I thought the Chrysler building was the tallest building until empire state or the sears tower ? I think the Chrysler building was erected in 1932 with all German Krupp seel, and a lot stainless steel,,,,
A most excellent and informative history of one of my favorite buildings. Such a shame it was replaced by a huge nothing. Had it survived, like many older small footprint skyscrapers, it would have been converted into luxury apartments. Thank you for all the photos and drawings I've never seen before.
They sure don't build them like they used to! I always scan for the Singer Tower in films featuring NYC in the decades before it was demolished. As your video shows, it gradually became obscured by its many neighbors, but once in a while you see it peeking out from behind. In the TV series, "The Naked City" filmed in NYC during the early 60's, you can sometimes spot it in the background. The artistry and craft that went into building like this cannot be matched today. I work in 3D design, and find it so ironic that with all the software packages and advanced manufacturing techniques available, today's urban architects cannot move beyond variations on a box and unadorned, planar surfaces. There wasn't a craftsman 100 years ago who couldn't dance circles around most of our "starchitects" and designers. Modernism has created a society of visual illiterates, whose minds simply cannot comprehend anything beyond primary shapes and colors.
Насколько я знаю Зингер хотел построить похожий небоскреб на месте дома книги, но компании отказали, потому что в центре уже тогда было ограничения высоты
A very sad story! The Singer Tower was not only a masterpiece of arquitecture and enginering, but also a work of art. The newyorkers went mad in the sixties because they demolished very iconic buildings, like the Roxy Theater, the old Met and the magnificent Pennsilvania Station as well!
@@Darrigrande : Well. I meant the "mindset" of the people who thought it was a good idea to destroy historical landmarks rather than preserve them. But I understand you point as well. Greetings from the Midwest U.S.of A.
When I was looking through thrift store music, I found a tape for the soundtrack to Titanic, and the owner’s original ticket stubs were inside the case. Your Singer building ticket is way cooler, but it’s always so neat to find things like that tucked away 😋
Some of the stunning mansions belonging to the Vanderbilts only lasted 30 years or less before they were demolished. Such a shame...and then to replace them with steel and glass boxes?? Bonwit Teller was demolished for Trump Tower and the 2 stunning friezes were meant to be retained as museum pieces..but they were just smashed to pieces as he deemed them too expensive to remove? Pieces of history lost forever for.......progress??? I agree that it is heartbreaking
Allegedly only 80 years- could've been much older and found by a new civilization. Same with Vanderbilt mansions, Penn Station and the statue of liberty. Our history may be highly fabricated. These wonders are beyond our current architectural abilities and they were built during horse and buggy era...?
Well, it was pretty much outshone by the Empire State Building. By the 1940s, the Singer Building was just an old building, no longer anything special. When they tore it down it was just a 50 year old building, not historical or even outstanding. Just like tearing down a building from 1985 today.
Sounds like you've barely given it a thought. The Singer Tower outshined by the construction of the empire state? The Pennsylvania station was outshined by what?
My mother-in-law was an elevator operator at the Singer Building in the late 1940s. Dept. 56 made a ceramic model of it that I bought in her honor. Until now I never saw how beautiful the inside was. Thank you.
Madness! The same mass-psychosis swept all over the western world in the 1960s and 1970s. What WWII didn't destroy, real-estate developers accomplished in those days.
@@AsiaMinor12 You can't just blame Germany for everything, like people doing it for their eugenic policy, this was a collective effort of the western civilization. You right Bauhaus is disgusting but it's not just the germans who coming out from nowhere to make things worst. Also people should have already know if they let the germans rule the world we all will living in cubes one day.
@@AsiaMinor12 Personally I consider the Swiss architect Le Corbusier one of the most dangerous men of the 20th century. His "machines for living" and other hideous monstrosities were straight out of a dystopian nightmare. Compared to him, Bauhaus was quite harmless, although I'm not a fan of that school either.
@@breonnie: I'm surprised you replied to this comment. There are two spaces between the words "is" and "a", poor to no editing. This is typical for online word processors.
I love the look of the city buildings of that age. They are both an architectural beauty and an actual work of art. Thank you for sharing its story with us.
@@driley4381 @DRiley It's Neoclassical Renaissance, Art Deco wasn't really a thing yet at that point. However, even the Singer tower was unique among Neoclassical architecture. Almost like something from an alternate universe..
@ notahotshot: from the ground level the height of the Twin Towers created an optical illusion that made them appear tilted. Unique and interesting is not always pretty.
yeh, & they weren't built by the so called architect who was named in this narrative either. These buildings, many similar to have been built by the same 'company' are ALL OVER THE WORLD... amazing isn't it that we are never taught about the people who these buildings were 'inherited' from. ...our ancestors.
I just watch an episode of the American Experience about the building of Penn Station and the tunnels that were built under the rivers to serve it. Fascinating story with a shameful end.
I could be wrong but I believe the demo of Penn Station is what led to the landmark preservation law, and a lot of the debris was dumped in the Meadowlands swamp in New Jersey
@@literallyunderrated Yes, that's what they said in the conclusion of the documentary. The Pennsylvania Rail Road needed money (it was entirely privately funded which lead to it's vulnerability) and real estate prices soared so they sold out to the developers of Madison Square Garden. The outcry at the loss of Penn Station lead to a huge preservation movement-the one that saved Grand Central.
@@cynthiajohnson9412 The entity that was once the Pennsylvania Railroad still exists. It's just an insurance company now. Just a fun fact I like to share
I'm from South Africa and my grandmother had a singer sewing machine that we converted into a table! I was awestruck learning about the Singer Tower and the connection to the company all the way in South Africa.
Never knew Singer Tower existed, but hearing of its advanced technology it really was the grandfather of the modern skyscraper, all the technology used within its basement is almost identical to what was implemented into the WTC towers, from the super pumps that pumped water to the upper floors to the high speed elevators, if I was alive and had the money Singer Tower would’ve been turned into some upscale apartments or at the very least a multi lease office building with various businesses to be housed within, not very glamorous but it would’ve most likely survived longer
Unfortunately, you wouldn't have been able to command the lease and rental aggreement amounts needed to cover the logistical operation of the building. It just wasn't monetarily feasable to preserve.
here in Charleston if you knew what the owners of a 2 story theatre went thru to make the masonry safe. it was from the same period and very ornamental. this theater seats 600. this building is 1 100th the size of this building. i cannot imagine getting enough revenue to do that.
Deconstructing this building was insanity! One of the most attractive skyscrapers ever, and so much hard work and effort to build it in the first place.
I understand its floor plate was impractical for offices of todays standards, but always felt this couldve been revived as a residential building or even hotel fairly well. A real shame it got the axe. Few buildings could match its beauty
@Joey Harper Be happy you live in America at all when the vast majority of the world can only dream of being able to go on the internet and type "Shit waste and liberals" lol.
@Joey Harper Bah, the only ones with power are the loud ones on twitter. If more conservatives were as loud as them it would be balanced but the conservative voice is spread way to thin and doesn't get noticed nearly enough. The problem is that while that radical left group posts 500 times a day, a conservative voice will post only a fraction of that. The reason i don't worry about them is because they are actually a very small group and twitter makes them look like an army, but the silent majority is massive, and it took a while, but they are starting to notice. Only a matter of time for normality to return.
@Joey Harper Well I’m from Russia! Ok? How about that? We can only dream about this “liberal shit” if you say something against the government. you get your ass arrested right away!
Yeah, but all those horses producing thousands of gallons of urine and tons of manure every day! And most people didn't have access to daily baths and showers. But walking around would indeed be cool. I'm surprised we don't have the technology yet that would allow us to move around in an immersive simulation...a Star Trek holodeck if you will.
There are basically 3 buildings that deserve to be rebuilt the way they were: 1. Penn Station 2. The original St Paul's Cathedral that was destroyed in the great London fire of 1666 3. The Singer Building Though the Singer Building shouldn't be rebuilt in New York City. It should be built in a smaller city where it can still be the tallest and not be crowded out by modern monstrosities.
