When wandering the streets in Manhattan, the eye is unconsciously drawn upwards to take in the amazing detailing on buildings, causing you walk around with your head up high. Ever wondered if this has a positive impact on your psyche?
Visiting NY, I am always struck by the exuberance of many of its buildings. They seem to be happy, smiley; whether old (in relative terms) or new, they seem to laugh and dance and sing. Ok, I am mainly talking about Manhattan, although Brooklyn tries hard and I am sure other areas do to…But I like a place where buildings have gone slightly mad – is there any rational explanation for the fairy cake architecture of the Woolworth building? Or of many other buildings?
Mixing of styles:
Gothic Revival, Art Deco, International and Modern styles happily jostle with each other, creating undoubtedly some of the energy for which NY is famous. This link is a great top 25 list of wonderful NY architecture: http://nyc-architecture.com/TEN/TEN-NY.htm It may sometimes not be immediately clear what the buildings are saying. Although their immediate function can generally be guessed (office/apartments/hotels, combination of all plus a few more), their connotations are more difficult to decipher.
Statement of ambition:
Many of the most famous buildings (e.g. Empire State, Chrysler Building, etc) were build with the aim to be bigger than the competition, demonstrate grandness and convey the power, status, success of those who commissioned them. However, over time, as it is with any language, their meaning has changed somewhat. Or, rather than representing just the ambitions and successes of those who build them, the architecture has been adopted by New Yorkers as a statement about themselves – ambitious, successful and happy:
A surprising number of New Yorkers – 91 percent – describe themselves as happy or very happy. (poll by Marist Institute for Public Opinion, Sept 2010)
Possibly linked to the architecture?
schuhwerke 