Iconic
Despite my previous criticism of this kind of use of the words “aerial view” I absolutely love the early 1930s
Journal
Our work with old buildings has us studying a lot of different topics in addition to structural engineering – for example, architecture, history, and historic preservation – and we like sharing stories about what we’ve found.
Not The Usual
The 181st Street station on the 1 train, at St. Nicholas Avenue. The station opened in 1906, as one of
Relieved
A circa-1900 bearing-wall building, designed by someone who probably wore a belt and suspenders, and also stapled his pants to
I Must Object
From the New York Public Library Archives, the Wurts Brothers provide, in the early 1930s, an interesting photo with a
It Looked Familiar: Foreshadowing
Daredevil sits on a rooftop, with an interesting skyscraper in the background: That’s the Hearst Tower, a modern building constructed
Non-Parallel
The east end of the Times Square subway station, where the shuttle meets the concourse leading to the Seventh Avenue
Infographics FTW
Thanks to Johnny Decimal, I learned about a short video on the subway currently playing on the hour on the
Cover Your Eyes!
Okay, standards have changed, and people in the past did a lot of things we would not do today. That
Misdirection By Mislabelling
From the New York Public Library’s collection of Wurts Brothers photos, “Stanton Street – Ridge Street (looking southwest)”: Seems pretty
A Ghost With Some Stories To Tell
I was in Midtown last week, and took a picture of this ghost, at 1146-1150 Sixth Avenue: And a close-up:
Etymology
When I was in elementary school, I was taught that “Manhattan” was derived form a Native American word meaning “wooded
Repeat Head, Repeat Clouds
I’ve posted a lot of photos of skyscrapers with their heads in the clouds. Here and here and here and
It Looked Familiar: Demonic
From an indie comic called The Damned, in which actual demons are part of organized crime, the apartment house that
More Evocative Than A Pastry
While looking through some old photos, I found the underside of the main entrance to an old Hudson Valley estate
If It’s Worth Doing…
…it’s worth doing right. Working with old buildings all the time means often working in occupied buildings, sometimes immediately adjacent
Lost To Antiquity, Recently
From the Wurts Brothers, circa 1930, 63 Wall Street: The vast majority of the Wurts’ photos of buildings show all
Endurance Or Lack Thereof
A fascinating discussion of what is, effectively, a structural failure: Here’s the real reason Endurance sank. Polar exploration in the nineteenth century
Two Things It’s Not
Last Wednesday, a high-rise apartment house at 205 Alexander Avenue in the Bronx, part of the New York City Housing
Taking Credit
Two more photos from last month’s trip to Lausanne. First, architects signing their work: There are a fair number of
So Close
An A train platform in the Rockaways: Hey, what’s that off in the middle distance? That’s the Atlantic Ocean. Not