New York Architecture Images-

The style ranges from picturesque Second Empire buildings to monumental structures with columns and arches several stories high.

Drawn from the architecture of 15th- through 17th-century Italy, France and England. On this side of the Atlantic, Italian palazzi, French chateaux, and English clubs became the stylistic image for banking institutions, super town houses, clubs and government buildings, and even mercantile establishments (cf. the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and many of SoHo s cast-iron loft buildings). Proselytized through the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the Beaux Arts style, from about 1890 to 1920, inflated classical allusions to truly supergrandiose proportions, as at Grand Central Terminal, the Custom House at Bowling Green, and the New York Public Library.

The term Beaux-Arts is French for �Fine Arts� and has come to define the architecture that emerged roughly between 1880 and 1930. The advent of Beaux-Arts coincided with similar movements of the time, such as the Progressive Era, the City Beautiful Movement, the Edwardian Era, and the Belle Epoque. Though Beaux-Arts may often be recognized as an architectural style imitating the classic forms of the Ancient and Renaissance worlds, many would argue that it is more of a manner of architectural execution and finish. (Due to this confusion over nomenclature, the word style will be placed in quotations.)

One often hears the �style� dubbed the �Ecole des Beaux-Arts.� This denotation actually refers to a school in Paris called the �Ecole Nationale Sup�rieure Des Beaux-Arts.� This school, formed in 1819, was nothing more than a government-run school of the arts. However, its significance reached far beyond the walls of the school, as the architects trained there would be responsible for the creation of an architectural style/era/manner of execution named after the school.

Historically, New York City has always shared connections with Paris. The Huguenots immigrated in the early 17th century, and later, with the French Revolution and rise to power of Napoleon, great Roman Catholic families would also become New Yorkers. As such, French style and culture have always been the aspirations of the upper and middle class city dwellers. And so, what more appropriate architecture could have dominated New York other than Beaux-Arts?

Also, during the Beaux-Arts era, New York City was aiming to elevate itself to the same level as other great cities in the world, such as London and Paris; however, it was competing with cities that had hundreds of year more of established history. Beaux-Arts provided the perfect means to demonstrate that New York was as important as any other city. Great Beaux-Arts banks and skyscrapers would attract investors by showing their stability, while museums, libraries, theaters, and other buildings would validate New York�s established culture.

Lowe, David Garrard. Beaux Arts New York. Whitney Library of Design: New York (1998).

Reed, Henry Hope; Gillon, Edmund V. Jr. Beaux-Arts Architecture in New York: A Photographic Guide.
Dover Publications: Mineola (1988).