AUDIO DESCRIPTION
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
Hi, I'm Brian Lehrer host of the Brian Lehrer show on WNYC, New York Public Radio. New York is a city of icons. Since 1924, WNYC has been an icon of New York's Airwaves. Now I'd like to describe for you an icon of the city skyline, the Empire State Building. Earlier in my life, I volunteered as a reader for the Lighthouse in New York. Today, I'm happy that in this project I can use my voice to help you learn more about an important part of New York's visual culture.
Most New Yorkers know the basics about the Empire State Building, that it was built in 1931, that it's 102 stories tall, that a giant ape climbed it twice in King Kong movies, and that after 9/11 it once again became the tallest building in the city. And most New Yorkers see the Empire State Building in the same way, from a distance, standing elegantly and alone among blocks of much smaller buildings. It's this familiar distant view of the building that I'll describe for you.
The simplest way to describe the Empire State Building is to say that it looks like a giant sharpened pencil pointed straight up at the sky and sitting on a large eraser. It's located at 34th Street and 5th Avenue. Its base, the eraser, takes up about two-thirds of the block between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and 33rd and 34th streets. But this wide base does not rise straight up a hundred two stories. It's only five stories tall. Upon the base and set back from its edges sits the main part of the building that rises against the sky.
The concept of a setback is key to understanding the building's design and how it looks. A setback is when upper sections of a building are recessed or set back from the facade at the ground level. So, because of setbacks a building becomes gradually narrower and recedes gently from the street as it rises higher and higher. In 1924, New York City passed a setback ordinance requiring skyscrapers to incorporate setbacks into their design. The reason was to allow more daylight to reach the sidewalks and street below. So setbacks became a common feature of buildings in New York City. For the Empire State Building a series of setbacks help make the huge building appear light and graceful. The setback atop the base rises about 25 stories where another setback begins the bulk of the tower, about 45 stories. Then two small setbacks above this section, one above the other, make the building even narrower. Finally, the building is topped by a tower that looks like a rocket ship ready to blast off. Originally the building was to have a flat roof. The tower was added as a mooring mast for passenger blimps flying to Manhattan. The blimp plan didn't turn out to be feasible. But soon the tower found another use. It became a support for a 200-foot transmitting tower used by New York radio and television stations including my station WNYC FM.
The exterior style of the Empire State Building is Art Deco, a term applied to a design movement for art and architecture that was popular between the two World Wars. Art Deco buildings were buildings of the future, sleek, vertical, and dramatic with little ornamentation. Like many Art Deco skyscrapers the exterior of the Empire State Building is mostly constructed of limestone quarried in Indiana. The limestone is a very light gray and in color. Long columns of windows that look like vertical stripes rise, the full length of the building sides. These columns of windows contain spandrels, decorative rectangular panels that fill the space between the top of one window and the bottom of the next. The spandrels are dark gray in color. Between the columns of windows are structural elements called mullions. The mullions are dividers, stripes of shiny aluminum separating the columns of windows. The mullions stand out brightly and add to the towers vertical feeling.
Finally, I have to mention the lights, an important part of how the Empire State Building looks today. The top of the building was first lit for the country's Bicentennial celebration in 1976, and it quickly became a tradition. Today the Empire State lights up almost every night of the year from dusk to midnight. There are colored light displays for various holidays, holy days, and sports and civic celebrations.
The Empire State Building has been designated a New York City landmark and a national landmark. Millions of people visit it every year and enjoy the view from its open air observation deck on the 86th floor. In 2007, the architects of the US polled Americans about their favorite buildings in the country. The Empire State Building was number one. And why not? It's New York's exclamation point, a cherished symbol of the city and its spirit and an icon to the world.
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
Hi, I'm Brian Lehrer host of the Brian Lehrer show on WNYC, New York Public Radio. New York is a city of icons. Since 1924, WNYC has been an icon of New York's Airwaves. Now I'd like to describe for you an icon of the city skyline, the Empire State Building. Earlier in my life, I volunteered as a reader for the Lighthouse in New York. Today, I'm happy that in this project I can use my voice to help you learn more about an important part of New York's visual culture.
Most New Yorkers know the basics about the Empire State Building, that it was built in 1931, that it's 102 stories tall, that a giant ape climbed it twice in King Kong movies, and that after 9/11 it once again became the tallest building in the city. And most New Yorkers see the Empire State Building in the same way, from a distance, standing elegantly and alone among blocks of much smaller buildings. It's this familiar distant view of the building that I'll describe for you.
The simplest way to describe the Empire State Building is to say that it looks like a giant sharpened pencil pointed straight up at the sky and sitting on a large eraser. It's located at 34th Street and 5th Avenue. Its base, the eraser, takes up about two-thirds of the block between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and 33rd and 34th streets. But this wide base does not rise straight up a hundred two stories. It's only five stories tall. Upon the base and set back from its edges sits the main part of the building that rises against the sky.
The concept of a setback is key to understanding the building's design and how it looks. A setback is when upper sections of a building are recessed or set back from the facade at the ground level. So, because of setbacks a building becomes gradually narrower and recedes gently from the street as it rises higher and higher. In 1924, New York City passed a setback ordinance requiring skyscrapers to incorporate setbacks into their design. The reason was to allow more daylight to reach the sidewalks and street below. So setbacks became a common feature of buildings in New York City. For the Empire State Building a series of setbacks help make the huge building appear light and graceful. The setback atop the base rises about 25 stories where another setback begins the bulk of the tower, about 45 stories. Then two small setbacks above this section, one above the other, make the building even narrower. Finally, the building is topped by a tower that looks like a rocket ship ready to blast off. Originally the building was to have a flat roof. The tower was added as a mooring mast for passenger blimps flying to Manhattan. The blimp plan didn't turn out to be feasible. But soon the tower found another use. It became a support for a 200-foot transmitting tower used by New York radio and television stations including my station WNYC FM.
The exterior style of the Empire State Building is Art Deco, a term applied to a design movement for art and architecture that was popular between the two World Wars. Art Deco buildings were buildings of the future, sleek, vertical, and dramatic with little ornamentation. Like many Art Deco skyscrapers the exterior of the Empire State Building is mostly constructed of limestone quarried in Indiana. The limestone is a very light gray and in color. Long columns of windows that look like vertical stripes rise, the full length of the building sides. These columns of windows contain spandrels, decorative rectangular panels that fill the space between the top of one window and the bottom of the next. The spandrels are dark gray in color. Between the columns of windows are structural elements called mullions. The mullions are dividers, stripes of shiny aluminum separating the columns of windows. The mullions stand out brightly and add to the towers vertical feeling.
Finally, I have to mention the lights, an important part of how the Empire State Building looks today. The top of the building was first lit for the country's Bicentennial celebration in 1976, and it quickly became a tradition. Today the Empire State lights up almost every night of the year from dusk to midnight. There are colored light displays for various holidays, holy days, and sports and civic celebrations.
The Empire State Building has been designated a New York City landmark and a national landmark. Millions of people visit it every year and enjoy the view from its open air observation deck on the 86th floor. In 2007, the architects of the US polled Americans about their favorite buildings in the country. The Empire State Building was number one. And why not? It's New York's exclamation point, a cherished symbol of the city and its spirit and an icon to the world.