History of Flatiron Buildings
Flatiron buildings are structures built between 1880 and 1926, generally in Beaux-Arts or Renaissance Revival architectural designs popular of the era. The buildings are identified as flatirons because they are shaped like a flat clothes iron and built on trapezoid-shaped lots common in the 19th and early 20th century city grids.
History
Existing flatiron buildings in the United States date to 1880 with the first built in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The most popular buildings today are the Gooderham Building, built in Toronto in 1892; the English-American building in Atlanta, built in 1897; and the most famous, the Fuller Building of Manhattan, built in 1902. San Francisco, Fort Worth, Chicago and Portland, Oregon, also have fine examples of flatiron architecture. These buildings have been designated as historic landmarks.
Significance
These structures are the first skyscrapers, which are built using steel frames over reinforced concrete, which takes the weight of the building off the exterior walls to allow it to be constructed taller than other office buildings of the day.
Function
Flatiron buildings serve two goals: They employ efficient use of otherwise unused space for commercial purposes and give business districts a specific architectural identity.
Types
While the Fuller Building was not the first flatiron, it served as an inspiration for future similar buildings, most notably the Fort Worth's Flatiron Building, which offered elements of Fuller's Beaux-Arts architecture combined with Renaissance Revival.
Features
In addition to its shape, the flatiron features classical Greek columns, terra-cotta facades and stately arched entryways with caged elevators, which originated with Chicago architects who conceived the early renaissance styles of skyscrapers in the 1890s.
Identification
Surviving flatiron buildings are found on wedge-shaped lots usually in the center of a city's business district or older neighborhoods and offer examples of classic 19th-century style.
Fun Fact
Manhattan's Fuller Building is a popular venue for movies, including the comic-book Spiderman series, which used the flatiron as headquarters for the fictional "Daily Bugle" newspaper offices.
Tags: Fuller Building, Fort Worth, History Flatiron, History Flatiron Buildings, popular buildings
