The Bayard–Condict Building at 65 Bleecker Street between

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and

Lafayette Street Lafayette Street is a major north-south street in New York City's Lower Manhattan. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs through Chi ...

, at the head of Crosby Street in the

NoHo NoHo, short for North of Houston Street (as contrasted with SoHo), is a primarily residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is bounded by Mercer Street to the west and the Bowery to the east, ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

is the only work of architect

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloy ...

. It was built between

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puni ...

and

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

in the Chicago School style; the associate architect was Lyndon P. Smith. The building was originally known as the Condict Building before being renamed the Bayard Building. The building was considered to be a radical design for its time, since it contravened the strictures of

American Renaissance architecture The American Renaissance was a period of American architecture and the arts from 1876 to 1917, characterized by renewed national self-confidence and a feeling that the United States was the heir to Greek democracy, Roman law, and Renaissance hu ...

which were the accepted ''status quo'', but had little influence on architectural design in New York City, because of its location in the industrial area that Bleecker Street was during that period. It is located in the

NoHo Historic District NoHo, short for North of Houston Street (as contrasted with SoHo), is a primarily residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is bounded by Mercer Street to the west and the Bowery to the east, ...

. The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1975, and has been a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

since 1976.

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

br>National Historic Landmark Survey, New York
; retrieved June 6, 2007.

Design

This commercial office building is clad in white

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

over a masonry wall. The Bayard Building was one of the first steel skeleton frame skyscrapers in New York City and the Department of Buildings raised numerous objections to the design before the plans were finally accepted. It is one of the first examples of the Chicago school style of architecture in New York City. The division of the building into three sections – an ornamented base, a shaft of identical stacked floors, and a decorated crown – illustrates Sullivan's views on skyscraper design. At 13 stories and high and a building area of , the building does not attempt to disguise its height, but rather accentuates it by leaving relatively undecorated

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

s and

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s. Sullivan's signature ornate floral designs decorate the base and top of the facade, and across the spandrels below the window openings. Figural sculptures of angels were added at the request of the client, Silas Alden Condict, over Sullivan's objections.

Restoration

In 2000, WASA/Studio A, a New York City-based architecture and engineering firm, designed and oversaw the careful restoration of the exterior of the Bayard–Condict Building. Of the 7,000

glazed architectural terra-cotta Glazed architectural terra cotta is a ceramic masonry building material used as a decorative skin. It was popular in the United States from the late 19th century until the 1930s, and is still one of the most common building materials found i ...

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

units, 1,300 were found to be cracked and required removal. Of these, only 30 units were damaged beyond repair and were replicated. The remainder were epoxied and blind pinned, and then reinstalled. At some point in the building's history, the original storefronts were replaced with generic commercial aluminum storefronts. This renovation removed the extravagantly ornate original column capitals; only one survived in the basement of the Brooklyn Museum. When the storefronts were restored by others, WASA/Studio A had the column capitals replicated based on the surviving original and reinstalled. In 2003, the

Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Village Preservation (formerly the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, or GVSHP) is a non-profit organization which advocates for the preservation of architecture and culture in several neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan, New York. ...

recognized the restoration's excellence with a Village Award."Awards"
on the

website

Gallery

file:Bayard-condict bldg crop.jpg,

Parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

sculptural details file:Bayard-Condict Building HABS NY,31-NEYO,82-3.jpg, Entry and lower facade ( HABS) file:Bayard-Condict Building entrance.jpg, Entrance (2010)

References

Notes

External links

*
"Bayard–Condict Building"
at in-Arch Net

at New York Architecture

at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

's NYC Architecture site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayard-Condict Building Art Nouveau architecture in New York City Art Nouveau commercial buildings Buildings and structures completed in 1899 Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Chicago school architecture in New York (state) Historic American Buildings Survey in New York City Louis Sullivan buildings National Historic Landmarks in Manhattan New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Skyscraper office buildings in Manhattan

Design

Restoration

Gallery

See also

References

External links