I was walking crosstown through Chelsea to get to a gallery to meet my friends Stan and Ann, and suddenly I saw this huge building. I was first attracted by the brick towers all along the top of the building. "What the heck are those towers for, and look how many there are!" I am guessing now that they are water towers. Wow, this place is big!
So I walked south one block and then I could see the extent of this building! It is astonishing! It takes up a whole city block! And look how tall it is! So I started photographing it as I walked along.
Here's a view looking back to the East from where I came. This is unbelievable, and it's all one building. I saw an awning and discovered that all of this is called "London Terrace." It is a famous place to live and a number of famous people live here. Construction began in late 1929, on what was then to be the largest apartment building in the world. The building contains approximately 1,700 apartments in 14 contiguous buildings between 17 and 19 stories high, Celebrities who live here include: Annie Liebovitz, the photographer, Malcolm Gladwell, author, Chelsea Clinton, Tim Gunn of Project Runway, Debbie Harry of Blondie, Katherine Keener and Diane Kruger, actresses among others. Wow!
I was very curious about the water towers in your first photo. Had to look it up. Apparently, the city required anything over six stories to have them for fire purposes. They were also needed because water pressure was too weak to rise up high. These water towers were done with such good design. Huge building! Must have been one of a kind back in 1929! betsey
ReplyDeleteI like all of the different shapes in the photos, especially the first one. I like all the windows and brick together. The history that you and Betsey both discuss is interesting. Trace
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