Medallions were placed above the information desk inside the Empire State Building; all commemorate the new technology used to complete the construction of the building in an art-deco style. Electricity, Masonry, and Heating are some that are shown.

Located inside the lobby of the Empire State Building.

Empire State Building Medallion

This giant metal relief depicts an image of the Empire State Building superimposed over a map of New York state.

Empire State Building Mural

The Deutsche Bank Building (formerly Bankers Trust Plaza) was a 39-story office building located at 130 Liberty Street in Manhattan, New York City, adjacent to the World Trade Center site. The building was purchased by Deutsche Bank when it acquired Bankers Trust in 1998.

The building closed following the September 11 attacks in 2001, due to contamination that spread from the collapse of the South Tower.&nbsp;

center, continues at the World Trade Center site, foreground, Tuesday, March 27, 2007 in New York. The bank building was heavily damaged in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

A 2003 file photo shows the former Deutsche Bank tower, to the south of the World Trade Center site from ground zero in New York. The 40-story building was heavily damaged in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when the World Trade Center's south tower collapsed into it.MAry Altaffer/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times&nbsp;

with a yellow Brokk demolition robot in the foreground and the 1, 7 and 4 World Trade Center towers in the background.Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Deutsche Bank Building

99 John Deco Lofts, at 99 John Street in Manhattan's Financial District, is an Art Deco gem designed by Shreve, Lamb &amp; Harmon, the same architects behind the Empire State Building. Completed in 1933 as an office building for Blue Cross/Blue Shield, it features sleek lines and geometric details typical of the era. In the early 2000s, it was converted into luxury residential lofts, part of a trend of repurposing historic office buildings in Lower Manhattan. Today, it blends modern amenities with classic design, making it a coveted address.

99 John Deco Lofts

This New York landmark was once the world's tallest building at 1,250ft and has been a tourist attraction since it first opened. Tales about the building's early years abound--its spire, for instance, was meant as a mooring point (not a landing strip!) for dirigibles flying into the city. The architectural design was completed in two weeks as it borrowed heavily from another earlier project in the office, the construction documents in about 6 months, and construction itself in two years. The Empire State Building was recently voted America's most Favorite building in a 2007 AIA survey. It has New York City landmark Status for both the exterior and the lobby floor. The American Society of Civil Engineers voted it as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In 2010, in partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative, the building was retrofitted to improve energy efficiency and financial performance which is projected to save 38% of the building's energy use.

Two workers stand on the roof of the dirigible mooring mast atop the Empire State Building

Empire State Building

The 14 Wall Street Building, with its distinctive pyramidal roof, is one of the great towers that define the lower Manhattan sky line. Located in the heart of the financial district, the building was erected in 1910-12 for the Bankers Trust Company. Symbolizing the importance of the company, the 539-foot-high 14 Wall Street Building was the tallest bank building in the world when it was completed. Designed by the prestigious firm of Trowbridge &amp; Livingston, this granite-clad tower incorporated the latest in building technologies and was one of the first buildings to employ a cofferdam foundation system. Inspired by the campanile of San Marco in Venice, the building's design is notable for its austere decorative scheme incorporating specific Greek architectural motifs. Especially noteworthy is the sevenstory stepped pyramid which is credited with setting an important precedent for the development of boldly topped skyscraper towers. In 1931-33 the building received a twenty-five-story , L-shaped addition, designed by the leading architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb &amp; Harmon. The addition is articulated with a blend of Modern Classic and Art Deco motifs which complements Trowbridge &amp; Livingston's original design. Over the years the 14 Wall Street Building has become a symbol of the financial district. Its design was widely copied during the 1920s and remains an inspiration for modern designers.&nbsp;

14 Wall Street

Aaron Burr promised Latrobe he would win the competition to design NY City Hall in 1802. But, Joseph Francois Magnin &amp; John McComb Jr won the $350 prize, becoming the oldest continuously occupied City Hall in America since completed in 1811.French Renaissance plus Federal equals this massive administrative and legislative structure. It houses the City Council and the Mayor's Office, with New York's first and most beautiful (now former) subway station buried right beneath it.

Mullets Monstrosity, City Hall, Park Row and City Hall Park.&amp;nbsp;The structure on the right is the Manhattan station for the cable cars which ran across the Brooklyn Bridge.  

McComb Architectural Drawing Collection, Collection of the New-York Historical Society

New York City Hall

 At the statue of Nathan Hale in City Hall Park, Kaplan discusses Hale's life and significance, and the history of City Hall. 

Unfortunately both murals were lost during a renovation of the lobby prior to 1993. Meière’s painted murals have been replaced with lunette-shaped windows.

Hildreth Meière decorated the lunette-shaped wall over lobby entrances at 25 West 43rd St. and 28 West 44th St, with painted murals. Over the 43rd Street entrance, she depicted an Architect and Developer in business suits. They are seated at a desk discussing an architectural plan. A skyscraper under construction is visible through the window behind them. In the lunette-shaped mural above the 44th Street entrance, The Builders, Meière depicted construction workers on the job.&nbsp;

25 West 43rd Street

28 West 44th Street

Architect and Developer + The Builders

Located on the 34th Street side inside the Empire State Building

Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon was the architectural firm best known for the 1931 Empire State Building, the tallest building in New York, and the world, at that time.

The firm was formed in 1929 by the Canadian Richmond Harold ("R.H.") Shreve, William F. Lamb from Brooklyn, and Arthur Loomis Harmon from Chicago. 

Shreve, Lamb & Harmon

SITES

Related Sites