American Radiator

THE AMERICAN RADIATOR BUILDING

The American Radiator Building is probably one of the most characteristic buildings of Manhattan’s midtown and it could be said that even of the New York skyline. Built in 1924, the eclectic and unconventional appearance of the American Radiator is the result of the merging of different architectonical styles, in turn result of the combination of the design of different buildings. Originally meant to be built as the headquarters for the American Radiator Company, the design for the building was the work of Raymond Hood, who won the contest with John Mead Howells that the Chicago Tribune had set up to find the designer of their headquarters in Chicago.

Hood created a black brick building similar to the one for the Tribune but combined it with gothic elements like its simple articulation of rectangular pillars and its gold abstract ornamentation (by Rene Paul Chambellan, which symbolizes the transformation of matter into energy, quite appropriate considering the owner) from Eliel Saarinen’s design for the Tribune, who ended up second in the contest. The tower also retires on a staggered way that makes the lines of the building seem higher, which makes the American Radiator a neo-gothic building that nevertheless was taken by Hood to a cubist extreme that reflects the transition from the Gothic to the Art-Decó style that the city of New York was undergoing, making the Radiator the first Art-Decó building in the city.

The American Radiator was sold to Philip Pilevsky for 150 million dollars in 1998, who three years later turned it into The Bryant Park Hotel, which still runs today. You can book a room by Booking but it is expensive (from 255 dollars the night) although you could get to stay in one of the most iconic buildings of New York and in the heart of the city, which is really practical.

The best photographical view of the American Radiator you can get is from the opposite building across Bryant Park: The W. R. Grace Building. From there you can get a full frontal panoramic view that showcases the whole structure and height of the building, and therefore also its beauty. Unfortunately, the Grace Building only holds offices which means that unless you work there is going to be really hard to get inside, and even once there, to a floor that enables you to take the picture. You can try it anyway. Who knows, maybe you’re lucky and they let you in.

Instead and since it is nearly impossible to get to The Grace Building, you can try the view from Bryant Park. It is not a full-frontal view as from The Grace, but it’s the best and most feasible view one can get, and if you have an eye for it, you can make a good picture of the building. However, the thing is that you don’t need to get anywhere besides the Park to get a good view of the American Radiator. It is so beautiful that you can see the beauty from there.