The Chrysler Building

Rating:
Summary: The glory of Van Alen's frivolity
Review: Author David Stravitz wisely bought over five hundred, soon to be destroyed, negatives in 1979. They pictured New York in the 1920s and 30s and in particular one hundred and fifty showed the day by day construction of the Chrysler Building. Over a hundred of them are reproduced in this stunning book. Taken by commercial photographers Peyser & Patzig, most likely as a record for the contractor Fred Ley, they show the building as a hole in the ground on November nine 1929 to the completion of the annex in January nine 1931.

There is something about pre-war photos, perhaps the chemicals used on glass plates or the type of paper used for the black and white prints but whatever, old photos seem to have a richness of texture that enhances their appearance and you certainly notice this in these pictures. As well as their quality (don't forget this was straightforward commercial photo assignment) there is plenty to see of the building construction, what is going on in the surrounding streets and several panoramas of mid-town Manhattan taken from the Chrysler Building, including a dramatic four-page gatefold.

This is the sort of detail you'll see, pages eight and nine show the empty building site (taken on November nine) and traffic on three sides, turn the page to see a photo (November seventeen) showing dozens of male spectators looking down on the building site, now full of working construction equipment, traffic and a newsstand has appeared on a corner, by December one this newsstand has become a hut and incorporated into the fencing that now runs round the site. After the exterior, the cameraman went inside to capture the lovely deco detailing.

In the back of the book there are thumbnails and captions for the photos. Page 154 has five floor plans (I was rather disappointed that there were not more diagrams showing the exterior decorative work) and you realise that the building is not oblong, the non-street end has a chamfered side. Just one of the many insights that you'll get from this fascinating photo study of one of the world's great landmarks.

Rating:
Summary: The glory of Van Alen's frivolity
Review: Author David Stravitz wisely bought over five hundred, soon to be destroyed, negatives in 1979. They pictured New York in the 1920s and 30s and in particular one hundred and fifty showed the day by day construction of the Chrysler Building. Over a hundred of them are reproduced in this stunning book. Taken by commercial photographers Peyser & Patzig, most likely as a record for the contractor Fred Ley, they show the building as a hole in the ground on November nine 1929 to the completion of the annex in January nine 1931.

There is something about pre-war photos, perhaps the chemicals used on glass plates or the type of paper used for the black and white prints but whatever, old photos seem to have a richness of texture that enhances their appearance and you certainly notice this in these pictures. As well as their quality (don't forget this was straightforward commercial photo assignment) there is plenty to see of the building construction, what is going on in the surrounding streets and several panoramas of mid-town Manhattan taken from the Chrysler Building, including a dramatic four-page gatefold.

This is the sort of detail you'll see, pages eight and nine show the empty building site (taken on November nine) and traffic on three sides, turn the page to see a photo (November seventeen) showing dozens of male spectators looking down on the building site, now full of working construction equipment, traffic and a newsstand has appeared on a corner, by December one this newsstand has become a hut and incorporated into the fencing that now runs round the site. After the exterior, the cameraman went inside to capture the lovely deco detailing.

In the back of the book there are thumbnails and captions for the photos. Page 154 has five floor plans (I was rather disappointed that there were not more diagrams showing the exterior decorative work) and you realise that the building is not oblong, the non-street end has a chamfered side. Just one of the many insights that you'll get from this fascinating photo study of one of the world's great landmarks.

Rating:
Summary: A Treasure of Images of the Chrysler Building
Review: If you are a Chrysler Building enthusiast, supporter, collector, historian, architecture buff, this is a wonderful book. It provides a fascinating look at construction and architectural details never seen for any building, let alone this one, which has far too few images available and does not take kindly to visitors and tourists. The quality and quantity of the images only make you want a volume 2. It is easily one of my most treasured books on architecture subjects. I think I liked it.

Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING!
Review: The pictures in this book speak for themselves. Excellent! This book is a must have for anyone interested in the history of NYC. I am very impressed and will look for other work by David Stravitz.

Rating:
Summary: Pictorial Treasure
Review: there is a power that emenates from this building that is captured by this wonderful book.the mood created is evocative of it,s time,and pays tribute to evryone that helped erect it.
the building is unique and its personality is captured faithfully by these terriffic photographs

darryl pasternack

Rating:
Summary: A walk back in time...
Review: This book takes you on a journey into the past with this thoughtfully displayed, step by step photographic documentation of the construction of the Chrysler Building. The book is well organized, displaying all of the full page photographs sequentially. All written information is in the back of the book. The photographs come alive on the pages. This book is a MUST HAVE for anyone even minutely interested in New York history!

Rating:
Summary: Nice PHOTOGRAPHS
Review: This great coffee-table book is a truly amazing collection of large-format documentary photographs that spectacularly detail the construction of New York City's most exuberant skyscraper. The richness and depth of the photos is incredible: they just don't make `em like that anymore. Besides showcasing the creation of this Art Deco masterpiece, the pictures reveal an astonishing amount of life and history in the surrounding streetscapes, also beautifully captured in the big-really big-format, which includes two double-size centerfolds! The story behind the book is fascinating, too: the glass-plate negatives, dating from the late 1920s and early `30s, gathered dust for decades, then-as they were about to be destroyed so the silver in them could be reclaimed-they were discovered and saved by New York designer David Stravitz. Any Deco or architecture buff would be thrilled to get this book as a gift.

Rating:
Summary: For the Chrysler Building lover in all of us.
Review: This is it.
This is the one you want, if you have a love for the Chrysler building's construction, her insides and outsides.
Beautiful photos - all black and white, in a beautifully presented book. It creates a brilliant record of the construction of one of the most loved buildings in the world.
Highly recommended.