New York: remarkable buildings, bridges and more (II)

duvinca in Architecture+Design • 10 months ago (edited)

Hello archi lovers!

We take a tour again of the best-known city, New York, the one most seen on screens and the one that so many people want to visit at some point in their lives. And there are so many places to see, and if we look more we discover important points of interest for all those who enjoy architecture, and also engineering and urban design.

So let's review some of these mythical sites looking at what we see around us and especially at the top. Because it is undoubtedly a city of thousands of buildings, plus a bin of impressive skyscrapers that fight against each other to reach the sky, and some of them are iconic with popular names, and walking through those numbered streets and avenues we find several of them.

Buildings

For example, an unique building that is very easily recognizable by its shape and design is the Flatiron. A building that becomes a corner in itself in the magnificent Fifth Avenue, and that leaves no one indifferent as it stands out from all the others around it, due to its triangular rounded pointed shape that gives it an unique and unmistakable personality.

There are others, from that time in which New York City began to grow and expand, to become richer and to flourish in every way, especially in the proliferation of striking buildings, including the Woolworth and many others with beautiful details in their facades, as far as the eye can see, without ending up hurting our necks.

And by chance, another one that is not so tall, but rather wide and full of things, is the famous Macy's or one of them that stands out for its large signs as a good American city where consumption and stores are fundamental.

Towers

But there are other mythical buildings even higher, there are many towers that reach important heights and each one has its own particular design, we must not forget those famous Twin Towers that have been gone for more than twenty years... But there are many others , some of these even taller buildings, the best known, more rough or minimalist like the Empire State Building that we enjoyed up close during the day, but also at night, from a rooftop on Fifth Avenue (I think it was nº 230 I remember it well) in a bar having a drink we enjoyed the amazing views... how cool that impressive tower looks illuminated with the American flag colors. What a feeling!

And there are others, many full of companies and offices and a lot of movement and movement of money between those walls and windows, such as the MetLife with the clock on the façade or the Chrysler tower, which stands out for its decoration at the top. We also see the Trump Tower that Donald Trump has in this city (he has more, another in Chicago that we already showed), and in this one what stands out is the combination of geometric cube shapes with natural green elements, almost as if part of the building itself turned into a giant black flowerpot.

Others

After the most spectacular elements, there are still others, different and varied like the Croton Fountain, large and majestic and with a lot of history, we can learn more about by reading the stone inscription about an aqueduct and old water engineering achievements. Or other imposing ones like the tremendous block of stone that is the Federal Post Office, or another institutional place with a historical statue of George Washington included in front of those large columns is the Federal Hall.

But we can change register and style quickly, because among the buildings and skyscrapers of 19th and 20th century styles, we find others that take us back to other times and even other places, such as churches, and as an example the one that contrasts the most with all its modern surroundings, a Presbyterian Church whose specific name I do not remember, but which is old fashioned, 19th century style, elegant and different with that charming façade although darkened by time and surely by the pollution of the place, but they continue and resist in the midst of the maelstrom of the city. As does a beautiful and charming old cemetery guarded by someone who was captured in a statue.

And for design, we leave the museums, there is little time, but we can visit one of them, the Guggenheim Museum to admire those modern white undulating lines of its interior structure that makes us once again change the style of everything we have seen in a previous moment. Everything contrasts and changes quickly in this city.

The Brooklyn Bridge

And what about the bridges? There are several in the city, linking the different islands or crossing the Hudson River, but perhaps the best known and most popular is the Brooklyn Bridge, which when it was built was considered a marvel of architecture and civil engineering and it certainly was and It is, due to all the constant and permanent traffic of vehicles and pedestrians that cross it every day. Thousands of lives pass from one side to the other of this impressive bridge that we can also see from another, more distant perspective to admire its presence.

And now that we are close to the water, as we cross the river we can only enjoy the views, different, varied and changing skylines of more buildings in the city, also of the ferry dock and port details, but fundamentally we enjoy the creative and innovative spirit of this fascinating city, which never stops for a moment to surprise us in every glance and in every impressive element that together with so many others make this city so remarkable and special.