New Era Building (New York City)

New Era Building (center) in 2011

Detail of copper-front mansard roof and sixth-story iron ornamentation

The New Era Building is an 1893 Art Nouveau commercial loft building on lower Broadway, between Spring and Broome Streets, in the SoHo section of Manhattan in New York City.

Architecture

The eight-story brick and masonry building has been described as a "gem" and a gorgeous example of Art Nouveau architecture.^[1] Eschewing the then-popular Beaux Arts style, this is one of the few and possibly the earliest Art Noveau building in Manhattan still standing.^[2] Four squat rounded Doric columns seem to support five stories with three vertical rows of large windows separated with brickwork and iron ornamentation, culminating in three large arches at the sixth floor. This is topped with a two-story copper fronted mansard roof, now coated with verdigris, reminiscent of Parisian architecture.^[3][4]

The 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m²) building is served by a freight elevator and two passenger elevators. Average floor size is 10,000 square feet (930 m²).^[5] The building goes through the block west of Broadway so that it also fronts on Mercer Street, which is parallel to Broadway.

Attribution

Sources differ as to the architect, developer, and year of construction. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, in its 1973 report on the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, says the building, at 495 Broadway, was designed by Alfred Zucker for Augustus D. Julliard and was completed in 1893. Several other sources shown below say the building was designed by Buchman & Deisler for Jeremiah C. Lyons, who had previously developed real estate in other areas of Manhattan, and was completed in 1897. However, many of these same sources mistakenly show the address as 491 Broadway. The Landmarks Preservation Commission says 491 Broadway, the somewhat thinner 12-story building adjacent to the south of the New Era Building, is the 1897 Buchman & Deisler building.

History

Although its lofts were originally intended for the New Era Printing Company,^[6] the building was soon occupied by an office of the Butler Brothers company, an early mail-order business that had 100,000 customers at the time they moved in. Later, in 1927, they began franchising the Ben Franklin Stores.^[7]

At the time this building opened, fashionable retail businesses were already moving further uptown. Soon the area was home to businesses such as manufacturers and waste paper dealers.^[1]

On December 29, 1927, a fire in the building caused one million dollars worth of damage. The fire burned for two hours before being noticed and caused the partial collapse of eight floors^[8] toward the rear, or Mercer Street side, of the building. The fire began among some crates in the company's basement shipping room. The collapse was caused when three unprotected 14-inch diameter hollow cast iron support columns buckled because of excessive heat, bring down the eight stories above. Fire-resistant insulation might have prevented the collapse.^[9]

As of 2011, tenants include a clothing retailer, fashion consultants, a publisher, a golf and fitness club,^[5] a retail drug store, and the Swiss Institute.

Swiss Institute

The Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York has occupied the third floor loft since 1994.^[10] The one-room space is used as a gallery featuring primarily Swiss and other European contemporary artists,^[11] with a goal of promoting "cultural dialogue" among Switzerland, Europe, and the United States, and interaction among the Swiss community and other communities in New York.^[10] There are several free exhibitions mounted each year. The space, constructed to museum-quality standards by the firm Pagnamenta & Torriani, is also frequently used for concerts, talks and other events.^[12][13] The institute moved from West 67th Street into the New Era Building in order to be close to the center of the New York art scene in SoHo and the numerous artists and other art galleries in the area.^[10] It is scheduled to move to 18 Wooster Street, nearby, in September 2011.

The Swiss Institute is a private non-profit organization that receives funding partially from the Swiss and New York governments.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Five Hundred Buildings of New York by Bill Harris and Jorg Brockmann, p. 568
2. ^ The Architectural Guidebook to New York City by Francis Morrone and James Iska, p. 68
3. ^ New York: a historical atlas of architecture by Alejandro Bahamón and Àgata Losantos, p. 20
4. ^ AIA Guide to New York City by Norval White, Elliot Willensky and Fran Leadon, p. 114
5. ^ ^{a b} Metro Manhattan Office Space, accessed July 22, 2011
6. ^ New York for New Yorkers: a historical treasury and guide to the buildings and monuments of Manhattan by Liza M. Greene, p. 45
7. ^ Daytonian in Manhattan blog, accessed July 21, 2011
8. ^ 70 Firemen Escape Tumbling Debris, The New York Times, December 30, 1927, accessed August 19, 2011
9. ^ "Killing Fires High in the Air", Popular Science Monthly, December 1928, p. 50
10. ^ ^{a b c} History and Mission, The Swiss Institute, accessed July 25, 2011
11. ^ Finding Art, Not Crowds, in New York..., The New York Times, Sunday, April 16, 2006, Travel Section p. 3
12. ^ Archives, The Swiss Institute, accessed July 25, 2011
13. ^ New York magazine, March 20, 1995, p. 109

External links

• Photos at New York Architecture
• Art "think tank" - a Swiss face in New York, May 12, 2008 article about the Swiss Institute, at www.swissinfo.ch

Coordinates: 40°43′19.5″N 73°59′59.35″W / 40.722083°N 73.9998194°W / 40.722083; -73.9998194