All You Need To Know About The Flatiron Building April 02 2014

  1. Flatiron Building, which fills the triangle where Broadway joins Fifth Avenue, was the world’s tallest building (285 ft/ 87 mt, 22 stories) when completed in 1902.

  2. When it was constructed, some people worried that the Flatiron Building would collapse, it was a prime architectural design at the advent of steel skyscraper construction in the United States.  

  3. They called it Burnham's Folly. But the Flatiron Building was actually a feat of engineering that used newly developed construction methods.

  4. A sturdy steel skeleton allowed the Flatiron Building to achieve record-breaking height without the need for wide supporting walls at the foundation.

  5. The Beaux-Arts styling and detailing give the steel scraper a touch of architectural precedent found Europe at the time. The building is clad in  limestone  and glazed terra cotta, which amplifies the heavy, yet rich aesthetic.

  6. In 1902,  a journalist wrote on the New York Times:  “The peculiar office structure appears to exercise a strange fascination over some minds, for not only do hundreds of people stand for five and then minutes at a time looking up at it, but many of those who have detached themselves from the groups are obliged to return in a minute or two to examine the structure from another point of view”

  7. The neighborhood around the Flatiron Building, once known for its concentration of photographer’s studios and camera shop, has in recent years become a trendy residential area.