Look Up: Louis Sullivan's Only New York Skyscraper

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Louis Sullivan, a Chicago-based architect working in the late 1800s and early 1900s was a student of the eccentric Frank Furness and later the mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright. He's called the "father of the skyscraper" (he designed both the St. Louis Union Trust and original Chicago Stock Exchange) and yet he designed only one building in New York. The NYC Landmarks Commission designated the 13-story 1897 Bayard-Condict Building at 65 Bleecker Street a historic site in 1975, albeit too late to save its original facade. It was neglectfully modified over the years, but the rest of the building was beautifully restored in 2001, and the floors above the street level remain as originally designed. The next time you're at the corner of Bleecker and Crosby, do yourself a favor: look straight up and enjoy the best example of the proto-skyscraper NYC has to offer.

While Sullivan was credited with coining the term “form follows function”, (which his modern disciples use to justify ever more minimalist claddings and geometries), Sullivan’s buildings themselves were often characterized by vast amounts of decorative ornament, and 65 Bleecker is no exception. The terra-cotta decorations draw attention up the façade, emphasizing the strong vertical nature of this early tall building and visually reinforcing the new mode of steel construction concealed beneath them. Finally, the building is capped by winged angels that seem to spread to support the huge cantilevered cornice. This building still defines the essence of tall buildings, even in its miniscule height in comparison to today’s standards.

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Looking west from Lafayette Street.

Detail of the frieze above lobby entrance.

Detail of artwork at 65 Bleecker.

Look up!

Looking north on Crosby Street.

View of column from sidewalk on north side of Bleecker Street.