581 Fifth Avenue and 585 Fifth Avenue
Two small commercial buildings, one a largely intact Beaux Arts commercial building, the other a faceless post-war façade, 581 Fifth Avenue and 585 Fifth Avenue provide a study in contrast between architectural styles – and, perhaps, the tenants they attract.
575 Fifth Avenue
575 Fifth Avenue is a graceless PoMo lump. Recent storefront changes actually improve the façade by somewhat lightening the overall tonnage of puce granite.
560 Fifth Avenue
One of the saddest of the recent architectural travesties in Midtown, the beautiful Beaux Arts shop at 560 Fifth Avenue that Grand Central Terminal architects Warren & Wetmore produced for jeweler Jacob Dreicer in 1906 has recently had its black-and gold marble first floor removed and its façade overall obscured with a sign for the… Continue reading
554 Fifth Avenue & 556 Fifth Avenue
One of the most bizarre architectural remnants of Gilded Age New York, 556 Fifth Avenue was constructed in 1912 to designs by New York Public Library architects Carrere & Hastings for the prestigious Knoedler Gallery, one of city’s oldest such institutions. Acquired by the Philippines government after Knoedler moved further uptown, in 1974 the façade… Continue reading
546 Fifth Avenue
Completed in 1990 for the Bank of Brazil, the mirrored 546 Fifth Avenue is a flashy and (almost immediately) dated affair that suggests the opening credits of Dallas rather than the Midtown blocks of Manhattan. A rather bizarre first floor commercial space features neo-classical wood paneling jarringly at odds with the exterior. Emery Roth &… Continue reading