New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-30
FINE ARTS BUILDING.

York. and that transformation Is stlll going o
Il the pride Of the city. Architecture itself mas
been practically revolutionized. AS one emil
rent member Of the profession puts It, Ihe
architect Of to-day must be different peing
from the architect Of a decade past The re-
qulrements and progress Of the times require
advanced ideas The art in architecture is one
thing but the science in architecture is another;
that art and science combined Is the architect
Of this day; art in architecture only is the
architA ct Of the past" The extent to which the
arts and sciences are being applied in modern
New-York building operations involves more
than architecture in its pure or artistic sense
The aster-buder OF to-day must grapple with
problems rather Of engineering than OF aren't
lecture as the past has known 1t.
One little instance illustrating the engineering
methods sometimes resorted to In securing ade-
ouate foundations for NETWORKS modern sky
piercing structures may be noted In a piece OF
work now under way In Liberty-st. When the
excavations there had been sunk deep enough to
reach bedrock the inflow Of water was so great
that divers had to be used at the foot OF the
great caissons to prepare the foundation. Sucn
are some Of the innovations in the builders art
that are incidental to the developments OF this
era Of steel construction.
All know what the old school Of building and
has the change come to even those whose eyes
have seen its outward manifestation that 1t is
hard to realize the completeness of the revolu-
ton In building methods in New-York since the
advent Of the era of Sky scrapers' constructed
on the "steel-cage" plan. The builders Of to-
day have not only levied upon the air, but upor
mother earth: they have gone down as well as
I'D The building OF to-day differs not more in
its superstructure. airy light. graceful and tow
ering than in Its foundations, rooted. planted,
fixed in all the solidity Of rock and iron and ce-
ment, massive unshakable and time defyng,
forty or fifty feet below the surface of the
ground
The change In the SKY line Of lower New
York in the past decade has been so radical as
to almost startle who places side by side
a view Of the city from the Bay dated ten years
ago and one OF yesterday. This generation does
not remember when New-York was not beauti-
full and impressive city viewed from her spen-
did harbor but to-day It Is majestic In Its state
" outline. Surely there can be no more beauti-
full city In the world to the eye that sees be-
yond the mere physical outline Of lofty struct
ures the prosperity and progress OF which they
are but the earnest.
The cause of the tendency to levy upon the air
for floor space is patent to every New-Yorler.
IL
the lower end of Manhattan Island-making
every foot Of surface more valuable and precious
year by year, was sufficient incentive to build
ing enterprise to plan for more floor space
When land costs as high S1S1 IL foot as
did that on which Of the highest buildings
has just been completed, the reason for high
buildings is plain They are necessary to yield
an income the ground value OF such precious
space. The time five or eight story building
10 to 100 feet high can no longer be afforded
room on these choicest sites and has given away
to the mighty structure. twenty. twenty-four or
twenty-eght stories. whose flag floats $50 or 300
feet above the pavement. First twelve stories
was thought to be the maximum, and that was
only five years ago; sixteen stories was supposed
to be the limit Of practicabity. But now there is
In course of construction building to be twenty
nine stories, the cornice Of whose towers will be
300 feet above the street. while its electric bea
con will endeavor to stare the stars out Of coun-
tenance 400 feet above its foundation stone and
ESQ feet above the ground level
There are now in New-York either finished or
in process OF construction twenty-five buildings
the highest point of which ranges from POI TO
3S6 feet above the street. or these nine are
eighteen stories and over and four range from
twenty to twenty-nine stories. There Is. II Is
said only one commercial building in America
outside Of New-York that is twenty stories high.
These figures give some idea Of the progress
in building. far as mere totals go. within the
last few years But the changes in structure.
the problems involved in erecting these great
buildings. so as 10 provide more rooms.
bned with greater conveniences and even greater
safety. involve so many details that their recta-
ton fully would interest and be understood only
by those familiar with the technique Of build
ing The transition from the "od dispensaton'
Of massive stone and wood to that Of skeleton
frame" steel and glass construction. with walls
merely for enclosure and not for support seems
in some Of the newest buildings almost COM
plete Timber construction. and to great ex-