Singer Building
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| Singer Building | |
Singer Building was the world's tallest building from 1908 to 1909.*
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| Preceded by | Philadelphia City Hall |
| Surpassed by | Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower |
| Information | |
|---|---|
| Location | New York City, USA |
| Status | Demolished |
| Constructed | 1908 |
| Demolished | 1968 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 47 |
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*Fully habitable, self-supported, from main entrance to highest structural or architectural top; see the list of tallest buildings in the world for other listings. |
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The Singer Building at Liberty Street and Broadway in Manhattan, New York, was an office building completed in 1908 as the headquarters of the Singer Manufacturing Company.
The building's architect, Ernest Flagg, was a supporter of height limitations and restrictive zoning, and showed his solution to tall-building crowding with the Singer's set-back design. The 12-story base of the building filled an entire blockfront, while the tower above was very narrow.
At 612 feet (187 m) above grade, the Singer Building was the tallest building in the world from its completion until the completion in 1909 of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower on Madison Avenue, again in Manhattan.
The building was demolished in 1968 as it was claimed to be functionally obsolete, and in order to make way for the subdued U.S. Steel Building (currently known as One Liberty Plaza). The tower floors were squares only 65 feet (20 m) on a side. It remained the tallest occupied building ever destroyed until the September 11, 2001, collapse of the nearby World Trade Center. It is still the tallest building ever lawfully demolished; it is also thought to have been the tallest free-standing structure ever demolished until the destruction of the Avala TV Tower on April 29, 1999.
Note: The demise of the 646.38 metres (2,120.67 ft) tall Warsaw radio mast was due to a maintenance accident and it was a guyed structure.
[edit] External links
| Records | ||
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| Preceded by Philadelphia City Hall |
Tallest building in the world 1908 – 1909 |
Succeeded by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower |
| Tallest building in the United States 1908 – 1909 |
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| Preceded by Park Row Building |
Tallest building in New York City 1908 – 1909 |
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