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132-615: The Consolidated Edison Building (also known as the Consolidated Gas Building and 4 Irving Place ) is a neoclassical skyscraper in the Gramercy neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City , United States. The 26-story building was designed by the architectural firms of Warren and Wetmore and Henry Janeway Hardenbergh . The building takes up the western two-thirds of the block bounded by 14th Street to

264-554: A New York City designated landmark . The Consolidated Edison Building is in the Gramercy neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City , near Union Square . The land lot spans the entirety of a rectangular city block bounded by Irving Place to the west, 15th Street to the north, Third Avenue to the east, and 14th Street to the south. The site covers 93,778 square feet (8,712.3 m), measuring 420 feet (130 m) wide along 14th and 15th Streets and 206.5 feet (62.9 m) wide along Irving Place and Third Avenue. The building

396-624: A 62-foot-wide (19 m) edifice on the center of the block at 124–128 East 15th Street. By that October, Consolidated Gas had begun relocating its offices into the annex. Consolidated Gas president George B. Cortelyou was the last employee to relocate to the new building, doing so in December 1911. The original headquarters and the Lotos Club house were originally retained as offices, but this soon proved insufficient. By December 1911, Consolidated Gas had modified its plans and wished to replace

528-561: A January evening of the early seventies, Christine Nilsson was singing in Faust at the Academy of Music in New York. Though there was already talk of the erection 'above the forties' of a new Opera House which would compete in costliness and splendour with those of the great European capitals, the world of fashion was still content to reassemble every winter in the shabby red and gold boxes of

660-404: A column of protruding blocks. Few alterations have been made to the facade since the 1920s expansions. The initial structure by Hardenbergh was one of the architect's last designs. The original plans called for a 12-story building with a facade made of limestone . In the original plans, the lowest three levels were to contain storefronts, with double-height segmental arches along the facade of

792-496: A consolidated scheme for city planning for both defence and civil convenience; however, the roots of this scheme go back to even older civilizations. At its most basic, the grid system of streets, a central forum with city services, two main slightly wider boulevards, and the occasional diagonal street were characteristic of the very logical and orderly Roman design. Ancient façades and building layouts were oriented to these city design patterns and they tended to work in proportion with

924-417: A decided failure," complaining about the architecture, interior design and the closeness of the seating; although a follow-up several days later relented a bit, saying that the theater "looked more cheerful, and in every way more effective" than it had on opening night. The Academy's opera season became the center of social life for New York's elite, with the oldest and most prominent families owning seats in

1056-424: A discovery of the genuine classic interior, inspired by the rediscoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum . These had begun in the late 1740s, but only achieved a wide audience in the 1760s, with the first luxurious volumes of tightly controlled distribution of Le Antichità di Ercolano Esposte ( The Antiquities of Herculaneum Exposed ). The antiquities of Herculaneum showed that even the most classicizing interiors of

1188-462: A mere antique revival, drained of all the high-minded ideas and force of conviction that had inspired its masterpieces". High neoclassicism was an international movement. Architects reacted against the excesses and profuse ornament used in Late Baroque architecture . The new "classical" architecture emphasized planar qualities, rather than elaborate sculptural ornament in both the interior and

1320-589: A new impetus to neoclassicism, the Greek Revival. There was little direct knowledge of surviving Greek buildings before the middle of the 18th century in Western Europe , when an expedition funded by the Society of Dilettanti in 1751 and led by James Stuart and Nicholas Revett began serious archaeological enquiry. Stuart was commissioned after his return from Greece by George Lyttelton to produce

1452-664: A new note of sobriety and restraint in public buildings in Britain around 1800 as an assertion of nationalism attendant on the Act of Union , the Napoleonic Wars , and the clamour for political reform. It was to be William Wilkins 's winning design for the public competition for Downing College, Cambridge , that announced the Greek style was to be the dominant idiom in architecture. Wilkins and Robert Smirke went on to build some of

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1584-481: A plush interior, and private boxes in the orchestra, but, perhaps due to newspaper editorials questioning the project's republican values, was consciously somewhat less "aristocratized" than the Astor Opera House had been – there, general admissions were relegated to the benches of a "cockloft" reachable only by a narrow stairway, and otherwise isolated from the gentry below, while in the new theatre many of

1716-549: A power company, and by extension, a provider of light. Rising above the base was a tower that was set back from the street, as required by the 1916 Zoning Resolution . The ornamentation at the tower's peak included urns and obelisks, which were normally associated with funereal aspects, and was modeled after the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus . These decorations memorialize Con Ed workers killed in World War I . The tower section

1848-579: A reaction to the Rococo style can be detected in some European architecture of the earlier 18th century, most vividly represented in the Palladian architecture of Georgian Britain and Ireland . The name refers to the designs of the 16th-century Venetian architect Andrea Palladio . The Baroque style had never truly been to the English taste. Four influential books were published in the first quarter of

1980-525: A showroom for the company. The site had a frontage of 84 feet (26 m) on Irving Place and 155.6 feet (47.4 m) on 15th Street. Plans for a 12-story structure on that site were filed with the Manhattan Bureau of Buildings in December 1910, and the George A. Fuller Company was hired as the general contractor. The first phase of construction, between January and September 1911, entailed erecting

2112-569: A similar bombing at the same site in 1978, which also caused little damage. The Con Edison Energy Museum existed in the building in the late 20th century. The light bulbs on the tower's clock were replaced in 1994. The tower and facade were repaired once again from 1997 to 2001, and the light bulbs on the facade were replaced in 2008. In 2010, it was officially designated a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission . By then,

2244-585: A style that was decelerated with the advent of Modernism . Yet still Neoclassical architecture is beginning to be practiced again in the 21st century more in the form of New Classical architecture and even in Gentrification and Historicism Architecture , the Neoclassical architecture or its important elements are still being used, even when Postmodern architecture is dominant throughout the world. A return to more classical architectural forms as

