Great American Buildings

[nerdly_dood]

United States Capitol. Not many people like what's going on inside, but it's still a beautiful building.

[socrates#1fan]

A VERY beautiful building.
Interior

[Evan]

Originally Posted by minneapolis-uptown

Metropolitan building in Minneapolis. It was the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi. it was destroyed.

I know it's just an optical illusion, but that building looks like its about to fall over!

[Brko]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joewessels/3426669964/

wikipedia

http://www.flickr.com/photos/steinsky/181145176/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tcmacdonald/3204437317/

[EastSider]

Great thread. Here's one of my favorites, the Milwaukee City Hall. It just finished a multi-year renovation.

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mcolford

[EastSider]

Also good, the Madison Capital building.

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wpuh003

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[desertpunk]

Wow!

[nerdly_dood]

The Roanoke Star, atop Mill Mountain in Roanoke, Virginia





The view from the observation deck beneath it

[MysticMcGoo]

Here's two of my very favourites in the U.S.

Illinois State Capital


and Buffalo city hall

[Nordeaster]

Originally Posted by minneapolis-uptown

Metropolitan building in Minneapolis. It was the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi. it was destroyed.

It was torn down so they could build this gem.

[desertpunk]

More on the Metropolitan Building in Minneapolis from Wikipedia:

The Metropolitan Building, originally known as the Northwestern Guaranty Loan Building, is considered to be one of the most architecturally significant structures in the history of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It stood from 1890 until it was torn down starting in 1961 as part of major urban renewal efforts in the city that saw about 40% of the downtown district razed and replaced with new structures. At the time, the pending destruction of the Richardsonian Romanesque building provided a catalyst for historic preservation movements in the city and across the state.

The building is considered by some to be the city's first skyscraper, with 12 stories and standing 218 ft (66m) tall. Small observation towers poked up above the corners, and the rooftop had a popular garden. It was built of green New Hampshire granite and red Lake Superior sandstone, with the interiors dressed in antique oak. A large skylight allowed the interior to be safely lit in a time when the electric light was rare (though the building was eventually wired), and the floors of walkways circling the center court were translucent to allow more light to filter through. Architect E. Townsend Mix designed the building, and it is considered to be his most notable achievement. Many of the city's most prestigious companies had offices in the Metropolitan.

When it went up, the building was owned by the Northwestern Guaranty Loan Company, which had been founded by Louis F. Menage. Menage (1859-1924) had gained a fortune while speculating on real estate in the Minneapolis area in the 1880s. He spent $1 million on the project. Many hailed the building when it was first completed, although some such as Cass Gilbert did not like the style.


A view up to the skylightThe Panic of 1893 caused Menage's company to collapse, and he fled the country. Thomas Lowry, another major real estate speculator and the owner of the area's streetcar network, purchased the building but only held onto it for a little more than a decade before selling it off to the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1905. This is where the building gained its "Metropolitan" name, even though it changed hands a few more times before succumbing to the wrecking ball.

There was little practical reason to tear down the building. Records from the day indicate that it was safe and almost fully occupied at the time it was condemned. The structure came down because it was in the wrong neighborhood—on the edge of the so-called Gateway District, sitting on the southwest corner of Third Street South and Second Avenue South.

[Brko]

[Brko]

[redbaron_012]

Originally Posted by nerdly_dood

United States Capitol. Not many people like what's going on inside, but it's still a beautiful building.

I did the tour of this wonderful building while in Washington DC back in 2007......I took pics and then went to the Botanical garden......changed chips in my digital camera. and later found I had lost the chip with that days pics! damn......I only now have memories luckily.....but if you find it...send it to Australia....Ok

[Avian001]

Sorry to be a curmudgeon, but WTF? Why do so many of you think some of these are great American buildings, when nearly all of them are based upon European neo-classicism, neo-gothicism, Beaux Arts or Italianate??? Even Art Deco is French, for pete's sake. Most of these structures would look right at home In Amsterdam, Liverpool or Munich.

I think many of you are confusing "great American buildings" with "old Euro-style buildings I happen to think are cool."

I don't think anyone has offered an argument for a great American building, other than perhaps Sullivan's Guaranty building.

[socrates#1fan]

Originally Posted by Avian001

Sorry to be a curmudgeon, but WTF? Why do so many of you think some of these are great American buildings, when nearly all of them are based upon European neo-classicism, neo-gothicism, Beaux Arts or Italianate??? Even Art Deco is French, for pete's sake. Most of these structures would look right at home In Amsterdam, Liverpool or Munich.

I think many of you are confusing "great American buildings" with "old Euro-style buildings I happen to think are cool."

I don't think anyone has offered an argument for a great American building, other than perhaps Sullivan's Guaranty building.

Uh because America is pretty much an extension of Europe. What do you think happens when a ton of Europeans move to another land? They did not just ditch all of their architectural traditions.
Is Buckingham Palace not a great British building? Is the Reichstag not a great German building? They take from neoclassical architecture.

[socrates#1fan]

Indiana State House
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[Avian001]

Oops, double post...

[Avian001]

Originally Posted by socrates#1fan

Uh because America is pretty much an extension of Europe. What do you think happens when a ton of Europeans move to another land? They did not just ditch all of their architectural traditions.
Is Buckingham Palace not a great British building? Is the Reichstag not a great German building? They take from neoclassical architecture.

And since when does re-building the Reichstag in New York suddenly make it a great American building? I'm not denying that there is an historical thread that ties the two continents together. That's fine. But when is the umbilical cord cut? (To mix my metaphors )

That was the whole controversy surrounding the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It seems many people here never learned what that meant.

I'd really, really like someone to explain to me what a medieval castle (i.e. Richardsonian Romanesque) pretending to be a City Hall in Cincinnati or Minneapolis has to do with American democracy???

[MysticMcGoo]

Originally Posted by Avian001

Sorry to be a curmudgeon, but WTF? Why do so many of you think some of these are great American buildings, when nearly all of them are based upon European neo-classicism, neo-gothicism, Beaux Arts or Italianate??? Even Art Deco is French, for pete's sake. Most of these structures would look right at home In Amsterdam, Liverpool or Munich.

I think many of you are confusing "great American buildings" with "old Euro-style buildings I happen to think are cool."

I don't think anyone has offered an argument for a great American building, other than perhaps Sullivan's Guaranty building.

So that's like saying every skyscraper/high-rise building outside of the U.S. is just a copy of American architecture, since such buildings are based on the American high-rise design model of building higher and higher into the sky.

Those buildings may be based on distinctively-european looking structures, but I personally can usually differentiate between old American buildings and old European ones. There is sort of a pseudo-classical presence about them.