@@Novusod Couldn't agree more. Most familiar with Penn Station (76yo) from Long Island, we were too young to understand it's greatness; took it for granted. Until the replacement: a true horror! It's a slaughter house now! It should be rebuilt EXACTLY like the original. We Long Islanders had a separate lobby from long distance trains above. Elegant, calm, unconfused. Those was spectacular! We used to walk through them waiting for trains. Dreaming of long distance trains! Not returning to our parents in Huntington! lol The building had "personality".
@@brucesmith3072 nothing has personality today. The internet has literally shared so much that nothing new or fascinating exists. It's not just the quarantine making our conversations more awkward and moments shorter, it's everything social media has done...it's why you can't surprise someone with something momentous or even subtle in thought. I can name so much that all leads to each thing, but that is the main genre, it has effected automobiles, building architecture, people most definitely, colors or definitely lack thereof, material, and how we use the other type of material. People are discouraged by this pathetic world we placed or colonized over the beautiful absolutely breathtaking old world and I mean old to even 1970, all of that is trashed for modern day, even 1990 feels elegant, even hip hop stars and rappers feel elegant and knowledgeable back then. Now everythings slurring worlds and loosing all ability to speak, too much information is causing our minds to be clouded. God I should have realized.
Fell in love with the Singer Tower as a kid when I discovered it in a book about ocean liners. It was depicted in a photograph of the HMS Lusitania. Love the Victorian architecture. It was a shame and crime that it was demolished in the late 60's.
Just a small nit-pick, but it was RMS Lusitania. It stands for Royal Mail Ship, HMS is only for British Royal Navy ships. The Singer tower was indeed a lovely building though. Like something from a fantasy novel like 'His Dark Materials'.
My Mom was born & raised in NYC. I remember her taking me & my siblings there to see it before it was torn down. I have An old Singer sewing machine that I restored & proudly sits in my Living room on display. Great videos.Thank you for sharing these great history on NYC.
Just thinking about working all the way to the top makes me feel uneasy that’s so crazy props to all those people who spent their days building this tower
Not want to hurt the americans feelings but in my country when something need to fix or rebuild we usually rebuild it like it was before, than the commies came and they said NO but that is a different story. I never understood the americans and part of the reason I'm happy not to be an american is exactly how they behave with their own culture. Those early skyscrapers were beautifull, they tried to be unique and they tried to make their city beautifull, than the steel and glass came and they started to make those buildings with no personality. The WTC was the center of this, two of the ugliest building in the city ruling the whole skyline. I get it, it's capitalism, if something doesn't make profit anymore it has to go, it doesn't matter if it is a building or your own mother, I get it, I just doesn't understand it. From the start the leaders of the USA knew they will be an empire, they knew they will have more resources than any other empire before and what they do, they build temporary buildings. I guess one thay the Empire State Building and the Crysler building has to go too.
I'm in Kenya and to this day, you will find a singer sewing machine in deep villages and inside some homes (were popular in the 80's and 90's). Quite telling about the reach of this company. Nice to learn about the tower.
A truly beautiful building! It angers me that the idea of destroying such a marvelous example of architecture and ingenuity could even be thought of. The building was ahead of its time. A time, I might add, which had some of the greatest architecture in human history.
Weep not, fellow architectural fans. Just like design elements of old Pennsylvania Station live on through the Farley Post Office across the street from MSG, a part of the old Singer Building lives on in Brooklyn! Where, exactly? Would you believe GREEN-WOOD Cemetery?! Yup, Ernest Flagg was actually commissioned to design the mausoleum for The Singer Family. Look carefully at the front facade, and you'll spot design elements similar to the top portion of the old Downtown tower! Have fun...
@@JoseMorales-lw5nt Wow! I never knew that! Thanks a lot. I'll definitely research that more. Also, some of the eagle sculptures from Penn Station have even been salvaged and were used as part of the Market Street Bridge in Philadelphia which was the headquarters of PRR.
Singer had 19 manufacturing plants across 18 countries. Four of them were responsible for most of the vintage machines produced: two in the US, one in Canada, and one in Scotland.
I would think the logistics of demolishing such a large building in the middle of one of the largest and busiest cities in the world would be absolutely daunting. Just imagine getting all the vehicles and materials needed for demolition to the site without disturbing the other buildings nearby, and then you have to carry away all the debris.
THANK YOU for the most in depth discussion of this list masterpiece I have yet seen. What a beautiful tribute to this sadly lost piece of historic architecture. The 60’s committed many architectural crimes, this is near the top.
I'm looking forward to this. Here I am a native of the Pacific Northwest -- I never had a chance to lay eyes on the Singer Tower. I would have been six when it came down. But its construction, it's jewellike architecture, and its unfathomable destruction have fascinated me for years. The story of Penn Station has been told and retold, but not the Singer Tower. I was thinking just the other night, someone really ought to do a good RUclips video on the subject, with a solid script and narration. You beat me to it!
Following up upon watching -- great job! I've been curious enough, over the years, to look up what I can with a Google search, and it is clear your research goes much deeper than that. The video tells me a few things I didn't know -- kudos. The video is a great example of the creative uses people are finding for RUclips these days. One thing I'd steer you to is a brilliant essay that appeared in the New Yorker when the building's demolition was announced. And I always get sort of a chill down my spine when I see the Singer Tower show up in a Hollywood movie. Two examples -- The Fountainhead (1949) and the stock-footage sequence at the start of Insignificance (1985). By the way, my assumption is that the masonry could have been maintained. I remember reading about similar concerns regarding the Woolworth Building in a mid-'70s piece in American Heritage -- eventually they were licked. If I remember right, some elements were duplicated with fiberglass.
Except for things like cars, trucks, planes and things like that, the majority of people in the US don't seem to have a real sense of historical value when it comes to buildings, so iconic buildings are knocked down with casual disinterest if some greedy developer sees an opportunity to raise a larger and more modern building.
@@tjroelsma There are beautiful buildings in most US cities, but they fall into disrepair. By then it's way too expensive and time consuming to restore all the intricate architecture - and alot of people really don't care about old stuff.
@@paulsawczyc5019 The whole "falling into disrepair" point you're making already proves my point that the average American doesn't have much of a historical sense. Once a building has been built, delivered and lived, worked in, it's considered obsolete and ready to be torn down after only a few decades, because of the idea of consumerism that rules the US. (buy it, don't do maintenance, wear it out and throw it away) I'm not a historical buff by any means, but I can appreciate an iconic building for it's innovative idea's in the time it was built in. Over here we at least put some value on historical things, where in the US people seem to want to erase all traces of the past and just build new things, because "new is always better, right?" The funny thing is that when they realise that new isn't automatically better, because many new things are way more complicated and therefore require way more maintenance, those same people immediately start lamenting how "everything was better in the time of my pappy and my grandpappy", conveniently forgetting taht it was actually they themselves who were so eager to dispose of those old things in favour of the latest shiny new product.
Singer were huge. There were up to 20,000 employees at their factory here in Clydebank, Scotland. They built a high clock tower on the site, and an extra train track and station was created to help the employees commute. Singer train station is still in constant use today.
Thanks for this video! Isaac Merritt Singer (1811-1875), the company’s founder left a troubled home at twelve and began life as an actor. He eventually became an inventor and successful businessman. Although he never saw the Singer Building, its architecture ironically had a theatrical quality. A change from the more austere Romanesque styling of earlier skyscrapers. It would be good to produce a video on Singer himself. He was quite a character.
@@Eche888 I used to visit Manhattan in the early 1940's, absolutely irreplaceable in its beauty....that world is so far gone, not even the nicest building today comes anywhere close to the worst building then.
I love this Building. In 1974 I just bought a new Leica Camera. I went in search of the Singer Building to take pics. Not realizing it was gone! I have an original copy of the book "History of the Singer Building Construction..."it was printed in paperback - folio form then rebound as a hardcover. When the building was new it was either handed out free or sold as a memento. It would be spectacular if any inside videos ( film ) exist
I've admired this building since I was a boy, even though I'm a Californian, who never visited NYC until I was in my thirties. People who visited the building in 1908 must have been deeply awed. Nothing like it had been built before. In a time when most of America was still rural and a lot of people were living in the world of Longfellow's "The Village Blacksmith," this building was taller than many other cities' tallest buildings 50 years later, and it combined modern tech with Louis XV-style elegance. A couple of taller buildings were built within five years, but they weren't nearly as dramatically different from what went before. I visited all the old skyscrapers I could, but this gem was long gone, and I felt that I was missing something essential.
