America the Beautiful

The Chrysler building, and anything Art-Deco from the thirties, even Flash Gordon old B&W movies.

The thirties, with their High Sky-Scrapers, Zeppelins, Swing Music, and all that, gives me the shivers.

For me, it's pure magic. Of course, I wasn't even born yet, and it's only a whiff of something picked off old movies and magazines, but it's magic. The air was innocent, in the sense of world-peace following th First World War, technology and science were aiming at the stars, everything seemed on the brink of making science-fiction real. It was also the renaissance of Quantum Mechanics on the verge of discovering and harnessing the Atom-Power as it was then called. Magical times. Magical.

Then came World-War-Two, and crapped everyone's dreams.

You are right on the money, Abe. The Arts determine how we relate to the findings of Science.

Thanks for posting! I agree with Yuval about the magic of the thirties. Love art deco. I would only disagree in that there has always been a dark side to any magical period. Not only were the twenties and thirties were the hey day of luxury liners, lighter than air travel, they saw the Great Depression, the rise of fascism and the beginnings of brutal repression in the Soviet Union. While it is fun -- and worthwhile -- to dwell on the positive aspects of the past, it is dangerous to forget the negative aspects.

This gives a window on to America for an outsider like my self a Brit. One thing the US has is space why does every building have to now be taller than the last? I note the very European style of many of the buildings and the over whelming desire in past days to try and make things look old and grand. May be a hunger to make European settlers feel at home. The history of American architecture is a relatively short affair and many new advances have come about, great steel and glass towers, the advent of the curtain wall form of construction. How would things look if cheap steel had not been so freely available. I live on a (tiny) by your standards island and we have to pack our selves in, but we have not taken to the high rise life style, many of our buildings of the sixties and seventies have been taken down because they were so very poorly constructed. Our great heritage is also under threat because money is hard to find for their up keep. I hope this site goes a long way to remind people from all over the world that good buildings make life better for all those that live with them. Thank you for posting this and may your life be made better by letting me take a look at these buildings.

...history of American architecture is a relatively short affair and many new advances have come about, great steel and glass...

Being an outsider to both America and Europe, I tend to think that there's something in the pioneering American settlement spirit, was about breaking the traditions of the old land whatever it may be, breaking the traditions of the old Continent if you like.

The American emergence as a world power following WW-1, was a great motivator to cut the last remaining ties to old-world architecture, taking a vigor advantage of new building materials, presently notable of chrome and glass.

I think it's a kind of independence statement, to the effect of: "follow me, or be left behind" which may be sometimes taken as vain, but nevertheless a bold marker of global affairs policy, in many areas, not just architecture, be it, technology in general.

Some, like Israel, lacking the long traditions and heritage of Europe, follow.

The Brits love to stick in the past we gain comfort from a long distant heritage we can say well of coarse this is so many hundreds of years old. The quote a famous architect, look smug and indicate your oldest building is really rather modern.

There are a lot of issues related to US architecture.

Skyscrapers would not have been possible without many technological resources like the invention of Mr. Otis (1853), who patented the modern elevator. Chicago saw the first 10 stories building using this technology.

The first building using a steel frame was erected (ca. 1870, or so) in Chicago as well. This conception shed light on a lot of structural issues that prevented high buildings to be built, leading to the construction of the amazing buildings we now can enjoy walking on NY streets.

As owners of those buildings were stinking rich, they wanted to show their competitors, and the world how far they could push the limits, starting a "mine is taller" escalate. Fortunately architects looked not only for getting as high as possible, but also for making really beautiful buildings. Art Nouveau, art Decó and Rationalism were the "trend" in the early XX th century. Due to the fascination of aviation, and the development of new materials (Stainless Steel, Aluminium), facades got more and more beautiful. Large glass panels were added to make them look lighter... almost capable of taking off

Construction of these buildings also implied the use of new technologies in logistics: unbelievable amounts of materials had to arrive in time without disturbing the life of the city...

My preferred Architect? Wright, no doubt!