The Skyscraper and the City: The Woolworth Building and the Making of Modern New York
"In this superb, deeply nuanced study, Gail Fenske weaves the complex processes, multiple collaborations, and competing agendas that combined to produce a single landmark into a compelling analysis of the interplay between architecture, consumer culture, and the dynamically changing city. Both sharply focused and broad in its implications, The Skyscraper and the City reveals as much about the modern urban landscape as it does about the Woolworth Building itself."-Kate Solomonson, author of The Chicago Tribune Tower Competition"Fenske's impressively comprehensive, contextual, and deeply researched account of the making of the Woolworth Building weaves together the histories of the client, the architect, and the building itself, including design, construction, technology, and representation. It is also about the city, and no other architectural history reveals so well what it means to build a major commercial building in New York City." (Thomas Bender, author of The Unfinished City )"After nearly a century, the Woolworth Building has finally found a worthy chronicler.  In this book Gail Fenske describes the remarkable mix of architectural skill, business savvy and unbounded ambition that led to the creation of one of the largest and most conspicuous monuments of American 20th century culture. The story of businessman Frank Woolworth, his architect, Cass Gilbert, and the thousands of other individuals who came together to create this astonishing `cathedral of commerce' is an absorbing and highly revealing tale, and Fenske tells it very well."-Robert Bruegmann, author of Sprawl: A Compact History (Robert Bruegmann, author of Sprawl: A Compact History )