I think in the US people always lived in cities/metros for the most part. Not like in Europe or China were urbanization only started in the 20th century. I might be wrong about this!
@@yannick245 America's urban population didn't surpass its rural population until the 1920s. In 1776, America's largest city was Philadelphia, with about 40,000 people. London, Beijing, and Edo at that time had about 1,00,000 people. The growth of cities in America was a long process.
@@toomanymarys7355 Thank you! I always was under the impression that Americans "always" mostly lived in the Mid-Atlantic region along the big cities. Or at least that urbanization took place much earlier than in the rest of the world. With the mass immigration from the 1850s.
The days of beauty in design are over. I've not seen any new buildings or cars I'd consider beautiful in a long time. Everything is simply functional, nothing more.
@@GhostOfAMachine To me, the design looks similar to many other cars produced today. Aerodynamics would dictate there's only one efficient vehicle design anyway.
In Yugoslavia (Serbia), there is an expression when a machine (primarily a car engine) is working very smooth, fantastic: "Radi kao Singerica" - Works like Singer (sewing machine) That expression exists... for a very long time, for decades, most likely from that golden era of Singer.
I don't disagree, but old buildings are giant money pits... someone has to pony up to maintain it. Asbestos, masonry, ancient plumbing, lead paint, the list is endless.
@@kurtbjorn3841 This. Saving and maintaining old buildings can be a huge sacrifice. I gutted and renovated a 1950 Art Deco style house, it was an expensive labor of love but I loved the style. Back in those days, people didnt have the luxury of time and money to save "old" stuff, they were looking towards the future!
@@linuxjodi4311 well, they also didn't have the luxury of dirt cheap expendable labor willing to carve limestone anymore. Steel and glass was faster, easier, and safer. WW2 wiped out a ton of manual laborers so a lot had to change.
I’m from Ełk, Poland and I was extremely suprised to see our historic water tower in this video. Oh small world. Still, it’s a shame that such beautiful and historic building just disappeared from NYC skyline. Great video and a great story.
The technology of that time still impresses me today. Sure, maybe there's more advanced ways... But what they did then, from what they had at the time, seems much more impressive somehow.
hell even the cars were better....what back to The future said was correct, an old 40's ford would utterly destroy most cars made today..... tip if you know cars buy the shell of a 50's car and put a modern engine in it from the 90's and turn it into a hot rod, that thing will turn heads and stand up to punishment your 2021 corvette can't handle....cus it's shell is made of fiberglass and the frame is composite metals, older cars were steel....outer shell and frame lol imagine a Civic getting smashed by a 1950 ford?? LMFAO!!! there'd be nothing left of the Civic lol
@@darthXreven Yeah I would love to see somebody leverage the torque of modern electric motors in classic era car bodies. Maybe a mix of the classic interior looks but some modern tech. Not really sure which way to go there but could be something.
From an engineering prospective, the Singer Tower was quite ahead of its time. It offered the similar kind of luxury and comfort we normally get in today’s modern buildings. Also for that same reason, literally everything was custom built for the tower, I can imagine many of the electrical and heating system weren’t future proof; and it was just too costly to upgrade them all; so it is not hard to imagine they didn’t try hard enough to save it.
Your 20 minute docu video has more info than a 2 hour version of CBS 48 Hours or NBC Date Line. Well done and thank you! When you take more than 5 fact filled minutes to highlight the Singer's features, we know this is no ordinary building. It had all but the hull and propulsion system of the most sophisticated ocean liners of its time without the controlled environment of being built in a shipyard. And how state of the art architecture, engineering and construction could be completed so quickly is amazing.
@@areyoujelton gross what the two most iconic buildings in the world that was the face of NY for 28 years and dominated the NY skyline with its massive height
This was such a beautiful building, especially inside with those elaborated decorations. It's a shame it was demolished to build a forgettable building instead.
The Singer company didn’t just make sewing machines; for decades it also operated a large chain of Singer retail stores. And in the late ‘60s it was a major advertiser, being best known for sponsoring what was later called Elvis Presley’s “comeback” TV special in 1968 that totally revived his career. And this sadly coincided with the demolition of their masterpiece high rise building.
I've loved this building since the first time I saw a picture of it in the "Lost New York" book back in the early 70s. Thank you for telling its story inside and out. (And one of the biggest regrets of my life is not seeing the original Penn Station before it was demolished.)
The "lantern' was a docking station for airships. That part of history has been erased for some reason. One of the main purposes for building the Empire State building was airships. It was the western end for transatlantic crossings.
@@JavierAlbinarrate That's not true, Zeppelins were being designed 20 years before this building was ever built. The first ones flew shortly after this building was constructed. I took me about 5 minutes to figure this out... Facts are important!
This video educated me. I'd never even heard of the Singer tower until now. What a beautiful building it was. The story of its' demise and destruction is heartbreaking. Thank you so much for your work in putting this excellent video together.
I see a lot of people saying they didnt know about this one so ill say this. For those wondering, yes there were more groundbreaking skyscrapers that existed before the singer building throughout the early 1900s 1890s 1880s and even the 1870s that most people even most new yorkers dont even know about. Some of the notable ones include the park row building (1899) new york world building (1890) and the equitable life building (1870). These never get talked about enough since any of the remaining ones are kinda buried in the skyline and people seem to only focus on the flatiron building and woolworth building being the only really old skyscrapers when in reality theres so much more then those two that existed and came before them. A video looking into one of the other buildings i mentioned would be nice though its already great that this one is out there and people are finally learning about the singer building.
Never knew about the technical specs of the singer building! What a beast! It was built in a transitional period between early skyscrapers, which were hulking monoliths, and the more elegant designs of the teens and 20s. That period also saw standardization of talk building design. The pencil towers on billionaires row are comparable imo--in both cases they're pioneers and will help to define the next generation of tall buildings. The singer was a stunner and would have been gorgeous condos
For my mom, I just found an early 1970's Singer machine and table and she was so thrilled! She used to sew me and my brother matching clothes in the 70's. Made me lucidly realize how much things have changed in my life, gosh! Love history of the building. The new steel building is so bland.
Such a mechanically beautiful creation,so pure in its elegance,destroyed by assets and property,it wouldn't be known,only for its sheer extent and built by proud men
There's a railway station called Singer near Glasgow in Scotland and it was built specifically to facilitate the workers at the Singer factory. Bit of useless information for everyone.
Buffalo City Hall and the Singer Building are my two personal favorite examples of old architecture. Many modern buildings just lack the same character as buildings back in the day.
In the late ‘60’s I was a skyscraper-obsessed kid who fell in love with this building. When I first went to Manhattan in ’71 I searched the skyline from the Staten Island Ferry for this legendary structure, but to my great disappointment could not find it. I found solace in taking a trip up the skeletal structure of one of the under-construction WTC towers. I was heartbroken when I finally established that the Singer Tower had been demolished before I arrived. Thanks so much for this wonderful video! Subscribed.
I think if you make "tallest building in the world" status, even for just a few years, it should pretty much make you culturally immune from demolition 🤷♂️
Singer wasn't the first "tallest building in the world" to be demolished: the New York World Building (built 1890, surpassed in 1894 by Milwaukee City Hall) had been demolished in 1955. And the World Trade Center twin towers (tallest in world 1971-73) were destroyed in 2001, but obviously that wasn't their owner's decision.
This is REALLY GOOD! The building’s life is akin to that of Man’s: Birth, a Vigorous Youth, Grown into Adulthood, Aging sets in, followed by Ignominious Death.
I live in Poland now. Just 20 miles from Ełk, where you've seen this Singer sawing machine in the water tower museum. There's plenty of those machines around here. My grandmother was using one and it's still in my apartment. Indeed a beautiful attifact. Piece of art in fact. Very good material. Thank you!
The biggest reason it was demolished was because it was unsuitable as a modern office. The tower was so tall and skinny that there just wasn't room for much office square footage and it lead to companies being divided over many floors. It would have made for a great condo today though.
Back then due to lack of centralized air (although this building certainly was just about fully equipped with HVAC ) windows that opened and cross ventilation was important and impossible to achieve in a large floor with many different rooms some even windowless.