2376-514: A symbol of British Malta. Other 19th-century neoclassical buildings include the Monument to Sir Alexander Ball (1810), RNH Bighi (1832), St Paul's Pro-Cathedral (1844), the Rotunda of Mosta (1860) and the now-destroyed Royal Opera House, Valletta (1866). Neoclassicism gave way to other architectural styles by the late 19th century. Few buildings were built in the neoclassical style during

2508-634: Is also an important example of Neoclassical architecture along with the islands of Poros and Syros (especially in the capital Ermoupoli ). The earliest examples of neoclassical architecture in Hungary may be found in Vác . In this town the triumphal arch and the neoclassical façade of the Baroque Cathedral were designed by the French architect Isidor Marcellus Amandus Ganneval (Isidore Canevale) in

2640-535: Is an outstanding example of the many Protestant churches that were built in the first half of the 19th century. This was the time of the first iron structures in Hungarian architecture, the most important of which is the Széchenyi Chain Bridge by William Tierney Clark . Although not a western country, due to Western influence Japan has had neoclassical architecture produced in it. This includes

2772-534: Is expressed in the Louis XV style of architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel ( Petit Trianon , 1762–1768); the second phase, in the styles called Directoire and Empire , might be characterized by Jean Chalgrin 's severe astylar Arc de Triomphe (designed in 1806). In England the two phases might be characterized first by the structures of Robert Adam , the second by those of Sir John Soane . The interior style in France

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2904-544: Is officially located at 4 Irving Place, though the building also takes up the lots between 2 and 10 Irving Place. It is near Zeckendorf Towers to the west, Irving Plaza and the Daryl Roth Theatre to the northwest, and Christ Church Lutheran to the north. The site was originally occupied by the Lenape Native Americans until 1651, when a large tract from Bowery (now Fourth Avenue ) to

3036-706: The goût grec ("Greek taste"), not a court style; when Louis XVI acceded to the throne in 1774, Marie Antoinette , his fashion-loving Queen, brought the Louis XVI style to court. However, there was no real attempt to employ the basic forms of Roman furniture until around the turn of the century, and furniture-makers were more likely to borrow from ancient architecture, just as silversmiths were more likely to take from ancient pottery and stone-carving than metalwork: "Designers and craftsmen [...] seem to have taken an almost perverse pleasure in transferring motifs from one medium to another". A new phase in neoclassical design

3168-461: The Baroque , or the most "Roman" rooms of William Kent were based on basilica and temple exterior architecture turned outside in, hence their often bombastic appearance to modern eyes: pedimented window frames turned into gilded mirrors, fireplaces topped with temple fronts. The new interiors sought to recreate an authentically Roman and genuinely interior vocabulary. Techniques employed in

3300-654: The Basilica Cathedral of Arequipa built between 1540–1844 by Lucas Poblete . Brazil , which became the seat of the court of the Portuguese monarchy , gaining independence from its metropolis as the Empire of Brazil , also used the resources of architecture for the glorification of political power, and it was decided to resort to architects trained in the Académie royale d'architecture . To this period belong

3432-480: The Beaux-Arts architecture sparked by the return of massive number of architectural students to the islands from the western schools. It also became a symbol of democracy and the approaching republic during the commonwealth . The centre of Polish-Lithuanian Neoclassicism was Warsaw and Vilnius under the rule of the last Polish king and Lithuanian grand duke, Stanisław August Poniatowski . Vilnius University

3564-618: The Consolidated Edison Building . The Academy of Music has been described as "the first successful dedicated opera house in the United States", but it was not the first building in New York designed specifically for opera. That honor goes to the Italian Opera House built in 1833 by Lorenzo Da Ponte as a home for his new New York Opera Company, which lasted only two seasons before the company

3696-590: The East River between 3rd and 30th Streets was given to New Netherland director-general Peter Stuyvesant . While the Stuyvesant family retained much of their land through the 18th century, some 33 acres (13 ha) of the Stuyvesant estate were bought in 1748 by Cornelius Tiebout, whose widow later passed ownership of the land to her son, Cornelius T. Williams. The current building's site includes land from Stuyvesant, Williams, and auctioneer David Dunham. When

3828-471: The Enlightenment , empiricism , and the study of sites by early archaeologists. Classical architecture after about 1840 must be classified as one of a series of "revival" styles, such as Greek , Renaissance , or Italianate . Various historians of the 19th century have made this clear since the 1970s. Classical architecture during the 20th century is classified less as a revival, and more a return to

3960-644: The National Library of Greece (1888), the third building of the trilogy being the National and Capodistrian University of Athens (1843), which was designed by his brother Christian Hansen . Also he designed the Zappeion Hall (1888). Ernst Ziller also designed many private mansions in the centre of Athens which gradually became public, usually through donations, such the mansion of Heinrich Schliemann , Iliou Melathron (1880). The city of Nauplio

4092-531: The Plaza Hotel near Central Park —demonstrated a "masterful combination of gemuetlichkeit and Classical rigor". The addition was widely lauded for its features. A critic in The New Yorker wrote in 1929 that the addition, "interestingly wedged in between the flanking buildings", included "a sturdy shaft, classic in detail and vigorous in silhouette". The New Yorker writer further explained that

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4224-544: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were Dominik Merlini , Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer , Szymon Bogumił Zug , Jakub Kubicki , Antonio Corazzi , Efraim Szreger , Chrystian Piotr Aigner and Bertel Thorvaldsen . In the Russian Empire at the end of the 19th century, neoclassical architecture was equal to Saint Petersburg architecture because this style was specific for a huge number of buildings in

4356-603: The Renaissance Revival and neoclassical decorations on top. Illumination of the facade was a key part of the Hardenbergh design for the building: lamps were suspended beneath the cornice and on the roofline, and the storefronts at ground level were also illuminated. Even the use of limestone on the facade, instead of brick, was conducive to the illumination, as the limestone reflected the light generated by these lamps. The Real Estate Record & Guide cited

4488-781: The Singer Building and the Plaza Hotel. However, it was still relatively rare for office buildings to be illuminated each night, though such lighting schemes were commonly tested at the premises of power companies. The lighting scheme was scrapped in the 1920s when the Warren and Wetmore tower was built. The design of the 26-story tower at Irving Place and 14th Street was similar to the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower at Madison Avenue and 23rd Street . Two 18-story wings wrapping

