Yesterday’s post on the repetitive architectural design of public schools got me thinking about other templated building types around the city. I want to discuss one of the less common but distinctive types: the armory.
There are some 24 of these buildings still in existence in the city, with many having been demolished as the New York National Guard – formerly the State Militia – has largely moved to more open ground outside of the city. The oldest still in existence is the Arsenal in Central Park – the oldest building in the park other than the ruins of the Revolutionary War blockhouse – but it now houses nothing more military than the city’s Parks Department. The building I know from my childhood, the Flushing Armory, is now used by the NYPD.
In general, what these buildings all have in common is a large drill shed, where military maneuvers could be practiced indoors and where equipment could be stored, with a head house in front consisting of offices, a mess hall, and occasionally some dorm rooms. This architectural program – a big open space and a bunch of smaller rooms – exists in a lot of other building types, from train stations to warehouses to schools, and does not necessarily carry specific architectural style implications. The general consensus among the people who designed and built the armories is that the head houses and entrances should look like European castles. That’s a bit cheesy and historically bizarre for this country, but the worst aspect of it is that it inherently clashes with the drill shed. The drill sheds, in order to have the big uninterrupted spaces, have large modern steel trusses spanning across, usually combined with clerestories, skylights, or large gable-end windows for natural light. In the case of the Seventh Regiment Armory, the drill shed roof was the second metal-framed long-span roof in the city, after the first Grand Central Depot.
The Kingsbridge Armory, seen at the top in color, has a huge truss roof that sort of makes the big towers look like Pringles Can sitting next to a bread box. The 71st Regiment Armory, formerly at 4th (Park) Avenue and 33rd Street and now reduced to a few square feet of masonry wall and a plaque at a subway entrance, did a good job of hiding the drill shed roof from the front, but it was visible on the side.
The reality of armory design is that the engineering of the drill sheds had to be what it was. the fantasy of armory design is that they were in the tradition of medieval castles and should look the part. The clash between reality and fantasy is visible to this day.
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