4.05.2009


via mozart
of course



the empire is my
definition of elegance


chrysler or empire?


is a serious question
asked amongst new yorkers

your answer...


and what does it
say about you?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello!

I just wanted to say I really enjoy your blog and always appreciate the thought provoking connections you make between images posted.

I thought this image of the architects who designed the famous skyscrapers of New York might be interesting to you! (taken from Rem Koolhaas's Delirious New York)

http://architettura.dada.net/books/2001/200103010/03.jpg


Keep up the great work!!!

Stephanie

Anonymous said...

oh both buildings really are special. if i picked one, that would mean, i couldnt celebrate the other...so...

je suis ravie, c'est la première fois j'ai vu les mots en français ici...

nancy

Anonymous said...

Out of curiosity, why is the ESB your definition of elegance? There are many more graceful buildings, such as some of the apt buildings surrounding Central Park. What is your aesthetic for such a statement?

Anonymous said...

Empire.

I have many wonderful childhood memories of the Empire State Building. Many trips made up to that glorious observation deck.
My God.. you can feel the city's soul up there!

The changing colored lights are so beautiful, playful and heartfelt.

Then there is Al Smith's gumption and vision in the face of the Great Depression.

E said...

I wouldn't be able to say since I'm not a New Yorker - and I also don't know New York very well at all.

I always thought NYC would be like it was in the movies. So when I actually went to visit it, I wasn't entirely enthralled.

After a couple more visits, however, I think I might start liking it some more.

Anonymous said...

im not a new yorker, but i do love new york and one day i will be one soooo...

chrysler.

it has something of new york that the austere empire doesnt have.. i see the empire as masculine and chrysler as female, therefore i correlate better the rough new york city with the female touch of the chrysler.
besides that, i think the art deco style of the chrysler brings very graphic images/memories of new york in the 30's that for some reason, under my point of view, the empire doesnt really achieve... i love to imagine new york city as gotham city and the chrysler just has the perfect role for this.
also, the fact that chrysler was the first has an "innocence" added to it, i dont know, i feel its more authentic.. plus, everyone seems to focus more on the empire! what about the sun hitting the chrysler, its poetry made architecture...

Cerré said...

To answer your question, anonymous, the empire is my definition of elegance over the chrysler building.

I have become a die hard empire fan only this year. for the longest time, I have been dazzled by the chrysler...but these times call for more sobriety in my life and a bit more honesty in structure.

I agree, there are a lot of incredible building in this city, but my question was regarding the two most iconic nyc skyscrapers. Regardless, I apologize for my somewhat pretentious statement in this post!

best!

lee



lee

Unknown said...

must we choose between poems? the idea of renouncing the sinuosity of the Chrysler, even in thought alone...oy, the heart contracts.

but thank you for taking me back to those places.

Cerré said...

1913, your comment is very beautiful...I think you made me fall back in love with the chrysler. thank you.

lee

Anonymous said...

; )

(ps. for some reason it doesnt show in the comment bit, but its actually "yearof1913", instead of 1913 xx)

Anonymous said...

i feel they are both phallic representations of an era that is fading away, but if i had to choose it would be the chrysler. (i love buildings, though, that have a more organic structure, and feel, ie; the guggenheim.)

Anonymous said...

Chrysler. My mother's father was a bricklayer who worked that project, and it has always been my favorite building in the city.