Grand Army Plaza
Grand Army Plaza is an open space carved partially out of the southeastern-most corner of Central Park and stretching from 58th Street to 60th Street and bisected by 59th Street. Designed by Carrere & Hastings and completed in 1916, the park gives its name to both the Plaza District and the renowned Plaza Hotel that… Continue reading
754 Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman
Designed to echo the now-vanished Marble Row erected some 60 years earlier by the powerful society widow Mary Mason Jones, what is now known as Bergdorf Goodman at 754 Fifth Avenue was in fact erected as a row of single shops merged into one architectural statement by Kahn & Jacobs. Finish in 1928 the building… Continue reading
745 Fifth Avenue, The Squibb Building
745 Fifth Avenue, the original Squibb Building, is a major work by the firm of Buchman & Kahn. It was a favorite project of partner Ely Jacques Kahn to the extent that he actually dressed as the building for the famed 1931 Beaux Arts Ball. The Art Deco entrance grill, marble lobby and ceiling mural… Continue reading
743 Fifth Avenue, the Hublot Building
A handsome Beaux Arts sliver at 743 Fifth Avenue has recently given away to a sleek new shop for Swiss watchmaker Hublot. Designed by architect Peter Marino, responsible for the now-vanished treatment of 677 Fifth Avenue for Fendi, the building has a die-cast elegance in keeping with the designer’s penchant for industrial glamour.
1 East 57th Street
1 East 57th Street is a 15-story building by Cross & Cross much-altered by a grotesque store, now thankfully gone, that featured a mannequin of – no, really – Superman pushing a partially exterior elevator up and down the façade. What remains retains some residual idea of the classical style of the 1930 design –… Continue reading