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New York
Architecture Images-Seaport and Civic Center 63 Nassau St. |
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architect |
James Bogardus |
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location |
63 Nassau St. |
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date |
1860s |
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style |
Renaissance Revival |
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construction |
Cast Iron Facade |
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type |
Shop |
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images |
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notes |
At 63
Nassau, you will find a very
interesting scaffolding example...just kidding. Actually by some accounts,
this building was built in the 1860s by the cast iron granddaddy, James
Bogardus.
Architecture in the late 1800s, and especially cast iron architecture, is renowned for its detail. Note the two Ben Franklin bas-relief portrait busts. Note the unironic patriotic depiction. In the mid-1800s, and for that matter, on into the 1960s, for better or for worse, the use of patriotic images showing heroes of the past was an accepted, perhaps even expected, part of architecture. The Swingin' Sixties changed everything as authority was questioned more and more. Of late, the pendulum has begun to swing back the other way with entire networks following the government line; maybe it'll swing back the other way at length.The empty space between the Franklins used to have a portrait of George Washington. How or why did he disappear? Sloppy renovation, we suspect. Picture from Cast-Iron Architecture in New York by Margot Gayle and Edmund Gillon. |
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