LEGO Architecture 21028 New York City Instruction Manual

NewYorkCity
NewYorkUSA
21028

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New York City
Home to one of the most iconic skylines in the world,
New York City sits at the point where the Hudson River
meets the Atlantic Ocean.
The city consists of five boroughs—Brooklyn, Queens,
Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island—and can trace
its roots back to 1624, when Dutch colonists founded
a trading post called New Amsterdam. Renamed New
York in 1664, it has been the United States’ largest city
since 1790. Today almost 8.5 million people live in an
area of just 305 sq. miles (790 km2), which also makes it
the most densely populated city in the country.
The city’s architecture mixes traditional structures with
modern designs, but the skyline is most famous for its
skyscrapers. With more than 550 structures over 330 ft.
(100 m) high, only Hong Kong has a greater number of
tall buildings.
With three of the world’s ten most visited attractions—
Times Square, Central Park and Grand Central Station—
the city is a popular tourist destination with 56 million
visitors in 2014. It is often claimed that New York City is
the most photographed city in the world.
[ “New York is the
only real city-city.” ]
Truman Capote

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One World Trade Center
As the main building of the World Trade Center complex,
the new One World Trade Center tower stands as both a
shining beacon for the downtown business district and a
bold addition to the New York skyline.
The building was completed in May 2013, when the final
section of the 408 ft. (124 m) spire was installed, bringing
the structure’s height to a symbolic 1,776 ft. (541 m)—a
deliberate reference to the year when the United States
Declaration of Independence was signed.
Designed by architect David M. Childs from the New York
office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the tower ascends
from a cubic base, its edges slanting back to form eight
isosceles triangles with a perfect octagon near its middle,
culminating in a glass parapet at the top.
The enclosed One World Observatory allows visitors
a spectacular view of the surrounding city from 1,250 ft.
(381 m) above street level. At night, an intense beam of
horizontal light is projected from the spire and is visible
over 1,000 ft. (300 m) above the tower.
[ “There is something in the
New York air that makes
sleep useless.” ]
Simone de Beauvior

One World Trade Center
© One World Trade Center

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Standing on Liberty Island at the entrance to New York
Harbor, the Statue of Liberty was a welcoming signal
to millions of immigrants and a symbol of freedom and
democracy in the United States.
Designed by the French sculptor Frédéric Auguste
Bartholdi and given as a gift to the United States from the
people of France, the robed female figure represents the
Roman goddess Libertas. In one hand she raises a torch,
in the other she holds a tablet inscribed with the date of
the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.
The 151 ft. (46 m) tall copper statue was constructed in
France and shipped in pieces to the completed pedestal
on what was then called Bedloe’s Island. The dedication
ceremony in October 1886 was presided over by
President Grover Cleveland and marked by New York’s
first ever ticker-tape parade.
The Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty

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Flatiron Building
Although never the tallest building in New York, or even
the first building in the United States with a triangular
ground plan, the Flatiron Building remains one of New
York’s most memorable structures.
Sitting on the intersection where Fifth Avenue and
Broadway cross, the Flatiron’s famous form was
dictated by the shape of the plot of leftover land that
lay undeveloped as the city raced northward during
the second half of the 19th century. In 1901 the architect
Daniel H. Burnham was hired to design a new showcase
headquarters on the site for Chicago-based contractors
The Fuller Company.
Burnham’s radical design created a great deal of debate
as the massive structure neared completion in 1902.
Many New Yorkers believed that the unstable building
would fall over at the first gust of wind. The Flatiron
withstood both the criticism and the strong winds and,
over a century later, stands tall as a groundbreaking
engineering marvel.
Valued today at $190 million, the Flatiron Building
continues to function as a popular retail and office
space. In 2009, Sorgente Group of America acquired the
majority of the Flatiron Building.
© Veronica Mainetti
Flatiron Building

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Chrysler Building™
At 1,046 ft. (319 m) the Chrysler Building was the world’s
tallest building for 11 months before being surpassed by
the Empire State Building in 1931. It remains the tallest
steel-supported brick building in the world and is seen as
an outstanding example of classic Art Deco architecture.
It was designed by New York architect William Van Alen for
Walter P. Chrysler, chairman of the Chrysler Corporation,
and construction commenced in September 1928.
Almost 400,000 rivets were used in the creation of the
steel skeleton and over 3.8 million bricks were manually
laid as the building took shape.
As the building would be the headquarters for an
automobile company, many of the architectural details
including the gargoyles were modeled after Chrysler
automobile parts. The iconic stainless-steel crown is
composed of seven radiating arches ending in a 125 ft.
(38 m) long spire.
Declared a US National Historic Landmark in 1976, the
Chrysler Building is consistently rated one of the finest
buildings in New York by architects and scholars. Since
the observation deck on the 71st floor officially closed
in 1945, visitors today can still view the spectacular Art
Deco lobby.
[ “The Chrysler Building...
was one of the
most accomplished
essays in the style.” ]
John Julius Norwich

© Chrysler Building
Chrysler Building

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Located in Midtown Manhattan on Fifth Avenue between
West 33rd and West 34th streets, the 1,454 ft. (443 m)
tall skyscraper was the world’s tallest building when it
was completed in April 1931. It remained so for nearly
40 years and is still the fourth tallest skyscraper in the
United States and the 25th tallest in the world.
Named after the nickname for the State of New York, the
Empire State, the distinctive Art Deco-style structure was
designed by Brooklyn-born architect William F. Lamb.
Construction began in early 1930 and was completed
only 410 days later—12 days ahead of schedule. President
Herbert Hoover officially opened the 102-story building
on May 1, 1931 when he turned on the building’s lights
directly from Washington.
Over 3.5 million tourists visit the building’s 86th floor
observation deck every year to experience a unique
panoramic view of New York City. Widely regarded as
an American cultural icon, the Empire State Building was
hailed as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World
by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1994.
Empire State Building
[ “From the ruins, lonely
and inexplicable as
the sphinx, rose the
Empire State Building” ]
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Empire State Building
© Empire State Realty Trust, Inc.

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[ “… it’s probably the only city which
in reality looks better than on the
postcards, New York.” ]
Milos Forman

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