It think the location chosen for the Single Tower was its downfall, as it became hidden by other towers. The 1914 Smith Tower in Seattle which was the 3rd tallest tower in the country and the tallest in the west coast for many decades I think took inspiration from Singer tower, although it is simple looking from the outside in comparison but the inside is very ornate. It would be hidden today by newer towers except for its great locations at the edge of the downtown area which even today has no other competing towers near it and stands out very clearly as you approach the city from the south, or SE., it stands alone still today which preserves it.
@@westoniii We still burnt coal in the 1990s in Yorkshire, the hot water heaters and radiators were still set up from the Yorkshire mining days, and it's a massive expense to swap over. Look at the news yesterday, the UN only just declared all petrol (gas) lead free, these kind of changes really need international and governmental help, its a burden to place it at consumers feet who may not have the financial resources.
What a gorgeous building and amazingly modern for its day. As all buildings age the maintenance curve gets steep, can only imagine what that looked like in the 60s , and now it's 60 years after that. $$$$$$
No one ever talks about the other 6 70 story building's built in the 1930's that mysteriously disappeared in the 60's and 70's. You can see them in older films and pictures, I don't know where they went but I've looked for almost 40 years. Haven't found one of them.
My mother AND my brother has their own Singer sowing machines and i can't remember how many i've seen trough the years. And i live far away in Norway. I've always loved the machines, because they are beautifully engineered. After seen this video, i love them even more. R.I.P. Singer Tower. You were astonishing. Thanks for this video.
Thanks Ryan! An intriguing docu about an intriguing masterpiece of architecture. Funny: I too have an antique sewing machine standing around, a 1908 Singer ... I will now look at it differently!
My grandma and mom, they both had a Singer sewing machines back in Nicaragua; loved the history of the company, as an Architect it's hard to believe how these magnificent buildings could be demolished because of "modernity" erasing their own legacy; congrats on your report 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
We should at least bring back art deco. One of my favourite buildings is the George's Dock Ventiliation Building in Liverpool, UK. Architecture like that deserves to be brought back and not forgotten. The best part is that it is basically just a ventilation shaft with a fan at the bottom, but the architect took into consideration that it would be in the centre of a globally very important and influential port city, so they went all out in its construction.
This is going to be a BIG video! We bring Singer Tower back to life for the first time since 1969!!! HIT THE BELL !!!!
I thought the Chrysler building was the tallest building until empire state or the sears tower ? I think the Chrysler building was erected in 1932 with all German Krupp seel, and a lot stainless steel,,,,
A most excellent and informative history of one of my favorite buildings. Such a shame it was replaced by a huge nothing. Had it survived, like many older small footprint skyscrapers, it would have been converted into luxury apartments.
Thank you for all the photos and drawings I've never seen before.
@@bustersmith5569 it was after the singer building
I'm guessing you meant to say "modern tower" on the thumbnail. Don't you just hate it when common words get misspelled in such a prominent place?
They sure don't build them like they used to! I always scan for the Singer Tower in films featuring NYC in the decades before it was demolished. As your video shows, it gradually became obscured by its many neighbors, but once in a while you see it peeking out from behind. In the TV series, "The Naked City" filmed in NYC during the early 60's, you can sometimes spot it in the background.
The artistry and craft that went into building like this cannot be matched today. I work in 3D design, and find it so ironic that with all the software packages and advanced manufacturing techniques available, today's urban architects cannot move beyond variations on a box and unadorned, planar surfaces. There wasn't a craftsman 100 years ago who couldn't dance circles around most of our "starchitects" and designers. Modernism has created a society of visual illiterates, whose minds simply cannot comprehend anything beyond primary shapes and colors.
I'm from Saint-Petersburg, Russia, and there we have a Singer building still, it's one of the landmarks and art nouveau masterpieces.
Yes, Dom Knigy.
Cool
Насколько я знаю Зингер хотел построить похожий небоскреб на месте дома книги, но компании отказали, потому что в центре уже тогда было ограничения высоты
I just googled it. Wow! Beautiful!
Hi, I'm from St. Petersburg, Florida! 🙂✌
A very sad story! The Singer Tower was not only a masterpiece of arquitecture and enginering, but also a work of art. The newyorkers went mad in the sixties because they demolished very iconic buildings, like the Roxy Theater, the old Met and the magnificent Pennsilvania Station as well!
Carlos Jorge Stöckel : Wow.What a mindset.
Out with the old and in with the new,I guess.
Sheesh
@@ebayerr As european I have other "mindset" as you called! Greetings from Germany!
@@Darrigrande : Well. I meant the "mindset" of the people who thought it was a good idea to destroy historical landmarks rather than preserve them.
But I understand you point as well.
Greetings from the Midwest U.S.of A.
Which "newyorkers" are you referring to, Carlos?
@@rudolphguarnacci197 The ones that planned, implemented and executed the demolitions in the 60s
As someone who owns AND USES a very old Singer rmachine, and someone who loves architecture, I found this program fascinating!
I love mine! Mom loved hers. Singer machines are amazing!
My mom had a table sewing machine with a built in pedal. Beautiful machine.
I have a few beautiful vintage Singers. The sewing machine was as revolutionary as the PC was 20 years ago.
Sad that the quality of their machines aren't what they used to be.
We have owned ours for nearly 40 years it is the sewing machine sitting on a wood table with the beautiful wrought-iron tredle.
I am a huge architecture buff and I have never heard of Singer Tower - this is a literal jaw-drop for me
I am too and I’m very shocked
i mean it was once the tallest building so and the tallest demolished so thats how i knew it
Same and I was an independent tour guide in nyc (mainly food based )
If you know a little bit more your boss you'll be dropped this is nothing
At the time, it was the tallest building ever voluntarily demolished. Now 270 Park Avenue is.
As a kid I was once looking through an older book in our house and I found a ticket to the top of the Singer Building.
Wow that should be a museum piece
When I was looking through thrift store music, I found a tape for the soundtrack to Titanic, and the owner’s original ticket stubs were inside the case. Your Singer building ticket is way cooler, but it’s always so neat to find things like that tucked away 😋
I hope you still have this little treasure from a big building. Great building, not just tall
Can you show us that?
@@Emiliapocalypse whats with that emoji you creep
Such a magnificent building and it only had a lifespan of less than 80 years... Tragic and heartbreaking.
Some of the stunning mansions belonging to the Vanderbilts only lasted 30 years or less before they were demolished. Such a shame...and then to replace them with steel and glass boxes?? Bonwit Teller was demolished for Trump Tower and the 2 stunning friezes were meant to be retained as museum pieces..but they were just smashed to pieces as he deemed them too expensive to remove? Pieces of history lost forever for.......progress??? I agree that it is heartbreaking
Allegedly only 80 years- could've been much older and found by a new civilization. Same with Vanderbilt mansions, Penn Station and the statue of liberty. Our history may be highly fabricated. These wonders are beyond our current architectural abilities and they were built during horse and buggy era...?
Not quite even 60 years. Completed 1908, demolition begun in 1967.
Well, it was pretty much outshone by the Empire State Building. By the 1940s, the Singer Building was just an old building, no longer anything special. When they tore it down it was just a 50 year old building, not historical or even outstanding. Just like tearing down a building from 1985 today.
Sounds like you've barely given it a thought. The Singer Tower outshined by the construction of the empire state? The Pennsylvania station was outshined by what?
My mother-in-law was an elevator operator at the Singer Building in the late 1940s. Dept. 56 made a ceramic model of it that I bought in her honor. Until now I never saw how beautiful the inside was. Thank you.
I bet she had some crazy stories!
I'd love to see the model. Would you be able to post it on RUclips? Thank you!
Madness! The same mass-psychosis swept all over the western world in the 1960s and 1970s. What WWII didn't destroy, real-estate developers accomplished in those days.
You can thank Germany and their disgusting Bauhaus architecture for all this.
@@AsiaMinor12 You can't just blame Germany for everything, like people doing it for their eugenic policy, this was a collective effort of the western civilization.
You right Bauhaus is disgusting but it's not just the germans who coming out from nowhere to make things worst.
Also people should have already know if they let the germans rule the world we all will living in cubes one day.
