Althouse: That building.

October 16, 2007

That building.

Is it uncomfortable standing there like that for so long?

20 comments:

ricpic said...: Cast iron built, they built 'em strong,
Those downtown mini-scrapers;
Now they're filled with uptown thong
Wearing respectability escapers.; 10/16/07, 9:26 AM
Trooper York said...: I think my favorite thing to do in Manhattan is to go to Chinatown and pull down the uptown thong. It's a lot hotter than the downtown bloomers.; 10/16/07, 9:56 AM
Anonymous said...: Neat building! Looks to be only about 20' wide(?). Anyone know the name of it?; 10/16/07, 9:58 AM
Bissage said...: Is it uncomfortable standing there like that for so long?

Yes and lonesome, too, but it’s all for the greater good for there are powerful reasons why a building like that cannot congregate with others of its kind.; 10/16/07, 11:21 AM
Maxine Weiss said...: It's only uncomfortable if the building has unrealistic expectations.

If the building tries too hard, or is quite transparent in its machinations, then of course, said building will have a problem.

If the building tries to make decisions for others....say...and the other buildings feel the burden of complying with those decisions.

No building has the right to lay such heavy burdens on another.

Love, Maxine; 10/16/07, 11:28 AM
Vanessa said...: It's 487 Broadway on the corner of Broome and Broadway. Here's some more photos http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/soho_broome_street; 10/16/07, 11:30 AM
Trooper York said...: Robin: Holy Frank Lloyd Wright Batman! The Catwoman’s elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top!
(Batman TV Show 1966); 10/16/07, 11:31 AM
Anonymous said...: Thanks Vanessa!; 10/16/07, 11:37 AM
Steven said...: Berenice Abbott took a photo from about the same spot in 1935.

http://www.mcny.org/collections/abbott/a004.htm; 10/16/07, 12:05 PM
ron st.amant said...: It's disgusting how thin buildings can wear any type of window.; 10/16/07, 12:20 PM
Joaquin said...: Except for the cars and lighting fixtures, not much has changed since 1935.; 10/16/07, 2:04 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Steven: Thanks! Wow! interesting to compare. I think there is a whole issue about how much light to leave to the left of the building. My approach was to heighten the sense of unease that the building is too thin. Abbot has the fire escapes on the buiding to the left touching the building and giving it a sense of connection.; 10/16/07, 2:45 PM
Bissage said...: Sure . . . sure, but both Abbott and Althouse chose to frame their shots to exclude the building’s oddest feature.; 10/16/07, 3:00 PM
Palladian said...: I used to live on the corner of Broome and Crosby Streets, and saw that building through my windows every day.; 10/16/07, 3:41 PM
blake said...: Bissage--

One of Gilliam's best.; 10/16/07, 3:42 PM
KCFleming said...: "Abbot has the fire escapes on the buiding to the left touching the building and giving it a sense of connection."
Artist's visions are fascinating to me. They see the world entirely differently than my own blunt eyes perceive.

My wife and son are both artists. their sense of color and composition and judgement about what works, like yours, is mysterious and gratifying.

At times, museums especially, I feel like I have some sort of birth defect. A limp amongst sprinters.; 10/16/07, 5:00 PM
Ralph L said...: Is the building on the left really that red?; 10/16/07, 5:07 PM
nrn312 said...: I can that.; 10/16/07, 7:11 PM
joyce said...: Seems like a lot of big cities have one just like it. Its called the flatiron building in Fort Worth, and the Mills building in El Paso.; 10/16/07, 8:12 PM
Bissage said...: Right you are, Blake.

But I admit the first time I saw it I was kind of baffled.; 10/16/07, 10:28 PM