NYC Art Tours: Walking tour

Being a native New Yorker, it still amazes me how much I feel like a tourist while in that part of Lower Manhattan. I find it difficult not to trip on the cobble- stones while gazing up at the glass- fronted skyscrapers (a definite irony). What really strikes me about the area is just how much of an architectural Mecca it actually is. Within a few block radius, one can see such a diverse range of historical styles:

Neoclassical:
The Stock Exchange, probably the most iconic structure in the area, is fabricated in the Late Neoclassical style, which is reminiscent of ancient Greek construction. It employs all of the significant features of a Greek temple – namely an arched pediment with figures and a colonnade of Corinthian ordered columns. These are the most ornate type of column where the uppermost section is decorated with acanthus leaves and scrolls.

Art Deco:

Art Deco details can be found in many office buildings in the area. This style originated in Paris at the turn of the 20th century, specifically in the 1920s. Just as Deco pervaded women’s fashion and home appliances, it found its way into fine and decorative arts and architecture. Above all else, it celebrated symmetry and repetition, and is characterized by its unique materials, most notably certain types of metals (for example, aluminum and stainless steel), wood and animal skin. A stylistic trademark of Deco is the stepped back pattern and geometric use of line – chevron patterns, the ziggurat and the sunburst are traditional Deco motifs. For its use of material and pattern, the apex of the Chrysler Building in New York City is the epitome of Deco.

Gothic Revival:

Usually when someone thinks about Gothic architecture, the image of a cathedral might appear in his or her head, for example, Westminster Abbey in England or Notre-Dame in Paris. But Europe isn’t the only place where you can see this style of architecture. Take Wall Street’s Trinity Church, one of the oldest churches in the United States (that is still operating today). The Church has been rebuilt three times since 1698, but architectural historians consider the present building, designed by architect Richard Upjohn and erected in 1846, a classic example of the Gothic Revival style. It possesses all of the traditional Gothic architectural elements. To name a few, we see a prominent rose window on the façade, stained glass windows, stone figurines/sculptures of saints/bishops (called Jamb Statuary), and probably most notably is the dramatic and monumental pointed roof.

Glass skyscrapers:

Nothing could be more different from Gothic Revival architecture than an all glass skyscraper. And the best thing about being down near Wall Street is that you can see one style within an eye-shot of the other. Not surprisingly, synonymous to the term ‘skyscraper’ is the word ‘height.’ Even if someone knows nothing about the history or construction of skyscrapers, they know they are tall. By definition, a skyscraper affects its surroundings in a monumental way. Quite literally, they change the skyline of the city in which they are apart. Toward the end of the 19th century, skyscrapers sprouted up in Chicago, London, and New York. After the 1930s, they became a world- wide phenomenon, and the desire to make them bigger and sexier still exists today. Their structural core set skyscrapers apart from buildings that came before them, which were fabricated from masonry. Steel skeletons and now reinforced concrete make skyscrapers possible. Some of the most infamous skyscrapers are known for their use of curtain walls, or in other terms, windows. Probably the most unique skyscrapers today use floor to ceiling glass windows, where the internal structure is concealed by an impression that the entire building is composed of glass.