French Building survive as one of the finest examples in New York of architectural exoticism from the late 1920s.ĭevelopment of the Midtown Business Center Admirably maintained, the first floor lobby and vestibules of the Fred F. The only significant modification was enclosure of the entrance vestibule on 45th Street with modern glass doors and transom - a measure which, in effect, has increased the interior space. The public areas of the French Building’s first floor interior remain substantially intact. Financed by the first commercial application of Fred French’s cooperative investment plan, the building was broadly applauded for its ornament, technological advances and unusually accomplished planning.Īmong its other amenities were close proximity to Grand Central Terminal and a prime location in the rapidly developing business district at midtown Fifth Avenue. French Building is a significant example of distinctive corporate imagery dating from the era of New York’s greatest building boom. It was, upon completion in 1927, one of the most popular addresses in the midtown commercial zone. French Building as an exotic "business palace" among more straightforward office buildings. The lavish marble walls and floor, together with the eight architect-designed crystal chandeliers and even the griff on-framed mailbox distinguished the Fred F. The Near Eastern allusion is enhanced in the vaulted lobby and enclosed vestibule on 45th Street by polychromatic ceiling ornament, decorative cornices of ancient inspiration, elaborate wall fixtures and, most splendidly, by the twenty-five gilt-bronze doors where inset panels of women and bearded Mesopotamian genii symbolize various aspects of commerce and industry. A proto-Art Deco design, with strong Near Eastern influences, it represents the stylistic compromise between lingering historicism and the modernistic trends that typified the architecture of the late 1920s. French Building was constructed in 1926-27 as corporate headquarters for the prominent real estate firm of the same name. Located on the northeast corner of 45th Street and Fifth Avenue, the Fred F. Fifth Avenue lobby, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States of America
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