4620-638: The Venetian Republic , building one of the first lapidariums in Europe in Verona , in the Doric style (1738). During the same period, neoclassical elements were introduced to Tuscany by architect Jean Nicolas Jadot de Ville-Issey , the court architect of Francis Stephen of Lorraine . On Jadot's lead, an original neoclassical style was developed by Gaspare Maria Paoletti , transforming Florence into

4752-833: The restoration of the Republic and the subsequent stability of the Pax Porfiriana that Mexico saw a significant number of new neoclassical buildings. The Academy of San Carlos saw a renewal of neoclassicism ideals under director Francesco Saverio Cavallari . During the Porfiriato, the predominant architectural taste favored Eclecticism . Buildings such as the Teatro Juárez , Museo Nacional de Arte and Palacio de Bellas Artes , are eclectic buildings that combine different architectural styles and are not solely neoclassical. An important unfinished neoclassical building

4884-410: The 13th story of the building was distinguished by a "transitional" design with small cornices below and above that floor. The 14th through 17th floors contained piers between each recessed bay, which were supported by Ionic pilasters , while a projecting cornice was placed on the 18th floor. Elements of several architectural styles were used, including the Beaux-Arts base, Baroque midsection, and

5016-592: The 1750s. It first gained influence in England and France; in England, Sir William Hamilton 's excavations at Pompeii and other sites, the influence of the Grand Tour , and the work of William Chambers and Robert Adam , were pivotal in this regard. In France, the movement was propelled by a generation of French art students trained in Rome, and was influenced by the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann . The style

5148-782: The 1760s. Also the work of a French architect, Jean-Charles-Alexandre Moreau , is the garden façade of the Esterházy Palace (1797–1805) in Kismarton (today Eisenstadt in Austria). The two principal architects of Neoclassicism in Hungary were Mihály Pollack and József Hild . Pollack's major work is the Hungarian National Museum (1837–1844). Hild is famous for his designs for the Cathedral of Eger and Esztergom . The Reformed Great Church of Debrecen

5280-648: The 18th century in Germany, in what was then Prussia . Karl Friedrich Schinkel built many notable buildings in this style, including the Altes Museum in Berlin. While the city remained dominated by Baroque city planning, his architecture and functional style provided the city with a distinctly neoclassical center. Schinkel's work is very comparable to Neoclassical architecture in Britain since he drew much of his inspiration from that country. He made trips to observe

5412-402: The 18th century which highlighted the simplicity and purity of classical architecture: Vitruvius Britannicus by Colen Campbell (1715), Palladio's I quattro libri dell'architettura ( The Four Books of Architecture , 1715), De re aedificatoria by Leon Battista Alberti (first published in 1452) and The Designs of Inigo Jones... with Some Additional Designs (1727). The most popular

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5544-551: The 19-story building was finished in 1914, Consolidated Gas rented out some of the additional space in the building; at the time, the company did not need to use the entire floor area. Among the tenants were the Dahlstrom Metallic Door Company, which had manufactured the building's doors, partitions and trim. A two-story building at 144 East 15th Street was added in 1915 and was used for showrooms. This showroom measured 22 by 84 feet (6.7 by 25.6 m) and

5676-406: The 1910s. As a result, Hardenbergh designed an expansion for the existing headquarters, which was constructed from 1911 to 1914. This expansion was later incorporated into a larger structure built by Warren and Wetmore between 1926 and 1929. Upon completion, the building's design was lauded by local media, and its "Tower of Light" became a symbol of the local skyline. In 2009, the building was declared

5808-465: The 1970s, the headquarters had 6,000 employees. Con Ed continued to expand into adjacent states, though it still retains its headquarters at Gramercy Park. In 1975, the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña , a Puerto Rican nationalist group, claimed responsibility for a bombing that caused minor damage to the building, but injured no one. The group also claimed responsibility for

5940-406: The 19th floor. By 1928, Consolidated Gas purported to have the world's largest privately owned telephone switchboard , with 60,000 jacks maintained by 75 operators. The building also contains a 6,500-square-foot (600 m) private library for Con Edison, which has existed at the same site since 1906 and had 35,000 books and 380 periodicals by the 1980s. Although the western and eastern sections of

6072-550: The 20-story wing was completed that November. The Tammany Hall building on 14th Street was sold to Joseph P. Day and J. Clarence Davis, of real estate syndicate D&D Company, in December 1927. The society planned to relocate to the nearby 44 Union Square East , which was then under construction. D&D sold the Tammany building again to Consolidated Gas in January 1928. There were allegations that Tammany leaders profited from

6204-713: The 20th century, such as the Domvs Romana museum (1922), and the Courts of Justice building (Valletta) (1965–1971). Neoclassical architecture in Mexico had two main eras, the first was toward the end of Spanish colonial rule and the second phase was during independent Mexico beginning in the mid-19th century. As part of the Spanish Enlightenment 's cultural impact on the Kingdom of New Spain (Mexico),

6336-403: The Academy of Music's opera season was canceled in 1886. In 1888, the Academy began to offer vaudeville. The Drury Lane import The White Heather had a successful 148-performance run for the 1897–98 season. Between 1895 and 1899, Rev. Thomas Dixon Jr. , delivered sermons there. From January 28 to March 1901, a revival of Clyde Fitch 's play Barbara Frietchie appeared there. The venue

6468-437: The Academy through 1878. His company was not the only group active at the opera house during this time. Musicologist George Whitney Martin writes: New York's Academy of Music, from 1854 to 1883 the city's leading house for opera, did not offer a secure base to any opera company. And why? Because it was primarily a real estate venture run by a board of investors seeking the highest rent possible." Other opera companies active at

