The Chrysler Building remains one of America's most beautiful skyscrapers and a grand evocation of Jazz Age New York. But this architectural tribute to the automobile is also the greatest reminder of a furious construction surge that transformed the city in the 1920s.
After World War I, New York became newly prosperous, one of the undisputed business capitals of the world. The tallest building was the Woolworth Building, but the city's rise in prominence demanded new, taller towers, taking advantage of improvements in steel-frame construction and a clever 'wedding cake' zoning law that allowed for ever-higher buildings.
Into this world came William Van Alen and H. Craig Severance, two former architectural partners who had unamicably separated and were now designing rival skyscrapers. Each man wanted to make the tallest building in the world.
But Van Alan had the upper hand, backed by one of America's most famous businessmen -- Walter Chrysler. His automobiles were the coolest, sleekest vehicles in the marketplace. His brand required a skyscraper of radical design and surprising height.
In 1930, the Chrysler became the tallest building in the world, a title it held until the Empire State Building.
Just ten years ago, the Chrysler Building was the fourth tallest in New York City. Today, however, it's the thirteenth tallest building in the city. And that's because of a new skyscraper surge shaping the city's skyline, with supertalls making the skyscrapers of old feel very small in comparison.
It can be bewildering to see the skyline change so rapidly. But that's exactly how New Yorkers felt exactly one century ago.
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The Algonquin Round Table
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#221 New York: Capital City of the United States
#220 George Washington's New York Inauguration
#219 Newsies on Strike!
#218 Lincoln Center and West Side Story
#217: Truman Capote's Black And White Ball
#216: Edwin Booth and the Players Club
01 The Wheel: Ferris' Big Idea ('The First' Podcast Special Preview)
#215 Ghosts of the Gilded Age
#214 Bronx Trilogy (Part Three) The Bronx Was Burning
#213 Bronx Trilogy (Part Two) The Bronx is Building
#212 Bronx Trilogy (Part One) The Bronx Is Born
#211 The Notorious Madame Restell: The Abortionist of Fifth Avenue
#210 Digital City: New York and the World of Video Games
#209 The Waldorf-Astoria's Complicated History
#208 Great Hoaxes of Old New York
#207 The First Subway: Beach's Pneumatic Marvel
#206 The Lenape: The Real Native New Yorkers
#205 The Disappearance of Dorothy Arnold
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