Cunard Building

The Cunard Building at 25 Broadway is one of those imposing structures with a massive facade that when seen quickly from the street can look like any other Renaissance Revival office building.

It has all the standard features, such as arches, columns, quoins, and cornices...

But when you look closer, you'll start to see what differentiates the Cunard Building from others.

Its ornamentation (like the keystone featuring Neptune above) is all nautical.  The theme relays the business of shipping that went on inside to the passersby outside.  They are treated to images of ships, shells, compasses, mermaids and other sea creatures.

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.