452 Fifth Avenue, the Knox Hat Building

The jauntiest of Fifth Avenue’s mansards, 452 Fifth Avenue wears its soaring roof like a couture chapeau – and considering that it was constructed as the Knox Hat Building, this is more than appropriate.  Designed by John H. Duncan, perhaps best known as the architect of the General Grant National Monument (itself better known as… Continue reading

445 Fifth Avenue

The first Miesian skyscraper we’ve encountered, 445 Fifth Avenue was designed by Emery Roth & Sons as a condominium building and features the dark glass and bronze-colored framing elements associated with Mies Van der Rohe’s famed Seagram Building on Park Avenue.  Until recently the first two floors were framed with wretched PoMo “neo-classical” details: these… Continue reading

437 Fifth Avenue

A dignified French Second Empire Design by the famed architect C.P.H. Gilbert, 437 Fifth Avenue was designed in 1904 and completed in 1907.  Home of the Knabe Piano Company, the structure makes an attractive counterpoint to the similar Knox Hat Building, which stands a block north on the opposite side of the street. 437 Fifth… Continue reading

431, 433 & 435 Fifth Avenue

A pleasant collection of small commercial buildings, 431, 433 and 435 Fifth Avenue represent the avenue’s high standard of architecture during the early 20th Century. 433 Fifth Avenue is of particular interest, having been designed in 1911 by Harry Allan Jacobs as the Hardman Pianos Building.  Although the charming loggia on the second floor has… Continue reading

424-434 Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor

One of the city’s most beloved department Stores, the Lord & Taylor Fifth Avenue flagship at 424-434 Fifth Avenue was designed by Starrett & van Vleck, the city’s leading department store architects and marked a turning point in both the firm’s architecture and in how department stores were conceived of architecturally. In place of designs… Continue reading