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Chrysler Building

Architect
William Van Alen
Year
1930
Style
Art Deco
City
Manhattan, NY
Chrysler Building
Photo: Overand, Public domain
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The Chrysler Building at 405 Lexington Avenue is a 1,046-foot Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1930 at the corner of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. It was commissioned and personally funded by Walter Chrysler, head of the Chrysler Corporation, as a real estate investment for his children rather than as a corporate headquarters. The project began under developer William H. Reynolds before Chrysler took it over, and it became the world's tallest building for 11 months, racing rivals 40 Wall Street and the Empire State Building to the title.

the building

Tallest brick building. Despite its steel framework, the Chrysler Building is the tallest brick building in the world, its masonry cladding wrapped around an entirely modern structural skeleton.

A borrowed name, a different address. Though built and named for Walter Chrysler and the Chrysler Corporation, the building never served as the company's headquarters, which remained in Detroit at the Highland Park Chrysler Plant from 1934 to 1996.

the style

The building is a landmark example of Art Deco, the style that defined the era's race for height and modernity. Its 1930 completion places it at the peak of that competitive skyscraper boom, alongside 40 Wall Street and the Empire State Building.

More on Art Deco

the architect

William Van Alen designed the Chrysler Building during the height of New York's skyscraper race, producing one of the era's most recognized Art Deco towers.

significance

The Chrysler Building is a National Historic Landmark and New York City Individual Landmark (LP-00992), also listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the New York State Register of Historic Places, designated on 9/12/1978. As of 2019 it ranked as the 13th-tallest building in the city, tied with The New York Times Building.

nearby

All 413 buildings in Manhattan