How about a little love for this handsome Midtown Manhattan skyscraper?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Astor_Plaza
This skyscraper has an interesting lineage- it was designed by Kahn and Jacobs, the same architectural firm who designed One Penn Plaza, and the resemblance is there, in those vertical pinstripes. Specifically Der Scutt of Kahn and Jacobs, who later went on to design Trump Tower.
Now, One Astor caught some flak for its unique design, mainly that awesome spiky crown- It was one of the first, if not the first skyscrapers to break a sacred dogma of international design, namely the ban on applied symbolism. It also broke away from the flat roofed international style, and together with Citicorp in 1977, heralded the return of the skyscraper's crown.
Some other interesting tidbits- this handsome skyscraper also has two theaters on site (Well, it DOES live in the Times Square/Theater district!)
This poor thing was also the target of the infamous failed Times square bombing plot- Thank heavens that failed! It was suspected that the bombing attempt had something to do with the building's major tenant, Viacom, which is responsible for South Park, among other things.
Here's some reading on the architect:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Scutt
And here's the building's official website:
http://1515broadway.slgreen.com/
I'll finish off this One Astor love-fest with some pics I took while I was in NYC:
http://ladyamanita.deviantart.com/ar...y-up-300780095
One note- the vertical fins on this skyscraper run all the way down to the street in some places- I remember my local friend and I hanging out in the alley between this skyscraper and one of its neighbors. My friend says "I'm gonna hug one of Astor's fins!" and proceeded to playfully wrap her arms around it. I joined in too, and that skyscraper got what was perhaps its first ever group hug! I can't remember exactly how much of that fin we managed to get our arms around, lol!
http://ladyamanita.deviantart.com/ar...ding-300782021
http://ladyamanita.deviantart.com/ar...lare-300783050
Anyone else have some One Astor photo-love they would like to share?