The 40 Wall Street Building is notable for what it was briefly — the world's tallest building. It was built in 1929 by H. Craig Severance and his assistant Yasuo Matsui. The 40 Wall Street Corporation was formed in 1929 to construct a speculative skyscraper for the anchor tenant, the Bank of Manhattan (Manhattan Company). It was a simple building with crown and spire in French gothic style. In the real estate boom of the late 1920s, many developers sought a public relations angle to promote their buildings. The Woolworth Building then held the title. In 1929, there was a celebrated 'race' to erect the tallest tower in the world. The rival for the title was the Chrysler Building, then under construction in midtown. H. Craig Severance had recently acrimoniously ended his professional partnership with William Van Alen, the architect of the Chrysler Building. The race between the two towers was news. After 40 Wall Street had been topped out, it took the title of the World's tallest building. But the Chrysler building had kept secret its 180-foot aluminum needle spire, which was erected within the tower's fire shaft. The thin needlelike structure was hoisted from inside the tower to bring the height to 1,046 feet, and the title of the world's tallest building went to the Chrysler. Forty Wall opened after the 1929 Stock Market crash, and many tenants reneged on their leases. The building was not fully rented until 1944. In 1992, the ubiquitous Donald Trump bought the nearly empty and decrepit building for a reported $8 million. He renamed it after himself.
Yasuo Matsui
(b. 1883 Japan – d. NY? 1956)
studied at MIT and Berkeley before moving to New York, where he was a draftsman in several prominent architectural offices. He was consulting architect on several important projects during the 1920s and 1930s, including the Manhattan Company Building (1929-30, with H. Craig Severance) and the Starrett-Lehigh Building (1930-31), with Cory and Cory.
William Van Alen
(b. 1881 Brooklyn – d. NYC 1951)
designed the Chrysler building. He attended Pratt Institute and graduated as an architect from the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. In New York, he was a partner of H. Craig Severance. Van Alen was known for his Art Deco designs. He advocated design through steel rather than masonry, which he detested. His 1912 Albermarle building was one of the first skyscrapers designed without cornices. When their partnership broke up and the men raced to build the world's tallest building, Van Alen built the 1929 Chrysler Building and Severance at 40 Wall St. The Chrysler Building was taller, but in 1931, the Empire State building took the title of world's tallest building. In 1936, he built a two-story white home with prefab steel panels that he called 'The house of the Modern Age.' It was displayed at Park Avenue and 39th Street and cost 10 cents to view. At the end of his career, he had abandoned architecture and become a real-estate owner.
H. Craig Severance
(b. 1871 Chazy, NY – d. Neptune, NJ 1941)
was an architect best-known for building 40 Wall Street, which was briefly the tallest building in the world. He studied architecture in America and in France, and began working in New York for his cousin Charles A. Rich, who designed the old World Building in NY. He then worked for Carrere & Hastings, but began his own practice in 1907 with William Van Alen, who was his rival later. After WWI, he surveyed the devastated areas in France and Belgium for the U.S. State Department. In 1929-30, both men raced for the title of tallest building in the world, when Van Alen built the Chrysler Building, and Severance built 40 Wall St. Van Alen eventually won, but in 1931, the Empire State Building became the tallest building in the world.Severance also built the Ruppert Building, the Prudence Building, the Coca-Cola Building, Hotel Taft, and the 50 Broadway Building. He also built in Manhattan: the Davis Collamore Building, 400 Madison Ave and Nelson Tower. He was president of the Bar Building Company, and on his death, was working on a project at the Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, NJ. He is buried in Riverview Cemetery, Brielle, NJ.
|
1) Federal Hall Map [23]
