Most Manhattan/NYC style buildings in Sydney?

The entire Martin place

Radisson blu too

Umm. Hmmm. I would say Chifley Tower seeing as it's neo-art deco and a tribute to New York's 1930s skyscrapers, but you said no modernist architecture.


IMG_5028 - Version 2 by mornnb, on Flickr


I would say the Sydney Morning Herald Building.

http://www.sydneyarchitecture.com/cbd/cbd4-056.htm


And the State Saving Bank building, reminds a little bit of the New York stock exchange building.

IMG_5133 by mornnb, on Flickr

The Trust Building is also rather similar to typical 19th century New York.

http://www.sydneyarchitecture.com/cbd/cbd4-049.htm

And the Dymocks building.

http://www.thedymocksbuilding.com.au/sitefiles/information.asp?idarticle=1

HWA Property said:

The entire Martin place

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errr... no.

if Martin Place were in Manhattan the podium heights would be 20+ levels.

I know most schmucks north of the Murray like to compare themselves to cities in America, but really.... I mean... REALLY... why not be Sydney rather than some try-hard American-like city.

Sydney is Sydney. Nothing else.

sydney has many nyc style buildings
i look as them as mini manhattan bldgs. we all know there not as tall blah blah blah
but the designs are there.

magic 30s
CML 1936


Grace bldg 1930


no doubt buildings like AWA 1939



Delfin House 1942


charles plaza 1938

I would say that Potts Point Deco Apartments feel more NYC to me. Otherwise some previous posts are good examples.

Re' the great picture above of the State Savings Bank building in Martin Place. A few interesting (but useless) pieces of information about this great building:

1) The pillars on the Martin Place facade have a strong room inside them on each floor above the second floor. Very good for keeping things cool.

2) When the door for the strongroom in the basement arrived in Sydney traffic had to be stopped so that the enormous box it came in could be transported from the wharf to the bank by a great number of horses.

3) The Commonwealth Bank maintained a small shooting range in a building on the roof level.

4) The toilets on the upper floors are about as grand an example of art deco terrazo as one can find in Sydney; really over the top.

I definately agree with Chifley Tower. Even 2 Park Street (Citigroup Tower) tends to remind me of NYC.

some demolished nyc style scrapers

Rural bank from 1936



T&G of 1930

CULWULLA said:

some demolished nyc style scrapers

Rural bank from 1936

T&G of 1930

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I seem to recall that the Rural bank building was demolished after a great deal of public outrage and that one of the lovely Whitlams was the main mover in it's demolition. Must have been in one of the rare moments when he was not busy sucking on the public tit.

--

What about David Jones on Elizabeth and Market?


David Jones, Sydney by brianapa, on Flickr

David Jones by The Yam, on Flickr

Me thinks people need to actually go to NYC. Overall Sydney is nothing like Manhattan. Sydney art deco is more comparable in size and style to the Shanghai Bund. NYC veers more toward neo-Gothic.

Besides, the label that art deco=NYC is so simplistic. Art deco is universal.

The Grace Hotel has a definite NYC/Gotham City look about it.

tayser said:

errr... no.
I know most schmucks north of the Murray like to compare themselves to cities in America, but really.... I mean... REALLY... why not be Sydney rather than some try-hard American-like city.

Sydney is Sydney. Nothing else.

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No-one here is saying Sydney is like Manhattan - it's just a thread about Manhattan/NYC-style buildings in Sydney. Besides, Sydney is arguably far more itself than Melbourne. One of Melburnians' most oft-repeated claims is that it's Australia's "most European" city. By contrast, I never hear Sydneysiders claim that Sydney is Australia's "most American" city.

'I know most schmucks south of the Murray like to compare themselves to cities in Europe, but really... I mean... REALLY... why not be Melbourne rather than some try-hard European-like city.

Melbourne is Melbourne. Nothing else.'

The lack of Georgian and neo-Gothic architecture in Sydney is depressing. I think the only city in our country with a good selection of beautiful historical Gothic buildings is Melbourne.

mobus said:

The lack of Georgian and neo-Gothic architecture in Australia is depressing. I think the only city in our country with a good selection of beautiful historical buildings is Melbourne.

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You can't discount Sydney and Adelaide in that regard. Sydney's got a substantial amount of historic buildings, although overall plainer than Melbourne's, are still damn impressive. Adelaide too, punches well above its weight (compared to Brisbane, which developed in the 20th century).

I would say that overall Melbourne has a higher quality and greater variety of historical buildings. But there are a couple of masterpieces in Sydney, like QVB and GPO, that Melbourne can't match.
And don't discount Brisbane, while it has a relatively small number of historical buildings, they are quality.

tayser said:

errr... no.

if Martin Place were in Manhattan the podium heights would be 20+ levels.

I know most schmucks north of the Murray like to compare themselves to cities in America, but really.... I mean... REALLY... why not be Sydney rather than some try-hard American-like city.

Sydney is Sydney. Nothing else.

Click to expand...

Why does this kind of "insert city name here ___ is its own city" always have to come up? Just because a city shares similar buildings to another city, doesn't mean it doesn't have it's own distinguishing style and it doesn't mean it's the same as the particular city its buildings are being compared to. You could say Toronto has historical buildings similar to those in New York, or London has similar to those in Paris or NYC, but each of those three cities are still different in countless ways (although Toronto is growing to be more and more alike New York everyday).

Anyway, for NYC style architecture, I think Melbourne has more to offer than Sydney from what I've seen. And what can we even define as NYC style architecture? Gothic buildings and skyscrapers post 1900? Federal architecture and terrace homes?

I was actually surprised by Brisbane when I visited, I thought the (although rather few) historic buildings they have all looked very grand.