New York
Architecture Images-Soho Roosevelt Building Landmark |
|
architect |
Richard Morris Hunt |
location |
478-482 Broadway |
date |
1873 |
style |
Art Nouveau |
construction |
Cast Iron Facade |
type |
Office Building |
|
|
notes |
A commercial
building located on the site of the former home and office of one of the
Roosevelts, Hunt's iron loft building was meant to generate income for the
hospital established in honor of Roosevelt. Built as a speculative office
building and without a company image, it is unusual for the district. The
building has large areas of glass on the facade and a structural treatment
expressed at the corners and main support areas of the building. Small
French-styled ornamental grillwork provides some detail on one of the last
structures erected during the cast-iron era.
The 1874 Roosevelt
Building at 478 Broadway is one of the most significant iron–front
buildings in the world. Its architect, Richard Morris Hunt, later built
mansions for the Vanderbilts, the massive pedestal of the Statue of
Liberty, and in 1895, the Fifth Avenue portion of the Metropolitan
Museum. The first American to be trained at the Ecole de Beaux–Arts, he
combined a knowledge of construction methods and the use of metal with
an artist’s sensibility in designing this commercial structure. Hunt
once said that he used metal and glass to create a front that would
serve as an immense window for the interior. On this significant
site had stood the home of James Henry Roosevelt, great–uncle to
President Theodore. Following his death in 1863, his estate donated the
house and its adjacent lot to Roosevelt Hospital, which decided to erect
two commercial structures to provide revenue. At the time, the area now
called SoHo was becoming the fabric center of the city, and throughout
the history of the building, it has housed various firms involved in
textile wholesaling and the garment trade. |
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