6600-594: The Academy, including Jaime Nunó 's Havana Italian Opera Troupe and the Max Strakosch Italian Opera Company , the latter of which began performing at the Academy in 1860, only to merge with Maretzek's company in 1868. The Academy hosted several American premieres, including Rigoletto (1855), Il trovatore (1855), La traviata (1856), Roméo et Juliette (1867), Aida (1873), Lohengrin (1874), Die Walküre (1877) and Carmen (1878). The Academy's opera season became

6732-617: The Burns Monument at Alloway (1818) and the Royal High School, Edinburgh (1823–1829). At the same time the Empire style in France was a more grandiose wave of neoclassicism in architecture and the decorative arts. Mainly based on Imperial Roman styles, it originated in, and took its name from, the rule of Napoleon I in the First French Empire , where it was intended to idealize Napoleon's leadership and

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6864-472: The Cercle Français de l'Harmonie began using the Academy as a venue for masked balls, also called "French balls", in which the nouveau riche men of New York society would rub elbows – and other body parts – with semi-dressed prostitutes and courtesans, with little regard for public decorum or modesty. These balls were covered by the press, which did little to dim the enthusiasm or ribald behavior of

6996-669: The Consolidated Edison Building was originally occupied by buildings of various uses, including rowhouses on 15th Street, the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, and the New York University School of Medicine on 14th Street. The Manhattan Gas Light Company purchased land at the southeast corner of 15th Street and Irving Place in 1855, where it erected a Renaissance Revival office structure. Just south of

7128-401: The Department of Buildings in September 1928. The next month, Consolidated Gas bought two houses on Third Avenue, giving the new building an exit on that avenue. After Consolidated Gas acquired the Brooklyn Edison Company in 1928, employees of the Edison Company began relocating to the Consolidated Gas Building in May 1929. The top of the building's tower was first illuminated on July 4, 1929, and

7260-482: The French Empire style . The term "neoclassical" is often used very loosely for any building using some of the classical architectural vocabulary. In form, Neoclassical architecture emphasizes the wall rather than chiaroscuro and maintains separate identities to each of its parts. The style is manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulae as an outgrowth of some classicizing features of

7392-432: The French balls in 1873 in Woodhull and Clafliin's Weekly , complaining that the Academy of Music was being used "for the purpose of debauching debauched women; and the trustees of the Academy know this". Still, it was the opera season that made the Academy the mainstay of social life for New York's " uppertens ", and the oldest and most prominent families owned seats in the theater's boxes. This emblem of social prominence

7524-427: The French state. The style corresponds to the more bourgeois Biedermeier style in the German-speaking lands, Federal style in the United States, the Regency style in Britain, and the Napoleonstil in Sweden. According to the art historian Hugh Honour "so far from being, as is sometimes supposed, the culmination of the Neo-classical movement, the Empire marks its rapid decline and transformation back once more into

7656-405: The Gas Light Company's office was the Academy of Music , New York's third opera house , which opened in 1854. The structure burned down in 1866, destroying the blockfront on 14th Street between Third Avenue and Irving Place. The Academy of Music was rebuilt and continued to serve as an opera site until 1887, when it was turned into a movie theater. The Tammany Hall political organization purchased

7788-403: The Late Baroque architectural tradition. Therefore, the style is defined by symmetry, simple geometry, and social demands instead of ornament. In the 21st century, a version of the style continues, sometimes called New Classical architecture or New Classicism. Neoclassical architecture is a specific style and moment in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that was specifically associated with

7920-426: The Manhattan street grid was laid out with the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 , space was provided for what would become Union Square, one block west of the present-day Consolidated Edison Building, which opened in 1839. To the east of the square, between Fourth and Third Avenues, a community of rowhouses as well as a north–south street called Irving Place were developed by Samuel B. Ruggles . The block now occupied by

8052-428: The Vanderbilts, Morgans, and Rockefellers who were behind the planned new venue, but it was too late to fend them off. The Metropolitan's new opera house at Broadway and 39th Street , twice the size of the Academy, opened in 1883. It contained three tiers of elegant boxes to display the wealth of the city's new economic leaders. The new opera house was an instant success with New York society and music lovers alike, and

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8184-510: The adaptation to the local architectural language, which during previous centuries had made a synthesis or syncretism of European and pre-Columbian elements in the so-called Colonial Baroque. Two more Classical criteria belong, in Chile , the La Moneda Palace (1784–1805) and the Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral (1748–1899), both works by the Italian architect Joaquín Toesca . In Ecuador, the Quito's Palacio de Carondelet (Ecuador's Government Palace) built between 1611–1801 by Antonio García. At

8316-422: The annex was finished by that November. After the completion of this expansion, the building contained 1 million square feet (93,000 m) of floor area, used by 7,000 employees. The ground floor space was rented out to various tenants, including First National City Bank (now Citibank ), which opened a bank branch there in 1928. A 1932 guidebook stated that Consolidated Gas had become the "largest company in

8448-442: The architecture. However, a style of its own was not conceived, but the Classical canon was introduced, not in the form of a replica of buildings from Antiquity, but with a classical predominance and a lot of influence from French Classicism ; which lasted until the 20th century. Like most western tradition, it arrived in the Pacific Archipelagos via rule from New Spain (Mexico) during the period of governance by Mexico City as one of

8580-418: The bells were the second-highest in the world at the time of their installation, behind those of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower . The tower is capped by a bronze lantern which lights up at night; the lantern measures 8 feet (2.4 m) high. The lighting scheme on the tower was first activated in 1929. At the time, the lighting scheme was unusual in that it provided colored light, as opposed to

8712-422: The best preferred architecture in the Spanish East Indies , manifested in churches, civic buildings and one of the popular architectural ornament for newer styled Bahay na bato and Bahay kubo . When the power over the archipelago was transferred from Spain to the United States of America, the style became more popular and developed from slightly simple approach during the Spanish era, to a more ornamented style of

8844-503: The building on 15th Street were built as 19-story structures, the center portion was originally only 12 stories high and could not support the weight of seven extra stories. As such, the 13th through 19th stories are suspended above the center portion of the building via a system of trusses. Above the 19th story of the center section are eight girders , each weighing 27 to 46 short tons (24 to 41 long tons; 24 to 42 t). The girders themselves are anchored to two-story-high steel frames above

