Description of the attraction
Woolworth Building is one of the oldest skyscrapers in the United States, a National Historic Landmark, a Broadway handsome man, similar to European Gothic cathedrals.
It bears the name of Frank Winfield Woolworth, the great American entrepreneur of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Starting his career as a boy in a country store, Woolworth has built a trading empire that owns more than a thousand supermarkets around the world. Woolworth's brilliant finds were discount stores, in which everything went for ten cents, the purchase of goods directly from manufacturers, price tags on goods (previously they bargained with the buyer).
In 1910, a businessman decided to build the tallest building in the world for the headquarters of his company. The project was developed by the American architect Cass Gilbert, famous for the construction of many public buildings in the classic spirit. He was also a pioneer in the construction of skyscrapers.
Gilbert designed the Woolworth Building in the neo-Gothic style, which makes the skyscraper akin to European churches. Initially, a building with a height of 191 meters was planned, as a result, the height was increased to 241 meters. The Woolworth Building opened in 1913 and remained the tallest building in the world until 1930, before the emergence of the Chrysler Building and Trump Building.
Woolworth Building has 57 floors. Behind its walls is a powerful steel frame that provides the building's amazing stability: the rest of the skyscrapers tend to sway slightly under the pressure of the wind, but the Woolworth Building stands unwavering. Limestone-colored facades are finished with terracotta panels, a durable material popular in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century. The floors are accented with gorgeous stone lace. The flat columns rise up to the pyramidal summit with Gothic turrets. The interiors of the building are lavishly decorated - high vaulted mosaic ceilings, stained glass windows, luxurious floors, gilded leather lifts. It was here that high-speed elevators appeared for the first time in the world, quickly delivering the inhabitants of the building to a great height.
In the foyer, under a beautiful coffered ceiling, there are small caricature sculptures of Woolworth himself and the authors of the building project. Stone Gilbert holds a small model of the Woolworth Building. Tourists, however, will not be able to admire the curiosity: after September 11, 2001, the admission of tourists to the building was terminated for security reasons, now you can only admire the skyscraper from the street. However, Woolworth Building is worth standing in front of him with his head up.
