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Architecture Флэтайрон-билдинг (21023)
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Lego Architecture Флэтайрон-билдинг (21023) [4/88] History

History

As the city of New York expanded northward during the second half of

the 19th century, small plots of land in between or on the edge of new

buildings remained undeveloped. One of the most well known of these

was the narrow triangular site at 23rd Street, between Fifth Avenue and

Broadway. The “Flat Iron,” as it quickly became known, changed owners

many times, but wouldn’t be developed until the Chicago-based Fuller

Company bought the site in 1901.

The Fuller Company, a major Chicago-based contracting firm

specializing in the construction of skyscrapers, planned to build a

new showcase headquarter on the site. The founder of the company,

George A. Fuller, had died the year before, and the new building would

be named the Fuller Building in his honor.

The Fuller Company engaged Chicago architect Daniel H. Burnham

to design the building and, utilizing the Fuller Company’s expertise

with steel frame construction, he proposed a 20-story structure that

would reach a height of 285 ft. (86.9 m). A penthouse would be added

in 1905, increasing the building’s height to 307 ft. (93 m). The building’s

Broadway front would be 190 ft. (60 m) wide, the Fifth Avenue

front 173 ft. (52.7 m) wide, and the

22nd Street side just short of 87 ft.

(26.5 m) wide. At the “point” of the

triangle the building would only be

6.5 ft. (2 m) wide and would form a

25-degree acute angle.

Burnham saw the building as a

vertical Renaissance palazzo with

Beaux-Arts, or neoclassical, styling.

Visually the building would be divided

into three distinct sections. It would

consist of a richly decorated, three-

story limestone façade at the bottom

and a broad, repetitive midsection in

a light tan monochrome terra-cotta.

The structure would then be topped

off with a crowning cornice that would

run the entire length of the building.

With its steel skeleton structure, the construction of the building was

carried out rapidly and without major incident. While other New York

skyscrapers at the time were often thin towers rising from pedestal-like

blocks, the Flatiron was a single massive structure. This radical design,

combined with its great height and unusual shape, created a great deal

of debate as the building neared completion in 1902.

Many New Yorkers believed the structure would be unstable and would

fall over at the first gust of wind. The building had even been nicknamed

“Burnham’s Folly” and bets were placed on how far the debris would

reach when it blew over. Strong winds came and went, and the Flatiron

Building withstood them—as it continues to do today, over a century

later. It is proof that the structure was not only a strong architectural

idea, but a groundbreaking engineering marvel as well.

21023_BI_IN.indd 4 06/10/2014 2:48 PM

Lego Architecture Флэтайрон-билдинг (21023) [4/88] History

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