8976-465: The building was well integrated into the features of the neighboring structures and employed a good use of setbacks, but that the cornice above the base was slightly offset. Another magazine, The Architect , stated that the design and decorations "made this a building of unusual merit and distinction", while W. Parker Chase wrote in 1933 that the Consolidated Edison Building was among the city's most "beautiful and magnificent structures". The lighting scheme

9108-430: The building's exterior illumination scheme as being "as interesting an example of decorative exterior lighting as has ever been attempted in New York City." Such illumination had been used previously in the city, notably at Luna Park and Dreamland amusement parks at Coney Island , as well as during the 1909 Hudson Fulton Celebration, when illumination was placed on the East River bridges and on major structures such as

9240-449: The building, which was designed by Alexander Saeltzer – who was designing the Astor Library at about the same time, and had previously designed Anshe Chesed Synagogue (now Angel Orensanz Center) – was the world's largest opera venue at the time, with seats for four thousand arranged on five levels (orchestra, parquette, balcony and first, second and third tiers) and an interior height from floor to dome of 80 feet (24 m). It had

9372-486: The buildings and develop his functional style. From the middle of the 18th century, exploration and publication changed the course of British architecture from the Palladian architecture towards a purer vision of the Ancient Greco-Roman ideal. James 'Athenian' Stuart 's work The Antiquities of Athens and Other Monuments of Greece was very influential in this regard, as were Robert Wood 's Palmyra and Baalbec . A combination of simple forms and high levels of enrichment

9504-541: The center of social life for New York's wealthy gentry, but from its inception, the Academy of Music not only presented opera, but also served as a theater, and a meeting and exposition hall for a wide variety of functions, including political rallies, charity balls and science and industry fairs, among other events. In 1860, it was the site of a reception for the Prince of Wales . After the Civil War , an organization called

9636-844: The city. Catherine the Great adopted the style during her reign by allowing the architect Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe to build the Old Hermitage and the Imperial Academy of Arts . Academy of Music (New York City) The Academy of Music was a New York City opera house , located on the northeast corner of East 14th Street and Irving Place in Manhattan . The 4,000-seat hall opened on October 2, 1854. The review in The New York Times declared it to be an acoustical "triumph", but "In every other aspect ...

9768-514: The construction of major neoclassical buildings came to an end as a result of interruptions to the operation of the Academy of San Carlos and economic turmoil caused by the War of Independence. The economic slump was worsened by a succession of wars, including the Spanish reconquest attempts , First French Intervention , First American Intervention and Reform War . It was not until the late 1860s, with

9900-591: The crown established the Academy of San Carlos in 1785 to train painters, sculptors, and architects in New Spain, under the direction of the peninsular Gerónimo Antonio Gil . The academy emphasized neoclassicism, which drew on the inspiration of the clean lines of Greek and Roman architecture, but also, for some monuments, from the Aztec and Maya architectural traditions. The preeminent Neoclassical architect in Mexico

10032-851: The dawn of the independence of Hispanic America, constructive programs were developed in the new republics. Neoclassicism was introduced in New Granada by Marcelino Pérez de Arroyo . Later, in Colombia , the Capitolio Nacional was built in Bogotá between 1848–1926 by Thomas Reed , trained at the Berlin Bauakademie ; the Primatial Cathedral of Bogotá (1807–1823), designed by Friar Domingo de Petrés ; and in Peru

10164-697: The decorative arts, neoclassicism is exemplified in French furniture of the Empire style; the English furniture of Chippendale , George Hepplewhite and Robert Adam , Wedgwood 's bas reliefs and "black basaltes" vases , and the Biedermeier furniture of Austria. The Scottish architect Charles Cameron created palatial Italianate interiors for the German-born Catherine the Great in Saint Petersburg . Indoors, neoclassicism made

10296-411: The entrance would have contained marble arches with backlit panels. When the expanded building design was implemented, the main entrance was moved to Irving Place while the secondary entrance was moved to 15th Street. The Irving Place entrance was given a recessed portico supported by Ionic columns, while the 15th Street entrance was simpler in design. The original 12 stories remained mostly the same, but

10428-436: The eternality of the universe. There are links between Boullée's ideas and Edmund Burke 's conception of the sublime . Ledoux addressed the concept of architectural character, maintaining that a building should immediately communicate its function to the viewer: taken literally, such ideas give rise to architecture parlante ("speaking architecture"). From about 1800 a fresh influx of Greek architectural examples, seen through

10560-574: The exterior. Projections and recessions and their effects of light and shade were more flat; sculptural bas-reliefs were flat and tended to be framed by friezes, tablets or panels. This was the first "stripped down" classical architecture, and appeared to be modern in the context of the Revolutionary period in Europe. At its most elemental, as in the work of Etienne-Louis Boullée , it was highly abstract and geometrically pure. Neoclassicism also influenced city planning. The ancient Romans had used

10692-765: The final years of Hospitaller rule . Early examples include the Bibliotheca (1786), the De Rohan Arch (1798) and the Hompesch Gate (1801). However, neoclassical architecture only became popular in Malta following the establishment of British rule in the early 19th century. In 1814, a neoclassical portico decorated with the British coat of arms was added to the Main Guard building so as to serve as

10824-561: The first Greek building in England, the garden temple at Hagley Hall (1758–59). A number of British architects in the second half of the century took up the expressive challenge of the Doric from their aristocratic patrons, including Joseph Bonomi the Elder and John Soane , but it was to remain the private enthusiasm of connoisseurs up to the first decade of the 19th century. Seen in its wider social context, Greek Revival architecture sounded

10956-761: The forefront of the new school of design was the aristocratic "architect earl", Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington ; in 1729, he and William Kent designed Chiswick House . This house was a reinterpretation of Palladio's Villa Capra "La Rotonda" , but purified of 16th-century elements and ornament. This severe lack of ornamentation was to be a feature of Palladianism. In 1734, William Kent and Lord Burlington designed one of England's finest examples of Palladian architecture, Holkham Hall in Norfolk . The main block of this house followed Palladio's dictates quite closely, but Palladio's low, often detached, wings of farm buildings were elevated in significance. This classicizing vein

