This iconic city is home to some of the world's most memorable architecture, but people have had to fight to preserve some of it.
1900 - 1980
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Assyrian revival architecture in New York City
Architects used Assyrianizing motifs strategically to help their businesses stand out in New York’s competitive urban landscape.
Soaring upward, Louis Sullivan and the invention of the skyscraper
A miracle on Bleecker Street, ornament, invention, and one of the great early skyscrapers.
A Landmark Decision: Penn Station, Grand Central, and the architectural heritage of NYC
New York put growth ahead of all else, resulting in the loss of important historic buildings, like Penn Station.
William Van Alen, The Chrysler Building
The Art Deco style of this skyscraper was urbane and luxurious—a swansong of glamor as the Great Depression hit.
Rockefeller Center
Word to the wise: don’t put an anti-capitalist mural in a building owned by millionaires unless you want it trashed.
Cass Gilbert, Woolworth Building
Advanced steel-frame construction techniques enabled this to be the world’s tallest building from 1913 to 1930.
