B. Altman and Company Building
- Architect
- Trowbridge & Livingston
- Year
- 1906
- Style
- Renaissance Revival
- City
- Manhattan, NY
The B. Altman and Company Building was the flagship department store of B. Altman and Company, occupying a full city block on Fifth Avenue directly across from the Empire State Building. Designed by Trowbridge & Livingston in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, it opened in stages between 1906 and 1914 as Altman's led the first big department store move from the Ladies' Mile shopping district to a then-residential Fifth Avenue. The store closed in 1989 and stood vacant until a 1996 renovation. It is a designated New York City Landmark.
the building
Limestone and brick facade. Most of the building rises eight stories in French limestone, but the Madison Avenue end climbs to thirteen stories, with its upper floors and much of that side faced in white brick instead. A large arcade with a two-story colonnade base runs across the facade.
the style
Trowbridge & Livingston designed the store in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, giving a full city-block department store the arcaded, colonnaded dignity of an Italian palazzo.
More on Renaissance Revivalthe architect
Trowbridge & Livingston designed the building, completed in stages between 1906 and 1914.
significance
The building is a designated New York City Landmark and marked Altman's pioneering move of a major department store from the Ladies' Mile district to Fifth Avenue.
nearby
- Knox Building
- Engineers' Club Building
- Gorham Building
- New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations
- Joseph Raphael De Lamar House
- 275 Madison Avenue Building