11088-645: The former medical school site and built its headquarters building there. Another building on the present Consolidated Edison Building's site, a mansion at 2 Irving Place, served as headquarters for the Lotos Club . In the 1880s, at a time when competition between New York City's gas companies was high, the Manhattan Gas Light Company and several other gas companies combined to become the Consolidated Gas Company. By 1910,

11220-583: The furnishings sold off, with the shell of the building sold to the Mercantile Library Association . It was the demise of the Astor Opera House that spurred New York's elite to build a new opera house in what was then the more genteel neighborhood of Union Square , led by Moses H. Grinnell , who formed a corporation in 1852 to fund the construction of the building, selling shares at $ 1,000 ($ 36,624 in 2023 dollars ) each to raise $ 200,000 ($ 7,324,800 in 2023 dollars ). When finished,

11352-612: The general contractors. Blueprints for a 26-story annex, plus alterations to the existing building, were submitted to the New York City Department of Buildings in October 1926. A set of bells, measuring about 2.5 short tons (2.2 long tons; 2.3 t), was hoisted to the top of the Consolidated Edison Building's clock tower in December 1927. A massive telephone switchboard at the building was dedicated in April 1928, and

11484-477: The ground and second floors. On the middle seven levels, the windows were to be recessed into vertical bays , with each bay containing three windows on each floor. The top two levels were to contain windows that were recessed into the facade, separated by colonettes in the Ionic order , as well as decorated spandrels within the windows. Hardenbergh's original plan called for the main entrance to be on 15th Street;

11616-549: The importance of public buildings. Many of these urban planning patterns found their way into the first modern planned cities of the 18th century. Exceptional examples include Karlsruhe , Washington, D.C., Saint Petersburg, Buenos Aires, Havana, and Barcelona. Contrasting models may be found in Modernist designs exemplified by Brasília , the Garden city movement , and levittowns . The first phase of neoclassicism in France

11748-473: The inauguration of the theatre with Giulia Grisi in the title role and Giuseppe Mario as Pollione headlining the performance and Max Maretzek conducting. The first season's repertoire was ambitious, and included Semiramide and The Barber of Seville by Rossini; Norma and La sonnambula by Bellini; and Don Pasquale , Lucrezia Borgia , La favorita and Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti . Maretzek's company performed an annual season at

11880-490: The medium of etchings and engravings, gave a new impetus to neoclassicism that is called the Greek Revival . Although several European cities – notably Saint Petersburg , Athens , Berlin and Munich – were transformed into veritable museums of Greek revival architecture, the Greek Revival in France was never popular with either the state or the public. Neoclassical architecture became a symbol of national pride during

12012-734: The most important buildings of the era, including the Theatre Royal , Covent Garden (1808–1809), the General Post Office (1824–1829) and the British Museum (1823–1848), Wilkins University College London (1826–1830) and the National Gallery (1832–1838). In Scotland, Thomas Hamilton (1784–1858), in collaboration with the artists Andrew Wilson (1780–1848) and Hugh William Williams (1773–1829) created monuments and buildings of international significance;

12144-527: The most important centre of neoclassicism in the peninsula. In the second half of the century, Neoclassicism flourished also in Turin , Milan ( Giuseppe Piermarini ) and Trieste ( Matteo Pertsch ). In the latter two cities, just as in Tuscany, the sober neoclassical style was linked to the reformism of the ruling Habsburg enlightened monarchs. The shift to neoclassical architecture is conventionally dated to

12276-613: The old structures. The company wanted to erect a new building with 19 stories, including a penthouse. Consolidated Gas bought additional property to the east in June 1912; the purchase was finalized that November, giving the company a lot measuring nearly 300 feet (91 m) wide. The day after the sale was finalized, Hardenbergh filed plans for an addition to the building, costing $ 1.5 million. The relatively new headquarters at 124–128 East 15th Street had not been intended to support additional stories, as Consolidated Gas had erroneously assumed that

12408-445: The original offices at 15th Street proved to be insufficient for the company's operations, and it had opened offices in several other buildings on the block, including the old Lotos Club house. Consolidated Gas hired Henry Janeway Hardenbergh to design a 12-story office building on that site in late 1911. The building was to be erected in two phases to avoid interrupting the company's operations. The architect had previously constructed

12540-407: The participants. One reporter wrote that women were thrown in the air and then sexually assaulted "amid the jeers and laughter of the other drunken wretches on the floor ... [with] not a whisper of shame in the crowd". These spectacles grew in size over the following decades: in 1876, one such ball was attended by over 4,000 people. Feminist editor Victoria Woodhull condemned the sexual hypocrisy of

12672-409: The plain colors expressed by most other buildings' illuminations, and also was powered by electricity rather than gas. When the tower was completed, light beams radiated to the north, west, south, and east, as well as upward. The lights cycled through 21 colors within three minutes When completed in 1914, the original Consolidated Gas Building contained a large auditorium, in addition to a restaurant on

12804-601: The portal of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro made in 1826 and the Imperial Palace of Petrópolis built between 1845–1862. Argentina is another of the countries that seeks to shed its colonial past, but in the context of the reorganization of the country after independence in 1810, an aspect of power was sought that transmitted the presence of the State, inspiring respect and devotion, including of course

12936-569: The preceding decades, to bring what they felt to be a lighter and more elegant feel to Georgian houses. The Works in Architecture illustrated the main buildings the Adam brothers had worked on and crucially documented the interiors, furniture and fittings, designed by the Adams. From about 1800 a fresh influx of Greek architectural examples, seen through the medium of etchings and engravings, gave

13068-491: The regular seats were relatively inexpensive. The stage's proscenium opening was 48 feet (15 m) wide, with 35 feet (11 m) between side-wings, and a depth of 70 feet (21 m) from the footlights to the back wall. The height of the proscenium opening was 30 feet (9.1 m). Its first opera season was from October through December 1854. The Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company was engaged by US actor James Henry Hackett . The company performed Bellini's Norma for

