America's Lost Classical Architecture

having been founded about 250 years ago the united states of america is a relatively young country in line with this it's also got a fairly modern image in terms of architecture exemplified in the gleaming skyscrapers of its great cities but on a closer inspection many of these skyscrapers are in fact built in traditional styles and you could see that they make up the tip of the iceberg of america's rich classical tradition from the monumental architecture of washington dc to quaint country houses and regional revivalist styles the united states has a lot to offer even so some of its greatest works of classical architecture have unfortunately been lost and in this video i'm going to be showcasing a few of them [Music] in the late 19th century chicago was growing at a rapid pace and many of the city's public buildings quickly became used beyond their intended capacity one such case was the structure known as the united states custom house courthouse and post office it had only been erected in 1880 but since the city's population more than doubled in the next decade it was demolished in 1896 to make way for its successor this was the chicago federal building designed by local architect henry iv's cobb it was constructed over a steel frame with exterior walls of brick and was sheathed with 500 000 square feet or 46 000 square meters of grey granite from maine laid out in the shape of a greek cross it featured corinthian porticos in each direction and was capped by a 100 feet or 30 meter tall guilt dome in total the building was 16 stories tall on the inside it was richly decorated and the four wings met under the dome to form an octagonal rotunda which was actually larger than the one in the united states capital having been finished in 1905 the chicago federal building would eventually meet its end in 1965 when it was demolished the site is now occupied by the federal plaza designed by ludwig me sivandero in the international style [Music] in 1896 the wealthy singer corporation best known as manufacturer of suing machines decided to build its new headquarters at the northwestern corner of liberty street and broadway in new york city the 10-story tile building was made in the elegant bozar style with a facade of stone and red brick and was topped by a mansard roof although an impressive building it'd be turned into a true icon through an addition made between 1906 and 1908. its architect ernest flagg was brought back to design a tower which would give the structure a total of 41 stories and at a height of 612 feet or 187 meters it'd become the tallest building in the world flag deplored how modern skyscrapers grew upward from the very edge of their plots making narrow ravines of the city streets below thus he decided that the tower should be set back from the street giving the building its unconventional narrow shape its top included a 50 foot or 15 meter tall dome capped by a lantern where visitors could pay the equivalent of 14 in today's value to enjoy views of the city especially noteworthy was also the lavishly decorated lobby which was said to exude quote celestial radiance but the singer building was only the world's tallest for about a year losing the position in 1909 by the 1960s the singer corporation had decided to move out of the old building and its small floors made it unappealing for redevelopment at the time thus in 1968 it gained a new record becoming the tallest building ever to be demolished since its completion in 1973 the site has been occupied by one liberty plaza [Music] another of new york's great lost landmarks is pennsylvania station originally opened in 1910 the vast structure was widely praised for its majestic architecture and in its heyday it served 100 million people a year traveling to and from the city by rail it featured an imposing facade of granites equipped with sturdy doric columns the main waiting room was inspired by the baths of caracalla in ancient rome and was the largest indoor space in the city covering one and a half city blocks it was clad in travertine marble and drenched in sunlight through its great vaulted windows soaring 150 feet or 45 meters above the chamber the concourse by contrast was made up of a forest of undecrated steel columns expressing its utilitarian function trains surround through tunnels and were therefore by necessity driven by electricity instead of coal it also made use of an innovative vertical layout in which inbound and outbound trains were stacked to prevent congestion the man who envisioned this temple to transportation was alexander cassatt the president of the pennsylvania railroad company up until the early 20th century they lacked direct access to new york with the lines terminating on the opposite banks of the hudson river this problem was finally solved by the construction of underground tunnels allowing them to reach the city and to construct this grand terminal designed by mckim mead and white one of the country's leading architectural firms it was intended as a monument for the aegis but it would only last for about 50 years the decline in passenger traffic following world war ii made it increasingly unprofitable and despite public backlash the building was demolished in 1966 its underground concourses were then remodeled into the modern pennsylvania station while madison square garden and pennsylvania plaza were built above [Music] the city hall of san francisco stands as an impressive example of the beauty and grandeur advocated in early 20th century urban planning but when it was built in the 1910s it actually succeeded an earlier even grander building the old city hall was a massive structure covering two blocks and inspired by france's opulent second empire style rising above its meandering facade were five separate towers and a giant dome topped with a gleaming statue holding a torch in front of it stood the pioneer monument now moved to a different location and there was also a separate dome structure called the hall of records the complex was designed by canadian architect augustus laver and stood more or less completed in 1899 after 27 years of planning and construction it had by then gone far over budget and the project was tainted by corruption and incompetence it had also taken much longer to build than planned because the city refused to take loans meaning that construction stopped whenever they were short on money furthermore the quality of the building was highly questionable and parts of it had begun to break even before it was finished as a final bad omen it was constructed over the city's first cemetery the resting place of over 8 000 dead who had to be moved when the 1906 san francisco earthquake hits the building came crumbling down having stood finished for just seven years damaged beyond repair it was replaced by the current city hall built a few blocks away

Channel: Kings and Things

Views: 121,681

Rating: 4.9573259 out of 5

Keywords: classical architecture, historic architecture, roman architecture, ancient rome, american history, new york, chicago, san francisco, neoclassical, baroque, empire style, beaux arts, skyscraper, early skyscraper, modern architecture, international style, lost architecture, demolished buildings, earthquake, 1906 San Francisco earthquake, mansion, luxury, expensive house, real estate, gilded age, belle epoque, 19th century, 1900, 1910s, edwardian, victorian, penn station

Id: rxSWli7sy6U

Length: 7min 50sec (470 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 25 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/ElizabethGlass]

Nice! Sometimes people forget we have awesome stuff here too!

[u/Zozorrr]

Neo-Classical.