Towering over New York City is the Art Deco, 102 storeys Empire State Building, situated between Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. After the building was completed in 1931 it remained the world’s tallest building for the next forty years. The building’s height was outstripped by the World Trade Centre, but after its destruction in 2001 it again became the tallest building in New York.
The Empire State was designed by William F Lamb and his team of architects, the design and architectural drawings were completed in less than two weeks and site excavation began in January 1930. The idea behind the Empire State was a competition to see whether anyone could come up with the tallest building in the world, the two other buildings involved, the Chrysler and 40 Wall Street, were still under construction when work was started on the Empire State.
The completion of the Empire State building was achieved in little over a year and its official opening took place in May of 1931.There was great celebration, and the lights were turned on from Washington DC by President Hoover, even though this was the start of America’s Great Depression..
The full height of the building, including its pinnacle is almost fifteen hundred feet and was the first building to be erected with more than a hundred floors and cost almost ninety one million to complete. The entrance of the building is covered by ultra modernist steel canopies on 33rd and 34th Streets leading to the lift core that is crossed by stainless steel and at the second floor level enclosed by glass bridges. The Empire State has 67 elevators or lifts, the whole building, including its electrical components, was put together with future development in mind.
Floodlights were added to the top of the building in 1964 to illuminate it at night and this has also been used to commemorate specific occasions, such as Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day. Following Frank Sinatra’s death the building was bathed in blue light as a symbol of his nickname ‘Ole Blue Eyes’. Following the events of 9/11 and the destruction of the World Trade Centre, the building was bathed in red, white and blue lights for several months as America mourned.
On September 12th 2001 the British allied their sympathies with America following 9/11 by playing the Star Spangled Banner at the changing of the Guard, the following June, in recognition of this honour, the Empire State was bathed in the royal colours of purple and gold. In recent years, during the ball games season, the Empire State is lit up in the colours of whichever New York sports team is playing.
The Empire State Building has become a focal point for various celebrations including those of different religious communities and the success of singers like Mariah Carey. In 2009 the building was lit in red and yellow in recognition of the founding of the People’s Republic of China sixty years previously.