Architects of building with gargoyles in New York City - Research Paper Example

Gargoyles is a Gothic design which accentuates many buildings in New York. Although some views gargoyles as more on having a superstitious relevance, some say that it is merely used as a water diversion. Schermerhorn Building is one of the most popular gargoyle accentuated building and was designed by a great architect named Henry J. Hardenbergh. He was born in New Jersey and worked as an apprentice in New York with a architectural firm for five years before opening his own practice in 1871. Many refer to Hardenbergh as the architect who “left his indelible ink” in the world of architecture.

(Gillon, 1988) Henry Vaughan is an Anglo-American architect who is claimed to be the one who the Americans owe the revival of Gothic designs to. His designs consists of churches, chapels and school buildings. One of the more famous designs of Vaughan is the St. John the Divine in New York known for its gargoyles. He was in America for approximately 36 years between 1881 to 1917 and his contributions to the architectural field is vast and known for being highly original. (Gillon, 1988) Vaughan was just becoming established in Boston, when he came into contact with Charles Perkins Gardiner of Brookline, Massachusetts and was, at the time, dedicating himself almost exclusively to church and church-related buildings.

Vaughan, as a man, had deep religious conviction who was quite totally devoted to the Anglican and Episcopalian worship as well as to the English Gothic architecture which he perceived as their true and proper architectural expression.Vaughan's scheme for handling cluttered contexts were brilliant. Although he was attached to the English Gothic religiously, bordering on fanaticism, he remains, to this day, as one of the best architects. (Gillon, 1988) The Chrysler building, designed by the architect William van Allen, is among the last skyscrapers in the Art Deco style.

The gargoyles of the said building depicts Chrysler car adornmenys and the spire is sculptured on a radiator grille. Since the building's restoration in 1996, the building once again shines as it must have way back in the 1930s. Despite the magnificence of the exterior of the building, the interior is even more so. Marbles floors and a generous display of Art Deco patterns as well as the stylishly designed elevator doors makes the Chrysler Building as one of the most beautiful office towers in New York.

However, as an architect, van Alen was majorly dismissed by contemporary critiques of architecture. They claim that design of spire was pure folly and ostentatious. His design of the Chrysler Building has grown in popularity despite the many criticisms and is now considered as one of the greatest buildings in America, which frequently features magazines and covers of architectural books.(Gillon, 1988) James Bogardus, architect of the 75 Murray Street Building gargoyles pioneered cast-iron architecture.

He is one of the most famous architects of New York although he personally did not consider himself as an architect. He considered himself more as an inventor in the 19th-century tradition who patented cotton-spinning machinery, grinding mills, gas meters, clocks and printing apparatus.Starting by 1848, he initiated the promotion of iron buildings as fireproof, mobile and efficient. He sold his ideas to developers up until 1860's before he shifted his attention to other work interests. (Gray, 1995) A common distinguishing factor of Bogardus' design is the Medusa-head keystones which were also used in Bogardus' ill-fated Laing Stores.

The said design is believed to protect homes from the entering of evil. The Greeks, similarly, sometimes used the figure of Medusa's terrible gaze in order to protect objects which includes the windows and doors considered as the eyes of the buildings. Oswald Wirz', also a gargoyles architect, uses the same concept with his use of Green Men and numerous gargoyles. (Gray, 1995) Wirz is a designer a few New York City buildings in the Gilded Age. Among those of his buildings that have survived are now land-marked