@@AsiaMinor12 Personally I consider the Swiss architect Le Corbusier one of the most dangerous men of the 20th century. His "machines for living" and other hideous monstrosities were straight out of a dystopian nightmare. Compared to him, Bauhaus was quite harmless, although I'm not a fan of that school either.
@@Zodroo_Tint you're kidding right. Hitler hated modern art, and he was the only one with ambitions to "rule the world" brainlet
@@AsiaMinor12 Blame the Germans for non-German cosmopolitan modernism
sure buddy
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever" is actually a quote from the poet Keats.
@@breonnie: I'm surprised you replied to this comment. There are two spaces between
the words "is" and "a", poor to no editing. This is typical for online word processors.
White men can't jump lol!
@@breonnie What are you talking about? They seem to know a lot about the Singer Building, which is more than i can say for most others
Rob wells
Architect 1: “what should we replace this building with”
Architect 2: “A BIG BLUE BOX”
lol
insane the shit in NYC that got torn down and what it was replaced with, Penn Station jesus.
The solution is... rebuild me
@@singerbuilding6787 YOS
Doctor?
I love the look of the city buildings of that age. They are both an architectural beauty and an actual work of art. Thank you for sharing its story with us.
@@driley4381 @DRiley It's Neoclassical Renaissance, Art Deco wasn't really a thing yet at that point. However, even the Singer tower was unique among Neoclassical architecture. Almost like something from an alternate universe..
Twin towers were better
@@r62aguy85
The twin towers were bland, featureless, and without character. The only thing they had is that they were tall.
@ notahotshot: from the ground level the height of the Twin Towers created an optical illusion that made them appear tilted.
Unique and interesting is not always pretty.
yeh, & they weren't built by the so called architect who was named in this narrative either. These buildings, many similar to have been built by the same 'company' are ALL OVER THE WORLD... amazing isn't it that we are never taught about the people who these buildings were 'inherited' from. ...our ancestors.
I always thought that NYC's original sin was the demolition of Pennsylvania Station. I completely forgot about the Singer Tower.
I just watch an episode of the American Experience about the building of Penn Station and the tunnels that were built under the rivers to serve it. Fascinating story with a shameful end.
I second this! The Singer Tower is interesting, but the loss of the original Penn Station is sad and fascinating.
I could be wrong but I believe the demo of Penn Station is what led to the landmark preservation law, and a lot of the debris was dumped in the Meadowlands swamp in New Jersey
@@literallyunderrated Yes, that's what they said in the conclusion of the documentary. The Pennsylvania Rail Road needed money (it was entirely privately funded which lead to it's vulnerability) and real estate prices soared so they sold out to the developers of Madison Square Garden. The outcry at the loss of Penn Station lead to a huge preservation movement-the one that saved Grand Central.
@@cynthiajohnson9412 The entity that was once the Pennsylvania Railroad still exists. It's just an insurance company now.
Just a fun fact I like to share
I'm from South Africa and my grandmother had a singer sewing machine that we converted into a table! I was awestruck learning about the Singer Tower and the connection to the company all the way in South Africa.
Never knew Singer Tower existed, but hearing of its advanced technology it really was the grandfather of the modern skyscraper, all the technology used within its basement is almost identical to what was implemented into the WTC towers, from the super pumps that pumped water to the upper floors to the high speed elevators, if I was alive and had the money Singer Tower would’ve been turned into some upscale apartments or at the very least a multi lease office building with various businesses to be housed within, not very glamorous but it would’ve most likely survived longer
Man trying to get close to the true God's heaven.
All the ornate details and n such a massive scale, incredible.
Unfortunately, you wouldn't have been able to command the lease and rental aggreement amounts needed to cover the logistical operation of the building. It just wasn't monetarily feasable to preserve.
here in Charleston if you knew what the owners of a 2 story theatre went thru to make the masonry safe. it was from the same period and very ornamental. this theater seats 600. this building is 1 100th the size of this building. i cannot imagine getting enough revenue to do that.
There's always enough money. People don't understand that this stuff was intentionally done.
Deconstructing this building was insanity! One of the most attractive skyscrapers ever, and so much hard work and effort to build it in the first place.
I understand its floor plate was impractical for offices of todays standards, but always felt this couldve been revived as a residential building or even hotel fairly well. A real shame it got the axe. Few buildings could match its beauty
Penthouse 50 mil
@@maconp1119 do you mean this ironic or critical? I don't get it. Not a native speaker of English
@@topquarkbln: no, they are speculating on the cost of a penthouse suite.
If time travel was ever possible I would want to visit the NYC of the early 1900's to live and breathe the atmosphere of these iconic buildings!
The air would smell of coal and horses.
@Joey Harper Be happy you live in America at all when the vast majority of the world can only dream of being able to go on the internet and type "Shit waste and liberals" lol.
@Joey Harper Bah, the only ones with power are the loud ones on twitter. If more conservatives were as loud as them it would be balanced but the conservative voice is spread way to thin and doesn't get noticed nearly enough. The problem is that while that radical left group posts 500 times a day, a conservative voice will post only a fraction of that.
The reason i don't worry about them is because they are actually a very small group and twitter makes them look like an army, but the silent majority is massive, and it took a while, but they are starting to notice. Only a matter of time for normality to return.
@Joey Harper Well I’m from Russia! Ok? How about that? We can only dream about this “liberal shit” if you say something against the government. you get your ass arrested right away!
Yeah, but all those horses producing thousands of gallons of urine and tons of manure every day!
And most people didn't have access to daily baths and showers.
But walking around would indeed be cool. I'm surprised we don't have the technology yet that would allow us to move around in an immersive simulation...a Star Trek holodeck if you will.
Never even hear of it. That’s why I love history you learn something new every day
Agreed .... very interesting story on this part of history.
There are basically 3 buildings that deserve to be rebuilt the way they were:
1. Penn Station
2. The original St Paul's Cathedral that was destroyed in the great London fire of 1666
3. The Singer Building
Though the Singer Building shouldn't be rebuilt in New York City. It should be built in a smaller city where it can still be the tallest and not be crowded out by modern monstrosities.
@@Novusod Couldn't agree more. Most familiar with Penn Station (76yo) from Long Island, we were too young to understand it's greatness; took it for granted. Until the replacement: a true horror! It's a slaughter house now! It should be rebuilt EXACTLY like the original. We Long Islanders had a separate lobby from long distance trains above.
Elegant, calm, unconfused. Those was spectacular! We used to walk through them waiting for trains. Dreaming of long distance trains! Not returning to our parents in Huntington! lol The building had "personality".
@@brucesmith3072 nothing has personality today. The internet has literally shared so much that nothing new or fascinating exists. It's not just the quarantine making our conversations more awkward and moments shorter, it's everything social media has done...it's why you can't surprise someone with something momentous or even subtle in thought. I can name so much that all leads to each thing, but that is the main genre, it has effected automobiles, building architecture, people most definitely, colors or definitely lack thereof, material, and how we use the other type of material. People are discouraged by this pathetic world we placed or colonized over the beautiful absolutely breathtaking old world and I mean old to even 1970, all of that is trashed for modern day, even 1990 feels elegant, even hip hop stars and rappers feel elegant and knowledgeable back then. Now everythings slurring worlds and loosing all ability to speak, too much information is causing our minds to be clouded. God I should have realized.
*heard
Fell in love with the Singer Tower as a kid when I discovered it in a book about ocean liners. It was depicted in a photograph of the HMS Lusitania. Love the Victorian architecture. It was a shame and crime that it was demolished in the late 60's.
Just a small nit-pick, but it was RMS Lusitania. It stands for Royal Mail Ship, HMS is only for British Royal Navy ships.
The Singer tower was indeed a lovely building though. Like something from a fantasy novel like 'His Dark Materials'.
@@lesigh1749 The Lusitania was built in Clydebank just outside Glasgow, Scotland. Ironically only half a mile from Singers Factory in Clydebank.
@@gerrymaxi6681 Its a small world!
It was a Beaux Arts design
My Mom was born & raised in NYC. I remember her taking me & my siblings there to see it before it was torn down. I have An old Singer sewing machine that I restored & proudly sits in my Living room on display. Great videos.Thank you for sharing these great history on NYC.
Can you please articulate the day's events? Researching for a book on the topic and would appreciate first hand accounts.
