Contrary to popular belief, the Flatiron Building was never the tallest building in the world or even the tallest building in New York. These titles belonged to the slightly older Park Row Building, built in 1899. However, it was the first triangular skyscraper ever constructed and because of its unique shape and prominent location, the Flatiron quickly became one of the most recognized and enduring symbols of New York City.
Here are the facts you ought to know:
– designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham
– style: Beaux-Arts
– height: 307 ft (93 meters)
– floors: 21
– construction started in 1901
– completed in 1902 (in just about 1 year)
OTHER FACTS:
Built as the headquarters of the Fuller Construction company, the skyscraper was meant to be named Fuller Building. The Fuller Company was an initial occupant of the building and stayed there until 1929 when it moved to a taller, 40-story skyscraper at 41-45 East 57th Street and Madison Avenue (that structure is still known as the Fuller Building)
The name “Flatiron” derives from its resemblance to an old-fashioned cast-iron clothes iron. However, the triangular region contained by Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and 22nd and 23rd Streets had in fact been known as the “Flat Iron” prior to the building’s construction.
Ironically, the Flatiron Building is not an isosceles triangle like a real flatiron, but a right triangle.
The 21st floor originally housed a restaurant and an observation deck.
The building’s bathrooms are apportioned such that the men’s rooms are on even floors and the women’s rooms on odd ones.
The Flatiron Building measures only 6.5 ft (2 m) across the narrow end. The Broadway front is 190 feet wide, The Fifth Avenue front is 173 feet wide, and the 22nd Street side is just short of 87 feet wide.
It is situated near Madison Square at the end of the Ladies’ Mile, one of Manhattan’s most important shopping districts at the turn of the 19th century.
During construction, the Flatiron Building was nicknamed “Burnham’s Folly as many critics believed that the structure would be unstable and was destined to fall over in a high wind. Bets were placed on how far the building’s debris could be found after the wind toppled it.
Although no wind managed to topple the building, the Flatiron’s vertical face did intensify wind gusts at ground level. The winds by the building on 23rd Street would catch women’s skirts and raise them, exposing what was then a daring view of female ankles and legs. In 1905 Crescent Films made a titillating docu-drama entitled The Flatiron Building on a Windy Day, that “gives one a general idea of what women experience on a windy day around this noted corner,” according to a film catalog of the day. A multitude of young men would position themselves on 23rd Street to watch the notorious spectacle. WATCH VIDEO FROM 1905:
In January 2009, The Sorgente Group S.p.A., an Italian real estate investment firm based in Rome, acquired a majority stake (just over 50 percent) in the Flatiron Building. Sorgente plans to convert the office building into a unique, world-class luxury hotel. Although the zoning does allow the building to be used as a hotel, the current tenants’ leases don’t run out until about 2020.
The value of the building itself was estimated (in 2009) to be $190 million.
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