13200-424: The sales, which Tammany leader George Washington Olvany denied. Day, a long-time member of Tammany Hall, eventually agreed to give the $ 70,000 profit from the sale to Tammany. Tammany Hall remained in its old headquarters until July 4, 1928, so it could celebrate the U.S. Independence Day at that location. Immediately afterward, it moved to a temporary space at 2 Park Avenue . Plans for an annex were submitted to

13332-405: The sociable old Academy. Conservatives cherished it for being small and inconvenient, and thus keeping out the ' new people ' whom New York was beginning to dread and yet be drawn to; and the sentimental clung to it for its historic associations, and the musical for its excellent acoustics, always so problematic a quality in halls built for the hearing of music." The Academy and so called opera war of

13464-450: The south, Irving Place to the west, 15th Street to the north, and Third Avenue to the east. It serves as the headquarters of energy company Consolidated Edison , also known as Con Ed. The site formerly contained Tammany Hall and the Academy of Music , as well as the offices of Con Ed's predecessor, Consolidated Gas. The gas company was originally headquartered at 15th Street and Irving Place, but had outgrown its original building by

13596-538: The space was occupied by such tenants as the New York Sports Club , the Apple Bank for Savings , and a Raymour & Flanigan furniture store. The height of the roof is 404 feet (123 m) while the height to the tip of the lantern is 478 feet (146 m). For the structure, the architects worked out a limestone form with its corners clad in mock quoining . Courses of stone were raised to create

13728-464: The structure would be sufficient for the company's needs. As such, a 19-story wing was built on either side of the existing 12-story structure, and seven additional stories were suspended from girders above the existing structure. The first of these girders was installed in August 1913. The building, which ultimately cost $ 2.5 million, housed 2,000 Consolidated Gas employees across five departments. After

13860-408: The style included flatter, lighter motifs, sculpted in low frieze -like relief or painted in monotones en camaïeu ("like cameos"), isolated medallions or vases or busts or bucrania or other motifs, suspended on swags of laurel or ribbon, with slender arabesques against backgrounds, perhaps, of "Pompeiian red" or pale tints, or stone colours. The style in France was initially a Parisian style,

13992-506: The theater's boxes. The opera house was destroyed by fire in 1866 and subsequently rebuilt, but it was supplanted as the city's premier opera venue in 1883 by the Metropolitan Opera House at 1411 Broadway between 39th and 40th Streets – created by the nouveaux riches who had been frozen out of the Academy – and ceased presenting opera in 1886, turning instead to vaudeville . It was demolished in 1926 to make way for

14124-524: The time. It is particularly evident in Dublin , which is a largely neoclassical and Georgian city. After the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece in 1832, the architecture of Greece was mostly influenced by the Neoclassical architecture. For Athens, the first King of Greece, Otto I , commissioned the architects Stamatios Kleanthis and Eduard Schaubert to design a modern city plan. The Old Royal Palace

14256-436: The tower were designed in a similar manner to Hardenbergh's structure. The decoration was similar to that of Hardenbergh's design, but with less detail. The base contained a three-story colonnade with Doric columns. Throughout the Warren and Wetmore section of the building, there is light-inspired ornamentation including depictions of urns, torches, lamps, thunderbolts, and suns. These decorations symbolize Con Ed's function as

14388-547: The unique Hiko Shrine  [ ja ] which is a Shinto shrine based on Greek temples . It later developed into the Imperial Crown Style which contains elements of both Eastern and Western design Roofs are notably distinctly Asian in this style and it was used heavily by the Japanese Empire in its colonies. Neoclassical architecture was introduced in Malta in the late 18th century, during

14520-406: The western and eastern sections of the building; each steel frame consists of eight columns that rise straight from the building's foundation. According to The Washington Post , this effectively created a seven-story building hanging 200 feet above street level. Robert A. M. Stern wrote in 1983 that Hardenbergh's blending of styles for the original building—as used on another of his commissions,

14652-512: The world providing electrical service". Consolidated Gas was incorporated as the Consolidated Edison Company of New York in 1936, and its headquarters were renamed accordingly. The 15th Street facade was reconfigured in 1954, and various components have been replaced and installed over the years. In 1965–1966, the facade was repainted with about 2,000 U.S. gallons (7,600 L) of paint and given an acrylic emulsion . By

14784-916: Was Manuel Tolsá . Neoclassicism in Mexican architecture was directly linked to crown policies that sought to rein in the exuberance of the New Spanish Baroque , and to create public buildings of "good taste" funded by the crown, such as the Palacio de Minería in Mexico City, the Hospicio Cabañas in Guadalajara, and the Alhóndiga de Granaditas in Guanajuato , all built in the late colonial era. Following Independence ,

14916-453: Was Italy, especially Naples , where by the 1730s court architects such as Luigi Vanvitelli and Ferdinando Fuga were recovering classical, Palladian and Mannerist forms in their Baroque architecture. Following their lead, Giovanni Antonio Medrano began to build the first truly neoclassical structures in Italy in the 1730s. In the same period, Alessandro Pompei introduced neoclassicism to

15048-577: Was adopted by the majority of contemporary British architects and designers. The revolution begun by Stuart was soon to be eclipsed by the work of the Adam brothers , James Wyatt , Sir William Chambers , George Dance the Younger , James Gandon , and provincially based architects such as John Carr and Thomas Harrison of Chester . In Scotland and the north of England, where the Gothic Revival

15180-627: Was also adopted by progressive circles in other countries such as Sweden and Russia . International neoclassical architecture was exemplified in Karl Friedrich Schinkel 's buildings, especially the Altes Museum in Berlin, Sir John Soane 's Bank of England in London and the newly built White House and Capitol in Washington, D.C. of the nascent American Republic . The style was international. The Baltimore Basilica , which

15312-578: Was also detectable, to a lesser degree, in the Late Baroque architecture in Paris, such as in the Louvre Colonnade . This shift was even visible in Rome at the redesigned façade for Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran . By the mid-18th century, the movement broadened to incorporate a greater range of classical influences, including those from Ancient Greece . An early centre of neoclassicism

