Thursday, January 28, 2010

15-B William Van Alen, The Chrysler Building, 1926–1930

- Locate triangles, squares, rectangles, and semi-circles on the Chrysler Building. Geometric shapes were important to Art Deco-style architecture.
- Why did corporations and architects race to build tall skyscrapers in the 1920s? The economy was flourishing, corporations needed more office space, and Chrysler wanted to own the tallest building in New York City.
- Why do you think the spire was added to the top? It was added to make it taller than all the other buildings.
- What happened in 1929 to halt this building spree? The stock market crashed.
- New York City building codes required that tall buildings such as this step back their upper stories. What were the benefits of making tall buildings smaller near the top? This allowed more light and air to reach the streets and made the buildings look even taller than they really were.

No comments:

Post a Comment