The Chrysler Building remains one of America's most beautiful skyscrapers and a grand evocation of Jazz Age New York. But this architectural tribute to the automobile is also the greatest reminder of a furious construction surge that transformed the city in the 1920s.
After World War I, New York became newly prosperous, one of the undisputed business capitals of the world. The tallest building was the Woolworth Building, but the city's rise in prominence demanded new, taller towers, taking advantage of improvements in steel-frame construction and a clever 'wedding cake' zoning law that allowed for ever-higher buildings.
Into this world came William Van Alen and H. Craig Severance, two former architectural partners who had unamicably separated and were now designing rival skyscrapers. Each man wanted to make the tallest building in the world.
But Van Alan had the upper hand, backed by one of America's most famous businessmen -- Walter Chrysler. His automobiles were the coolest, sleekest vehicles in the marketplace. His brand required a skyscraper of radical design and surprising height.
In 1930, the Chrysler became the tallest building in the world, a title it held until the Empire State Building.
Just ten years ago, the Chrysler Building was the fourth tallest in New York City. Today, however, it's the thirteenth tallest building in the city. And that's because of a new skyscraper surge shaping the city's skyline, with supertalls making the skyscrapers of old feel very small in comparison.
It can be bewildering to see the skyline change so rapidly. But that's exactly how New Yorkers felt exactly one century ago.
Visit our website for pictures and other episodes
#145 Bicycle Mania! From Velocipede to Ten-Speed
Hurricane Sandy Update
#144 Mysteries and Magicians of New York
#143 Water for New York: Croton Aqueduct
#142 New York University (NYU)
#141 New York Beer History
#140 Rockaway Beach
#139 Brooklyn Academy of Music
#138: St. Mark's-in-the-Bowery
New York City and the World of Radio
#136 High Line Walking Tour
#135 The High Line
#134 St. Patrick's Cathedral
#133 Red Hook: Brooklyn on the Waterfront
#132 Electric New York: Edison and the City Lights
#131 The First Apartment Building
#130 Haunted Histories of New York
#129 Chinatown
#128 Hoaxes and Conspiracies of 1864
#127 The Civil War Draft Riots
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
The Rest Is History
Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra