Look Up, New York!: 26 Broadway

Walk past 26 Broadway and you'll notice a plain facade currently housing an HSBC bank branch.

Cross the street and look back and you'll see it rises into a strong, handsome building.

Pass through Bowling Green Park, turn around, and look up and you'll finally see 26 Broadway in all it's grandeur... A mighty fortress-meets-temple that was home to John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company.

I've always loved this building because to me it seems like several buildings in one. Or some sort of organic stone structure that sprouts new floors, wings, and towers at will. Or a real-life Tetris game where different shaped blocks fell on top of each other.

But the seemingly randomness of it makes sense because Standard Oil's headquarters was built in many installments over 40 years. The original building built in 1885 had 10-stories. In 1895, six stories were added and a 27-foot-wide extension was made on its north side. After World War I, the company decided to greatly expand the structure by buying all four of its neighboring buildings on the block; and to either demolish them or extensively renovate them so that the new building looked like one. Then, it was extensively overhauled in 1921-1928, when it reached further skyward and was crowned with a pyramid.

The pyramid is modeled on the Mausoleum of Maussollos and its tip was originally illuminated as a beacon for ships entering the harbor. It also reflects the provisions of the 1916 Building Zone Resolution which mandated set-backs at the upper stories of tall buildings in order to control density, air, and light.

The building's distinctive shape was also dictated by the irregular pentagonal parcel of land it was built on at the southern portion of the block bounded by Broadway, Beaver Street, New Street, and Exchange Place. The sweeping Broadway facade follows the curve of Broadway.

However, the designers were more concerned with the tower as an element in the city's skyline, not as a local form. It is therefore aligned with the uptown street grid, and appears off-kilter to the rest of the building and winding streets of the Financial District.

While you need to view the building from a distance to appreciate it's unique structure, you'll also want to come up close to its limestone facade to see some of the beautiful architectural details.