My aunt always told me how much she loved the singer budding. I'm interested in hearing the book myself. So that's one more new subscription
It is wild to think about the amount of work that people put into building such a structure, only for it to be torn down in their lifetime
Just thinking about working all the way to the top makes me feel uneasy that’s so crazy props to all those people who spent their days building this tower
Mostly native americans as they were fearless of heights!
@@carolbell8008 I have so much respect ... I would die just because Im so scared 😅
@@carolbell8008 Not sure they were exactly fearless regarding heights, but it's a rite of passage for certain tribes.
Back in the day NewYorks skyline looked like it was chisled out of stone the buildings were masterpieces today they are just steel & glass monoliths.
Architecture today is ugly back then skyscrapers were all different and unique.
Agreed. I know it wasn't a Skyscraper, but Penn Station was just amazing.
Not want to hurt the americans feelings but in my country when something need to fix or rebuild we usually rebuild it like it was before, than the commies came and they said NO but that is a different story. I never understood the americans and part of the reason I'm happy not to be an american is exactly how they behave with their own culture. Those early skyscrapers were beautifull, they tried to be unique and they tried to make their city beautifull, than the steel and glass came and they started to make those buildings with no personality. The WTC was the center of this, two of the ugliest building in the city ruling the whole skyline.
I get it, it's capitalism, if something doesn't make profit anymore it has to go, it doesn't matter if it is a building or your own mother, I get it, I just doesn't understand it. From the start the leaders of the USA knew they will be an empire, they knew they will have more resources than any other empire before and what they do, they build temporary buildings. I guess one thay the Empire State Building and the Crysler building has to go too.
people probably said that back then.
@@Zodroo_Tint that is big city America. Out in rural Pennsylvania we preserve frontier log cabins and wood bridges
The tearing down of this iconic tower was a crime. What a beautiful building she was! Thanks for a great and informative video.
I like what was torn down to build Singer Tower.
@@sharksport01 Oh.... Here you are again.
My grand father has Singer U K make sewing machine 80 years old. And still it is in working condition today.
Thanks Singer company. Sanjay Pune India.
I'm in Kenya and to this day, you will find a singer sewing machine in deep villages and inside some homes (were popular in the 80's and 90's). Quite telling about the reach of this company. Nice to learn about the tower.
A truly beautiful building! It angers me that the idea of destroying such a marvelous example of architecture and ingenuity could even be thought of. The building was ahead of its time. A time, I might add, which had some of the greatest architecture in human history.
New York was on a roll in the 60s. They destroyed Penn Station just a few years earlier, another great loss from the same era.
Weep not, fellow architectural fans. Just like design elements of old Pennsylvania Station live on through the Farley Post Office across the street from MSG, a part of the old Singer Building lives on in Brooklyn! Where, exactly? Would you believe GREEN-WOOD Cemetery?! Yup, Ernest Flagg was actually commissioned to design the mausoleum for The Singer Family. Look carefully at the front facade, and you'll spot design elements similar to the top portion of the old Downtown tower! Have fun...
@@JoseMorales-lw5nt Wow! I never knew that! Thanks a lot. I'll definitely research that more. Also, some of the eagle sculptures from Penn Station have even been salvaged and were used as part of the Market Street Bridge in Philadelphia which was the headquarters of PRR.
It was unsafe and impossible to maintain. Period.
@@sharksport01 They could if they really wanted to or just rebuild the building and make a few changes to make it more safer. Period.
"a thing of beauty is a joy forever" is a quote from a poem by John Keats.
Thanks.
Singer had 19 manufacturing plants across 18 countries. Four of them were responsible for most of the vintage machines produced: two in the US, one in Canada, and one in Scotland.
I would think the logistics of demolishing such a large building in the middle of one of the largest and busiest cities in the world would be absolutely daunting. Just imagine getting all the vehicles and materials needed for demolition to the site without disturbing the other buildings nearby, and then you have to carry away all the debris.
Or call it something else.
Thrilled someone took the time to create a documentary on this iconic building. This is one of my favorites.
THANK YOU for the most in depth discussion of this list masterpiece I have yet seen. What a beautiful tribute to this sadly lost piece of historic architecture. The 60’s committed many architectural crimes, this is near the top.
I'm looking forward to this. Here I am a native of the Pacific Northwest -- I never had a chance to lay eyes on the Singer Tower. I would have been six when it came down. But its construction, it's jewellike architecture, and its unfathomable destruction have fascinated me for years. The story of Penn Station has been told and retold, but not the Singer Tower. I was thinking just the other night, someone really ought to do a good RUclips video on the subject, with a solid script and narration. You beat me to it!
Following up upon watching -- great job! I've been curious enough, over the years, to look up what I can with a Google search, and it is clear your research goes much deeper than that. The video tells me a few things I didn't know -- kudos. The video is a great example of the creative uses people are finding for RUclips these days. One thing I'd steer you to is a brilliant essay that appeared in the New Yorker when the building's demolition was announced. And I always get sort of a chill down my spine when I see the Singer Tower show up in a Hollywood movie. Two examples -- The Fountainhead (1949) and the stock-footage sequence at the start of Insignificance (1985). By the way, my assumption is that the masonry could have been maintained. I remember reading about similar concerns regarding the Woolworth Building in a mid-'70s piece in American Heritage -- eventually they were licked. If I remember right, some elements were duplicated with fiberglass.
I could never find the Singer building in the New York skyline - now I know why, can't believe they would knock it down.
Except for things like cars, trucks, planes and things like that, the majority of people in the US don't seem to have a real sense of historical value when it comes to buildings, so iconic buildings are knocked down with casual disinterest if some greedy developer sees an opportunity to raise a larger and more modern building.
Twin towers were better
@@tjroelsma There are beautiful buildings in most US cities, but they fall into disrepair. By then it's way too expensive and time consuming to restore all the intricate architecture - and alot of people really don't care about old stuff.
@@r62aguy85
The twin towers were bland, featureless, and without character. The only thing they had is that they were tall.
@@paulsawczyc5019 The whole "falling into disrepair" point you're making already proves my point that the average American doesn't have much of a historical sense. Once a building has been built, delivered and lived, worked in, it's considered obsolete and ready to be torn down after only a few decades, because of the idea of consumerism that rules the US. (buy it, don't do maintenance, wear it out and throw it away)
I'm not a historical buff by any means, but I can appreciate an iconic building for it's innovative idea's in the time it was built in. Over here we at least put some value on historical things, where in the US people seem to want to erase all traces of the past and just build new things, because "new is always better, right?"
The funny thing is that when they realise that new isn't automatically better, because many new things are way more complicated and therefore require way more maintenance, those same people immediately start lamenting how "everything was better in the time of my pappy and my grandpappy", conveniently forgetting taht it was actually they themselves who were so eager to dispose of those old things in favour of the latest shiny new product.
Singer were huge. There were up to 20,000 employees at their factory here in Clydebank, Scotland. They built a high clock tower on the site, and an extra train track and station was created to help the employees commute. Singer train station is still in constant use today.
Thanks for this video! Isaac Merritt Singer (1811-1875), the company’s founder left a troubled home at twelve and began life as an actor. He eventually became an inventor and successful businessman. Although he never saw the Singer Building, its architecture ironically had a theatrical quality. A change from the more austere Romanesque styling of earlier skyscrapers. It would be good to produce a video on Singer himself. He was quite a character.
It looks like A palace, but in A skyscraper form, it must be elegant there, shame it’s gone.
That’s what I was thinking. That level of detail and ornament seems rare in modern buildings.
Lots of 19th century buildings and early skyscrapers look like that
Very professional video. No clickbait, no bullshits, simply full packed with information. Thanks!
I’m 70 years old, never heard of this building. I would of liked to have seen it.
Ken, will you please look into Jon Levi's channel? I'd live to know your opinion on what he has to say because of your age.
@@Eche888 I used to visit Manhattan in the early 1940's, absolutely irreplaceable in its beauty....that world is so far gone, not even the nicest building today comes anywhere close to the worst building then.
@@WitchKing-Of-Angmar how old were you when you visited in the 40's
@@williamtyler9209 just around 5, then again in 1947 when I was 10 and vastly inspired by all things automobiles and skyscrapers.
