Saturday, February 21, 2009

this place again?



That's right—because it's gorgeous!  Did you know that the 
Chrysler Bldg. was the first to be taller than the Eiffel
Tower?  (ET! ET! ET!)  Chrysler was in a competition with 
the Bank of Manhattan to be tallest—and won by being 
really sneaky.   See here.

8 comments:

  1. wow! that's pretty cool history. now I have a good story to share. Thanks Alexa.
    I love this building too.

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  2. Makes me think of this. Gargoyles have me recalling this guy ("Why could I not be made of stone like thee?") which was where I saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time. So here we are circling around Paris again like you did in your caption.

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  3. You are SO welcome, Lily.

    TG -- Re the first link: Great, and I know those guys were surefooted as mountain goats, but still . . .
    Re the second: I know this fellow well, and one of the guys who works up there told me that the only ones that are gargoyles are the ones that drain water. The others are either chimera or stryga (part bird, part human). Who knew?

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  4. It's so ... shiny! And yes, such a wonderful story, Lily H.

    Are there safety nets below those guys in your first link, TG? Yikes! The steel isn't just in the building materials ...

    Alexa, we don't have many gargoyles, chimera or stryga in Brisbane architecture but now I'll seem wise when I come across them - thank you! {PS, I left a very late comment on Tops and Bottoms... I suspect you didn't see it. Either that or you didn't like having to walk Jacques's puppy dog.}

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  5. former nyc'er here, the chrysler was always my fav building. you captured it well. :) nice to be introduced to your blog. i am back in the city 6-8 times a year to visit my parents in chelsea and get my fix. my 3 yr old loves it too! well done!

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  6. A good mnemonic then would be that gargoyles only "gargle" when it rains. Thanks for the kind instruction.

    I liked Shell's "steel" reference.

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  7. Well, it's one of the prettiest buildings in the world. So why not?

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  8. Gee, didn't k now that. I've always liked the Chrysler Building. I had to enlarge to see that those spikey things weren't King Kong catchers (Yes, I know he was on the Empire State Building, but still!)

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Thanks, merci, grazie, danke, hvala, gracias, spasibo, shukran, dhanyavaad, salamat, arigato, and muito obrigado for your much-appreciated comments.