Review by Choice Review
Detailing the construction of the Chrysler Building in New York City, this fascinating book presents a unique collection of more than 100 photographs created between 1928 and 1930 by the commercial studio of Peyser & Patzig. Real estate developers routinely commission commercial photographers to document the progress of construction. Deemed of little value once a building is completed, the photographic record typically is discarded. In a brief preface, Stravitz, a product designer and photo collector, describes how he rescued this archival material from certain destruction. The Chrysler Building is an important contribution to a growing body of literature based on original archival material documenting the history of New York City's Art Deco skyscrapers. Examples include Daniel M. Abramson's Skyscraper Rivals (CH, Oct'01) and Building the Empire State, ed. by Carol Willis (1998). The quality of the black-and-white photographs is very good. Most are reproduced as full-page images with several panoramic views included in a large fold-out format. In addition to its obvious value for architectural historians, this book will appeal to anyone interested in documentary photography or urban street life in New York City. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. D. P. Doordan University of Notre Dame
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
With images of the destruction of the World Trade Center towers seared into our collective consciousness, it is a joy to behold the birth of a skyscraper: the daring Chrysler Building, a bold and sexy emblem of hope when it was erected during the Great Depression, and now a symbol of survival and pride. The fact that this handsome book exists at all is testimony to the brighter side of fate. After product designer Stravitz began taking photographs in 1979, he visited an elderly photographer who was closing his studio and selling his equipment. When Stravitz inquired about a stack of boxes, the photographer assured him the old negatives they contained were of no interest; but to the contrary, Stravitz discovered hundreds of photographs of New York City during the twenties and thirties, including, most amazingly, more than 150 that document every stage of the rapid construction of the Chrysler Building. Briefly but informatively introduced, these dramatic black-and-white street scenes, city vistas, and architectural details portray this once controversial, now precious building as the grand work of art it truly is. --Donna Seaman
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
While buying some equipment from an elderly photographer, Stravitz, a designer and product developer who holds more than 100 patents and 400 copyrights, stumbled onto a collection of negatives taken by the commercial and industrial photographers Peyser & Patzig that chronicled the construction of the Chrysler Building, the art deco masterpiece on New York City's 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Introduced by New York Times "Streetscapes" columnist Christopher Grey, these 170 duotones-some lush and some grainy-begin with the lot's nondescript previous building, which was demolished by 1928, and continue through the massive girding of the uncompleted tower, swarmed over by teams of bricklayers and captured in long shots as it neared being "ready for occupancy in the Spring of 1930" (as one billboard reads)-a year or so ahead of the rival Empire State Building. Images of offices with stiff-looking bureaucrats and deluxe interior shots of marble, chrome and frescos top things off. The photos are catalogued in the back, leaving them uncluttered by extraneous text-it's all pure loft and shimmer from the golden age of skyscrapers. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
New York City's Chrysler Building, which was completed just after the 1929 stock market crash, remains one of the most spectacular and recognizable features of the city's skyline. Its shiny stainless steel spire made the building the tallest in the world for a short time and attracted both negative and admiring attention for its "frivolous" Art Deco design. Designer and photo aficionado Stravitz here presents a visual record of the building's construction, as documented by stock photographers of the day, in more than 100 black-and-white images. The 8 10 negatives of these photos were about to be scrapped for silver in 1979 when Stravitz bought and "rescued" them from a retired New Jersey photographer. The full-page plates, identified in the back of the book, are preceded by an introduction by New York Times architectural writer Christopher Gray (Changing New York), who briefly discusses the building's history. A more thorough text would have given the volume further value. Still, the book is packed with visual information about early 20th-century construction and the details of the daily life happening around it. For all New York City libraries and large public libraries.-Carolyn Kuebler, "Library Journal" (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