@@WitchKing-Of-Angmar twin towers were better
I love this Building. In 1974 I just bought a new Leica Camera. I went in search of the Singer Building to take pics. Not realizing it was gone! I have an original copy of the book "History of the Singer Building Construction..."it was printed in paperback - folio form then rebound as a hardcover. When the building was new it was either handed out free or sold as a memento. It would be spectacular if any inside videos ( film ) exist
I've admired this building since I was a boy, even though I'm a Californian, who never visited NYC until I was in my thirties. People who visited the building in 1908 must have been deeply awed. Nothing like it had been built before. In a time when most of America was still rural and a lot of people were living in the world of Longfellow's "The Village Blacksmith," this building was taller than many other cities' tallest buildings 50 years later, and it combined modern tech with Louis XV-style elegance. A couple of taller buildings were built within five years, but they weren't nearly as dramatically different from what went before. I visited all the old skyscrapers I could, but this gem was long gone, and I felt that I was missing something essential.
I think in the US people always lived in cities/metros for the most part. Not like in Europe or China were urbanization only started in the 20th century.
I might be wrong about this!
@@yannick245 America's urban population didn't surpass its rural population until the 1920s. In 1776, America's largest city was Philadelphia, with about 40,000 people. London, Beijing, and Edo at that time had about 1,00,000 people. The growth of cities in America was a long process.
@@yannick245 No. Early Americans were mostly farmers. Farming wasn't very productive a long time ago.
@@toomanymarys7355 Thank you! I always was under the impression that Americans "always" mostly lived in the Mid-Atlantic region along the big cities. Or at least that urbanization took place much earlier than in the rest of the world. With the mass immigration from the 1850s.
Ernest Flagg was quoting the English poet, John Keats, when he said, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." Keats wrote that line before 1818.
We have 1916 OTIS elevators at work. They’ve been updated over the years, but it’s still requires an elevator operator.
The best thing is they still work.
Such an iconic building! What a shame that it was demolished to make way for a monstrosity. Great video.
Nothing is sacred anymore. But as long as we have the memories, it will never be completely “gone”.
As a lifelong New Yorker (until 2015), I had only heard stories about the Singer building. What an interesting story. Great video, Ryan (and crew).
Excellent documentary of the Singer Tower...such a shame when significant architectural marvels are lost and forgotten to new construction...✌🏻
The days of beauty in design are over. I've not seen any new buildings or cars I'd consider beautiful in a long time. Everything is simply functional, nothing more.
Lotus Elise is timeless beauty, so is the Evora.
Sears tower is beautiful. Idc that it's modern it's still beautiful.
@@privateemail5870 twin towers were better
@@GhostOfAMachine To me, the design looks similar to many other cars produced today. Aerodynamics would dictate there's only one efficient vehicle design anyway.
Pontiac Aztec... Burj Khalifa. Mic Drop!
In Yugoslavia (Serbia), there is an expression when a machine (primarily a car engine) is working very smooth, fantastic:
"Radi kao Singerica" - Works like Singer (sewing machine)
That expression exists... for a very long time, for decades, most likely from that golden era of Singer.
Incredible building. Whoever destroyed that thing has absolutely zero soul or any sense of aesthetics whatsoever
I don't disagree, but old buildings are giant money pits... someone has to pony up to maintain it. Asbestos, masonry, ancient plumbing, lead paint, the list is endless.
@@kurtbjorn3841 yeah so let’s just destroy all of it and replace it with ugly architecture!!!! Smart right??
@@kurtbjorn3841 This. Saving and maintaining old buildings can be a huge sacrifice. I gutted and renovated a 1950 Art Deco style house, it was an expensive labor of love but I loved the style. Back in those days, people didnt have the luxury of time and money to save "old" stuff, they were looking towards the future!
@@bigpjohnson a plain box-shaped future..
@@linuxjodi4311 well, they also didn't have the luxury of dirt cheap expendable labor willing to carve limestone anymore. Steel and glass was faster, easier, and safer. WW2 wiped out a ton of manual laborers so a lot had to change.
How can a build that was once the tallest building in the world not qualify as being historically worth saving???
ask the yuppies that demolished countless works of art in the same time period.
Maybe it was a piece of shit?
@@TheBraddles82 tallest piece of shit still has to be saved, point stands
every building was once the tallest how many do you save.
@@raypitts4880 How did you work that out?
I’m from Ełk, Poland and I was extremely suprised to see our historic water tower in this video. Oh small world. Still, it’s a shame that such beautiful and historic building just disappeared from NYC skyline. Great video and a great story.
The technology of that time still impresses me today. Sure, maybe there's more advanced ways... But what they did then, from what they had at the time, seems much more impressive somehow.
hell even the cars were better....what back to The future said was correct, an old 40's ford would utterly destroy most cars made today.....
tip if you know cars buy the shell of a 50's car and put a modern engine in it from the 90's and turn it into a hot rod, that thing will turn heads and stand up to punishment your 2021 corvette can't handle....cus it's shell is made of fiberglass and the frame is composite metals, older cars were steel....outer shell and frame lol imagine a Civic getting smashed by a 1950 ford?? LMFAO!!! there'd be nothing left of the Civic lol
@@darthXreven Yeah I would love to see somebody leverage the torque of modern electric motors in classic era car bodies. Maybe a mix of the classic interior looks but some modern tech. Not really sure which way to go there but could be something.
From an engineering prospective, the Singer Tower was quite ahead of its time. It offered the similar kind of luxury and comfort we normally get in today’s modern buildings. Also for that same reason, literally everything was custom built for the tower, I can imagine many of the electrical and heating system weren’t future proof; and it was just too costly to upgrade them all; so it is not hard to imagine they didn’t try hard enough to save it.
Your 20 minute docu video has more info than a 2 hour version of CBS 48 Hours or NBC Date Line. Well done and thank you!
When you take more than 5 fact filled minutes to highlight the Singer's features, we know this is no ordinary building. It had all but the hull and propulsion system of the most sophisticated ocean liners of its time without the controlled environment of being built in a shipyard. And how state of the art architecture, engineering and construction could be completed so quickly is amazing.
It is a architectural crime, that this beautiful and iconic building is demolished. It is a shame !
Yes indeed, This was a treasure how sick minds could justify it's demolition speaks of our time Kali-Yuga
It’s sad that you can never build anything like that ever again
Twin towers were better
@@r62aguy85 lmao gross
@@areyoujelton gross what the two most iconic buildings in the world that was the face of NY for 28 years and dominated the NY skyline with its massive height
@@areyoujelton how is that gross they were a part of history
Idek what ur calling gross :)
@@r62aguy85 they weren't iconic they are only so well known because of what happened to them
This was such a beautiful building, especially inside with those elaborated decorations. It's a shame it was demolished to build a forgettable building instead.
Otis Elevators is still in business to this day.
Biggest Elevator company in the world They make lots of escalators as well.
Nope
Altho the company has had it's ups and downs...
Just sad, that building looks so elegant and beautiful and it’s unfortunate it’s gone‼️
The Singer company didn’t just make sewing machines; for decades it also operated a large chain of Singer retail stores. And in the late ‘60s it was a major advertiser, being best known for sponsoring what was later called Elvis Presley’s “comeback” TV special in 1968 that totally revived his career. And this sadly coincided with the demolition of their masterpiece high rise building.
Singer also owned Graflex of Speed Graphic Camera fame at one time.
My aunt's mother demonstrated Singer sewing machines in the 40's and 50's. She still displays one with pride in their living room.
The fact that we get free documentaries on RUclips by IT'S HISTORY is truly a gift 👍
I've loved this building since the first time I saw a picture of it in the "Lost New York" book back in the early 70s. Thank you for telling its story inside and out. (And one of the biggest regrets of my life is not seeing the original Penn Station before it was demolished.)
The "lantern' was a docking station for airships.
That part of history has been erased for some reason.
One of the main purposes for building the Empire State building was airships. It was the western end for transatlantic crossings.
I can only imagine that part if history living on to this day. Just a wide array of airships & Zeppelins hanging in the sky
While true for the Empire State, when the Singer was built, airships were not yet a thing, nowhere near. In this case it was decorative.
@@JavierAlbinarrate That's not true, Zeppelins were being designed 20 years before this building was ever built. The first ones flew shortly after this building was constructed. I took me about 5 minutes to figure this out... Facts are important!
