused architect William van Alen of entering into some dubious financial arrangements with some of the sub-contractors, and refused to pay his fees. Van Alen sued but the matter was dropped. The worsening depression put paid to Van Allen’s career but his legacy was a famous design. The building was sold by the Chrysler Corporation in the early fifties of the previous century but retained the name. Several major renovations of the building had been undertaken on a number of occasions including the illumination of the triangular windows at night during the 1980`s which makes it New York’s version of a rocket lift-off at Cape Kennedy.

Despite their squabble, William van Alen and Walter Chrysler left a legacy to the world in the form of a truly fine example of an Art Deco building without peer.

Pieter Rautenbach