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Building skyscrapers is the nearest peace-time equivalent of war. -- Col. William A Starrett, Skyscrapers and the Men who Build Them ,1928 | |||||||||||
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These photographs represent a sample of 67 serial images from the archives of The Bank of New York. They document the demolition in 1930-31 of several late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century office buildings, razed to create the site for the Art Deco skyscraper known as 1 Wall Street, seen in these photos as it rises to its full 52-story height.
"The analogy to war is the strife against the elements. Foundations are planned away down in the earth alongside the towering skyscrapers already built. Water, quicksand, rock and slimy clays bar our path to bedrock. Traffic rumbles in the crowded highways high above us, and the subways, gas and water mains, electric conduits and delicate telephone and signal communications demand that they not be disturbed lest the nerve system of a great city be deranged." -- Col. William A Starrett
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