@@MarloSoBalJr Have you seen the TV program 'Fringe' ? It shows a pretty good representation of that very alternate reality.
A lantern in the roof of on on top of a building is designed to let in light.
This video educated me. I'd never even heard of the Singer tower until now.
What a beautiful building it was. The story of its' demise and destruction is heartbreaking.
Thank you so much for your work in putting this excellent video together.
I see a lot of people saying they didnt know about this one so ill say this. For those wondering, yes there were more groundbreaking skyscrapers that existed before the singer building throughout the early 1900s 1890s 1880s and even the 1870s that most people even most new yorkers dont even know about. Some of the notable ones include the park row building (1899) new york world building (1890) and the equitable life building (1870). These never get talked about enough since any of the remaining ones are kinda buried in the skyline and people seem to only focus on the flatiron building and woolworth building being the only really old skyscrapers when in reality theres so much more then those two that existed and came before them. A video looking into one of the other buildings i mentioned would be nice though its already great that this one is out there and people are finally learning about the singer building.
The Singer Building was the tallest though.
Please write a book, for our future.😀
Never knew about the technical specs of the singer building! What a beast! It was built in a transitional period between early skyscrapers, which were hulking monoliths, and the more elegant designs of the teens and 20s. That period also saw standardization of talk building design. The pencil towers on billionaires row are comparable imo--in both cases they're pioneers and will help to define the next generation of tall buildings. The singer was a stunner and would have been gorgeous condos
For my mom, I just found an early 1970's Singer machine and table and she was so thrilled! She used to sew me and my brother matching clothes in the 70's. Made me lucidly realize how much things have changed in my life, gosh!
Love history of the building. The new steel building is so bland.
A complete shame on the loss of the SINGER Tower in New York City. Another great loss of a great building, if not the greatest!
It’s now One Liberty Plaza, and the building’s height is the same as the former Singer Building.
Such a mechanically beautiful creation,so pure in its elegance,destroyed by assets and property,it wouldn't be known,only for its sheer extent and built by proud men
Pure????😂
My grandfather worked in the tower. He was a bookkeeper. Took the train from NJ into NY every day. He is still missed.
Awesome! Do you have any pictures he took of it? Any cool keepsakes?
There's a railway station called Singer near Glasgow in Scotland and it was built specifically to facilitate the workers at the Singer factory. Bit of useless information for everyone.
Hungry - No! Not a bit of useless information for everyone! It is really nice to know for fellow Singer historians.
The Singer Tower has always been a favorite of mine.
Buffalo City Hall and the Singer Building are my two personal favorite examples of old architecture. Many modern buildings just lack the same character as buildings back in the day.
I'm absolutely subscribing so I can hear that book. Great video on a great building!
One of the most fascinating videos I've ever watched, and I'll be bookmarking it for reference!
Wow I’ve always loved this building but never knew how revolutionary it was. Thank you
In the late ‘60’s I was a skyscraper-obsessed kid who fell in love with this building. When I first went to Manhattan in ’71 I searched the skyline from the Staten Island Ferry for this legendary structure, but to my great disappointment could not find it. I found solace in taking a trip up the skeletal structure of one of the under-construction WTC towers.
I was heartbroken when I finally established that the Singer Tower had been demolished before I arrived.
Thanks so much for this wonderful video! Subscribed.
I think if you make "tallest building in the world" status, even for just a few years, it should pretty much make you culturally immune from demolition 🤷♂️
Literally any building that achieved tallest building in the World is permanently relevant.
Financial district in lower Manhattan is a fickle mistress
It's almost as if that's exclusively why most of them exist🤔
Definitely right up there with the pyramids yep yep.
@@cloutdracula8401 thank you for your input
Singer wasn't the first "tallest building in the world" to be demolished: the New York World Building (built 1890, surpassed in 1894 by Milwaukee City Hall) had been demolished in 1955.
And the World Trade Center twin towers (tallest in world 1971-73) were destroyed in 2001, but obviously that wasn't their owner's decision.
A very sad loss along with Penn station. Both of these buildings would be safe today had they been spared.
As a professional in the architectual industry I love mini docs like this, what an amazing time for construction.
One of my favorite buildings, ever! So great to see such a high quality RUclips video on it! Well done!
This is REALLY GOOD! The building’s life is akin to that of Man’s: Birth, a Vigorous Youth, Grown into Adulthood, Aging sets in, followed by Ignominious Death.
I live in Poland now. Just 20 miles from Ełk, where you've seen this Singer sawing machine in the water tower museum. There's plenty of those machines around here. My grandmother was using one and it's still in my apartment. Indeed a beautiful attifact. Piece of art in fact. Very good material. Thank you!
The biggest reason it was demolished was because it was unsuitable as a modern office. The tower was so tall and skinny that there just wasn't room for much office square footage and it lead to companies being divided over many floors. It would have made for a great condo today though.
Back then due to lack of centralized air (although this building certainly was just about fully equipped with HVAC ) windows that opened and cross ventilation was important and impossible to achieve in a large floor with many different rooms some even windowless.
It think the location chosen for the Single Tower was its downfall, as it became hidden by other towers. The 1914 Smith Tower in Seattle which was the 3rd tallest tower in the country and the tallest in the west coast for many decades I think took inspiration from Singer tower, although it is simple looking from the outside in comparison but the inside is very ornate. It would be hidden today by newer towers except for its great locations at the edge of the downtown area which even today has no other competing towers near it and stands out very clearly as you approach the city from the south, or SE., it stands alone still today which preserves it.
Marvellous. Precise, paced, perfect diction, nice voice!
Looking at the smog in NY in 1907 the amount of coal burnt should have been alarming to everyone, even then.
I lived in upstate for a while and it was odd to realize there was still a cast iron coal trap on the side of my apartment going to the basement.
@@westoniii We still burnt coal in the 1990s in Yorkshire, the hot water heaters and radiators were still set up from the Yorkshire mining days, and it's a massive expense to swap over. Look at the news yesterday, the UN only just declared all petrol (gas) lead free, these kind of changes really need international and governmental help, its a burden to place it at consumers feet who may not have the financial resources.
My grandfather worked for Singer in the 1950s and have been in that building several times. Thanks for this video.
Such a beautiful building, and to replace it with the brick is a tragedy.
Heard about this building a while back, it’s very nice that you honored it with such a great video
What a gorgeous building and amazingly modern for its day.
As all buildings age the maintenance curve gets steep, can only imagine what that looked like in the 60s , and now it's 60 years after that. $$$$$$
No one ever talks about the other 6 70 story building's built in the 1930's that mysteriously disappeared in the 60's and 70's. You can see them in older films and pictures, I don't know where they went but I've looked for almost 40 years. Haven't found one of them.
There are no 70-story buildings built in the 1930s that have been demolished
Granted, The Singer would be almost impossible to maintain, but Liberty Plaza is completely impossible to look at.
It would've been great for condo conversion
Those old buildings are made extremely well. Watch how old ones are put together vs the complete crap they throw up.
Those old buildings are made extremely well. Watch how old ones are put together vs the complete crap they throw up.
My mother AND my brother has their own Singer sowing machines and i can't remember how many i've seen trough the years. And i live far away in Norway. I've always loved the machines, because they are beautifully engineered. After seen this video, i love them even more. R.I.P. Singer Tower. You were astonishing.
Thanks for this video.
Ah yes, the 1960s when we lost so many significant buildings in the US.
Thanks Ryan! An intriguing docu about an intriguing masterpiece of architecture. Funny: I too have an antique sewing machine standing around, a 1908 Singer ... I will now look at it differently!
My grandma and mom, they both had a Singer sewing machines back in Nicaragua; loved the history of the company, as an Architect it's hard to believe how these magnificent buildings could be demolished because of "modernity" erasing their own legacy; congrats on your report 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
We should at least bring back art deco.
One of my favourite buildings is the George's Dock Ventiliation Building in Liverpool, UK. Architecture like that deserves to be brought back and not forgotten.
The best part is that it is basically just a ventilation shaft with a fan at the bottom, but the architect took into consideration that it would be in the centre of a globally very important and influential port city, so they went all out in its construction.
Oh yes, I love Art Deco. Everything was good-looking. Furniture, buildings, ships, trains, you name it.