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General Electric Building ยท 570 Lexington Avenue
General Electric Building
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Changing New York; General View Looking Northeast from 444 Madison Avenue

St. Bartholomew's Church, The General Electric Building, River House (First Avenue and East 51st Street), and the Queensboro Bridge.

1937

General Electric Building

Changing New York; General View Looking Northeast from 444 Madison Avenue

St. Bartholomew's Church, The General Electric Building, River House (First Avenue and East 51st Street), and the Queensboro Bridge.

IMAGE DATE1937
FromMuseum of the City of New York logoMuseum of the City of New York

General Electric Building, January 27, 1937.

Built in 1931 as the RCA Victor Building, this 50-story skyscraper was designed by the firm of Cross & Cross. The building combines the general form of Gothic architecture (emphasized verticality,piers and butresses, and pinnacles) and Art Deco motifs and ornamentation. Both of the base and the tower boast fantastic design and ornamentation. The top of the tower has the look of Gothic tracery (or the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window), but includes Deco depictions of electricity and radio waves. The facade of the building uses three brick colors (orange, buff, and tawny) which are also the brick colors of the adjacent domed St. Bartholomew's Church, which can be seen in this image at the bottom center.

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