15444-645: Was also praised. In the 1939 WPA Guide to New York City , workers for the Federal Writers' Project called the lighting scheme one of the city's "welcome landmarks", while in 1981, The New York Times described the Tower of Light as one of the "crowns of light" decorating the Manhattan skyline. Notes Citations Sources Neoclassical architecture The development of archaeology and published accurate records of surviving classical buildings

15576-558: Was another important centre of Neoclassical architecture in Europe, led by the notable professors of architecture Marcin Knackfus , Laurynas Gucevičius and Karol Podczaszyński . The style was expressed in the shape of main public buildings, such as the Vilnius University Astronomical Observatory , Vilnius Cathedral and the town hall . The best-known architects and artists, who worked in

15708-414: Was crucial in the emergence of Neoclassical architecture. In many countries, there was an initial wave essentially drawing on Roman architecture, followed, from about the start of the 19th century, by a second wave of Greek Revival architecture . This followed increased understanding of Greek survivals. As the 19th century continued, the style tended to lose its original rather austere purity in variants like

15840-608: Was designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe in 1806, is considered one of the finest examples of neoclassical architecture in the world . A second neoclassic wave, more severe, more studied and more consciously archaeological, is associated with the height of the First French Empire . In France, the first phase of neoclassicism was expressed in the Louis XVI style , and the second in the styles called Directoire and Empire . Its major proponents were Percier and Fontaine , court architects who specialized in interior decoration. In

15972-620: Was designed by Thomas W. Lamb . It served as a venue for rock concerts in the 1960s and early 1970s, with its name being changed to " The Palladium " by promoter Ron Delsner in September 1976. In 1985, it was converted into the Palladium nightclub, designed by Arata Isozaki . The theater was bought and demolished by New York University , and replaced by the present Palladium Residence Hall, which opened in 2001. The second paragraph of Edith Wharton 's The Age of Innocence reads: "On

16104-583: Was disbanded and the theatre sold. Over a decade later, in 1847, the Isaiah Rogers -designed Astor Opera House opened on Astor Place , only to close several years later after a riot provoked by competing performances of Macbeth by English actor William Macready at the Opera House and American Edwin Forrest at the nearby Broadway Theatre . By May 1853, the interior had been dismantled and

16236-442: Was inaugurated by Robert and James Adam , who travelled in Italy and Dalmatia in the 1750s, observing the ruins of the classical world. On their return to Britain, they published a book entitled The Works in Architecture in installments between 1773 and 1779. This book of engraved designs made the Adam style available throughout Europe. The Adam brothers aimed to simplify the Rococo and Baroque styles which had been fashionable in

16368-552: Was initially a Parisian style, the " Goût grec " ("Greek style") not a court style. Only when the young King Louis XVI acceded to the throne in 1774 did Marie Antoinette , his fashion-loving Queen, bring the Louis XVI style to court. Many early 19th-century neoclassical architects were influenced by the drawings and projects of Étienne-Louis Boullée and Claude Nicolas Ledoux . The many graphite drawings of Boullée and his students depict spare geometrical architecture that emulates

16500-442: Was less strong, architects continued to develop the neoclassical style of William Henry Playfair . The works of Cuthbert Brodrick and Alexander Thomson show that by the end of the 19th century the results could be powerful and eccentric. In Ireland , where Gothic Revival was also less popular, a refined, restrained form of the neoclassical developed, and can be seen in the works of James Gandon and other architects working at

16632-505: Was made of brick and steel. By the 1920s, Consolidated Gas had expanded into the outer boroughs , and there was need for even more office space. In August 1925, the company purchased the Academy of Music, which hosted its last show in May 1926. Consolidated Gas hired Warren and Wetmore , which had previously designed some of the company's branch offices as architects. T.E. Murray, Inc., which built boiler plants and power-generating stations, were

16764-496: Was passed down from generation to generation. The inability of New York's wealthy industrial and mercantile families, including the Vanderbilts, Goulds and Morgans, to gain access to this closed society inspired the creation of the new Metropolitan Opera Association in 1880. The trustees of the Academy belatedly attempted to head off the competition by offering to add 26 new boxes to the 18 the Academy already had, to accommodate

16896-443: Was rented by labor organizations in the early 1900s and used to stage rallies. In 1926, it was demolished, along with its neighbor Tammany Hall , for the construction of the Consolidated Edison Building . On the south side of 14th Street across from the site of the opera house, a movie theatre opened in 1927 which took the name the Academy of Music. It was built as a 3,000-seat deluxe movie palace by movie mogul William Fox , and

17028-504: Was the first important public building to be built, between 1836 and 1843. Later, in the mid- and late 19th century, Theophil Hansen and Ernst Ziller took part in the construction of many neoclassical buildings. Theophil Hansen designed his first building, the National Observatory of Athens , and two of the three contiguous buildings forming the so-called "Athens Classical Trilogy", namely the Academy of Athens (1859) and

17160-439: Was the four-volume Vitruvius Britannicus by Colen Campbell. The book contained architectural prints of famous British buildings that had been inspired by the great architects from Vitruvius to Palladio. At first the book mainly featured the work of Inigo Jones , but the later tomes contained drawings and plans by Campbell and other 18th-century architects. Palladian architecture became well established in 18th-century Britain. At

17292-615: Was the planned Palacio Legislativo Federal by Émile Bénard . Construction was halted by the Mexican Revolution and it was eventually turned into the Monumento a la Revolución . The Neoclassical style arrived in the American empires of Spain and Portugal through projects designed in Europe or carried out locally by European or Criollo architects trained in the academies of the metropolis . There are also examples of

17424-452: Was topped by a "Tower of Light" designed to look like a miniature temple. Just below the pinnacle is a recessed loggia of columns, which are illuminated in various colors at night. Under the columns, the tower includes four 16-foot wide clock faces, one on each side of the building. The tower also contains a set of bells, which strike every quarter-hour and are synchronized with a clock in Washington, D.C. Measuring 400 feet (120 m) high,

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