Lost American Buildings

[Sandstein]

The "New York World Building" (1889-1890):





It was demolished in 1955 and replaced by a driveway!

[CNB30]

Originally Posted by Sandstein

The "New York World Building" (1889-1890):





It was demolished in 1955 and replaced by a driveway!

sad....I love the Victorian skyscrapers of Park Row

[bolg]

The thing that baffles me is the size of the demolished buildings in America. Mostly what was lost over here during the post-war demolition wave were smallrises of 1-3 floors, not seldom quite slumish. To think that anyone could turn down tall, marvelous buildings like the ones posted here is mind-boggling. All in the name of progress I suppose.

[CNB30]

Originally Posted by bolg

The thing that baffles me is the size of the demolished buildings in America. Mostly what was lost over here during the post-war demolition wave were smallrises of 1-3 floors, not seldom quite slumish. To think that anyone could turn down tall, marvelous buildings like the ones posted here is mind-boggling. All in the name of progress I suppose.

Tose 2-3 story buildings were no slums. They were dense communities labed as slums by mid century urban planners (such as NYC's Robert Moses who tore up the lower east side for housing projects). They were no more than urban communities who had fallen on hard times due to the flight of the wealthy (politically correct term for the white flight). These planners even targeted the neighborhoods doing a process called blockbusting which lowered values of houses in multiracial neighborhoods. If you want to know why the predominantly white live in the suburbs, and minorities live in urban ghettos, blockbusting is what to blame (thankfully, it is now illegal to do).

[socrates#1fan]

Originally Posted by Sandstein

The "New York World Building" (1889-1890):





It was demolished in 1955 and replaced by a driveway!

NOOOO!!!!!!!!!



This building needs rebuilt, NOW!

[Sandstein]

The Larkin Building by Frank Lloyd Wright in Buffalo (1906):

image hosted on flickr




http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsapp/BT/...RO/larkin3.jpg

It was demolished in 1950 for a truck stop which was never built!

Nowadays, the site looks like this:

image hosted on flickr

[ThatOneGuy]

One of the first modernist masterpieces destroyed for a parking lot!? WTF!

[ech wel]

Another thread to kickstart a depression...

[Cprimm]

image hosted on flickr

Wolfe Building -Demolished by Chauncy.Primm, on Flickr
Demolished for easier access to the World Trade Center in 1970

image hosted on flickr

Hearst Tower by Chauncy.Primm, on Flickr
Baltimore - apparently it was structurally unsafe because of news printing machines and demolished for a parking lot

image hosted on flickr

Cornelius Vanderbilt III Mansion (before renovations) by Chauncy.Primm, on Flickr

demolished for Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan

image hosted on flickr

Riverside Drive mansion by Chauncy.Primm, on Flickr

demolished for apartment building

image hosted on flickr

Awesome photo i found by Chauncy.Primm, on Flickr

Plaza Hotel newly constructed amongst Manhattan's sea of mansions. They are all but gone

[Civilization01]

Originally Posted by CNB30

These planners even targeted the neighborhoods doing a process called blockbusting which lowered values of houses in multiracial neighborhoods. If you want to know why the predominantly white live in the suburbs, and minorities live in urban ghettos, blockbusting is what to blame (thankfully, it is now illegal to do).

I'd really would appreciate any background documentation on this "blockbusting". I dont think this practice is no longer practiced, its just revived in a different form.

[Civilization01]

Metropolitan Building ( Guaranty Loan Building ) demo'd in 1962 despite being 95% occupied.



source mnhs.org








source www.historic-structures.com




source www.shorpy.com

In otherwords "progress" killed off a very beautiful downtown Minneapolis. More "progress" on the horizon.

[tanzirian]

Many countries have lost many great treasures of architecture... but the losses in America are sad in the sense that the buildings fell victim not to wars or (usually not to) natural disasters or to the passage of time...but usually to to be replaced by some graceless substitute or by nothing at all...and because the losses are all very recent.

One distinctly American building form was the movie picture palace ... a great many wonderful examples in this architectural genre have been lost... but my favorite is the San Francisco Fox:

[CNB30]

Originally Posted by Civilization01

I'd really would appreciate any background documentation on this "blockbusting". I dont think this practice is no longer practiced, its just revived in a different form.

Nope, the practice declined in the 1980s with regulations and laws, which banned companies from such practices.

[Cprimm]

and amazingly enough the interiors of these theatres was basically chicken wire and plaster and paint

[RegentHouse]

Originally Posted by ThatOneGuy

No offense but the City National Plaza towers are beautiful, and nicer than the old building, IMO.

I actually agree with you... for once.

Originally Posted by Union.SLO

Gillender Building, NYC (Wall St./Nassau St. corner), completed in 1896 and demolished already in 1910.

The Gillender Building is probably one of the best examples considering its short lifespan and how it makes 14 Wall Street look boring.

Anyways, some NYC buildings.

City Hall Post Office and Courthouse:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq...o1_r2_1280.png

Madison Square Garden (original):

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GON/lostny1.jpg

Hudson Terminal:

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GON/hud1.jpg

Astor Hotel:

http://images.fineartamerica.com/ima...el-granger.jpg

Biltmore Hotel (still existing, but completely unrecognizable):

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/IM-1...-GON041-02.jpg

Claridge Hotel:

http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/ima...4th-street.jpg

[socrates#1fan]

Going back to an earlier time.

Here are examples of architecture lost not by planned demolition, but by war, disaster, etc.

Great fire of NYC, 1776.

400-1000 buildings were lost.



One from the Great Chicago Fire.

Palmer House





After the fire

[Cprimm]

Senator William Clark Mansion . Lasted 24 years on 5th Ave. Replaced by a extremely expensive apartment building.

William Kissam Vanderbilt Mansion. Revolutionized Gilded Age residential architecture in the U.S. by its eclectic and academically correct interpretation of European examples. Demolished for 666 Fifth Ave

[Sandstein]

The former San Francisco City Hall:





It was destroyed during the 1906 earthquake.

[tanzirian]

While the San Francisco Fox is my favorite lost movie palace, another contender for greatest loss in this genre is the New York Roxy. I believe it was the largest of all the movie palaces, and quite possibly the most opulent as well. While the history of NYC is littered with tragic architectural losses, this would be my personal #2 loss (after Penn Station).

[Sandstein]

The "Home Insurance Building" in Chicago (1884):


http://lesarchivesbleues.files.wordp...e-building.jpg

It is considered the first "skyscraper" in the world, but despite that it was demolished in 1931.