Chanin Building

Identification

Map

Structure in general

Usage

Facts

• 3rd tallest building in the world, when it was completed.
• Chanin himself had his own offices on the 50th and 51st floors of the tower that were famous for a theater and an award-winning bathroom.
• To attract tenants, the owner provided centralized services at the base of the building including an underground connection to Grand Central Terminal and ground-floor commercial spaces.
• A movie theater and a subterranean bus terminal were included in the original project but no longer remain.
• Above the base, the tower's steel frame is clad in buff brick and terra cotta and it is set back in conformance with the 1916 Zoning Law.
• At the top, the skyscraper is capped by a dramatic crown that was once illuminated at night.
• Inside the lobby, the walls are decorated with reliefs by set-designer Jacques Delamarre and Renee Chambellan that represent "The City of Opportunity" and "The Active Life of the Individual," the latter perhaps a reference to Chanin's own rise to power and wealth.
• The facade illustrates the introduction of colored glass, stone and metal on the exterior of tall buildings.
• In contrast to its neighbor, Grand Central Terminal, the Chanin Building's Art Deco facade represents a turn away from the Beaux Arts style towards a more humanistic and modern imagery appropriate to the industrial age.
• Built as a monument to Irwin S. Chanin (see Irwin S. Chanin), a graduate of Cooper Union who became a major New York developer of the 1920s.