Sunday, February 15, 2009

Favorite Buildings - McGraw-Hill Building


McGraw-Hill Building
New York City -1931-

The McGraw-Hill Building or aka "Jolly Green Giant" for the era that it was built was a very radical choice in colors.  It is clad in a turquoise green terra cotta, the same color is used on a smaller Art Deco building in Los Angeles that I may also post on.  Art Deco is one of my favorite styles of architecture and I will finally use it on my next structure.
McGraw-Hill no longer resides in this building but like the Chrysler Building it still carries the moniker it was born with.  


6 comments:

David Thompson said...

The McGraw-Hill Building is fantastic and I love that it still carries its original name. The curved panels at the entrance are my favourite part.

Christopher said...

David,
Thanks for the visit, and I checked out your blog briefly and I must say I am surprised of all the examples of Art Deco in Australia. There are some great items that I will use as reference for my models. Thanks

Anonymous said...

The building in LA you are referring to, I believe, is the Wiltern Theatre at Wilshire and Western. There are some fantastic Deco hi-rises all along Wilshire along the Miracle Mile and of course closer to downtown.

I moved back to NYC about 5 years ago and McGraw Hill is one of my faves. I particularly like the photo juxtaposing McGraw Hill with the old el station. Reminds me a bit of the feel of "Blade Runner," where a bright shining future supposedly grows out of a dying/decayed past.

I am in the planning stages of a freelanced industrial switiching layout based on the ones that ran along the Brooklyn waterfront in the 30's and I hope to achieve this kind of vibe.

Christopher said...

Jeff,
I had never herd of the Wiltern before and WOW! That is one amazing structure. I had been looking for a attractive theater to eventually add to my yet to be built layout. But the building I was thinking of is the LA Jewelry Center which shares many similar design elements.
I have some plans that I got from the Library of Congress website of a massive navel warehouse in Brooklyn, but that would be a very fun area to model. Keep me up to date on your progress and don't hesitate to ask any questions

Thanks
Chris

Oh, and Blade Runner is one of the greatest films of all time.

Anonymous said...

Chris:

Progress is being measured in painfully slow increments these days. Got the spare room readied, new work table going in today and then I hope to get some modeling projects underway before long. Oh well, "a journey of a thousand miles still begins with a single step." Cheers.

Christopher said...

Jeff,
I honestly have no idea when I will have the space/money to build my layout, so until then I will continue to do structures.