The Fuller Building or as it is better known, the Flatiron Building, was one of the
tallest buildings in New York City upon its completion in 1902. The building was
designed by Chicago's Daniel Burnham in the Beaux-Arts style on a triangular island
block at 23rd Street, Fifth Avenue, and Broadway, its limestone and glazed terra
cotta facade is separated into three parts horizontally. It has become very popular
with tourists all trying to get that perfect photograph. With the ever growing number
of tourists who travel to this great city, the Flatiron Building remains as one of
New York’s “must see” attractions.
The aerodynamic shape of the building led to a wind-tunnel effect up the streets
on which it was situated. Locals took an immediate interest in the building, placing
bets on how far the debris would spread when the wind knocked it down and nicknaming
it "the Flatiron" because of the building's resemblance to the irons of the day.
Today the Flatiron is a popular spot for tourist photographs, a National Historic
Landmark, and a functioning office building, currently home to several book publishers,
most of them under the umbrella of Holtzbrinck Publishers. The surrounding neighbourhood
came back into fashion in the 1980's and boasts chic boutiques, restaurants and cafes,
and is named the Flatiron District after its signature building.
At the rounded tip, the triangular tower is only 2 meters wide. and expands into
a limestone wedge adorned with Gothic and Renaissance details of Greek faces and
terracotta flowers. The 22-story Flatiron Building, with a height of 87 meters (285
ft), is generally considered the oldest surviving skyscraper in Manhattan, though
in fact the older Park Row Building (1899) is several stories taller.
