CityRealty Insider > Gargoyles: Faces in the Architecture

Gargoyles: Faces in the Architecture

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

If you look up, you may catch the eye of a gargoyle looking down at you.

Gargoyles were first created as useful additions—functioning as rainwater spouts—as well as architectural flourishes in the 12th and 13the centuries. The grizzled characters came back into favor during Victorian England in the 19th Century with Neo-Gothic architecture, and many later styles like Art Deco and Beaux-Arts used them as ornamentation as well. In New York City, the blocks along Central Park West are great for gargoyle-spotting, as is the downtown Neo-Gothic Woolworth Building. The photo site Gargoyles of New York provides a good visual sampling.

More Deco than Gothic, the sleek eagles that line the 61st floor of the Chrysler Building made a dramatic backdrop (story via Smithsonian Magazine) for photographers Margaret Bourke-White (for a feature in Life magazine) and Annie Liebovitz (for a New York Times article ). On a less famous scale, the Brittania condominium at 527 West 110th Street in Morningside Heights has its gargoyles to thank for its being known to neighbors and city historians as the “chicken soup building” (via The Weblicist).

ALSO IN NEW YORK CITY INSIDER

RLS IDX Data display by CityRealty.com, LLC. This information is not verified for authenticity or accuracy and is not guaranteed and may not reflect all real estate activity in the market. ©2024 The Real Estate Board of New York, Inc., All rights reserved. IDX information is provided exclusively for consumers’ personal, non-commercial use and it may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing.

All information furnished regarding property for sale, rental or financing is from sources deemed reliable, but no warranty or representation is made as to the accuracy thereof and same is submitted subject to errors, omissions, change of price, rental or other conditions, prior sale, lease or financing or withdrawal without notice. All dimensions are approximate. For exact dimensions, you must hire your own architect or engineer and for no listing shall the number of bedrooms listed be considered a legal conclusion.

All closed sales data has been provided by the New York City Department of Finance via the Automated City Register Information System (ACRIS). No warranty or representation is made as to the accuracy of any data provided by ACRIS or any other sources.

CityRealty is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for individuals with disabilities. We are continuously working to improve the accessibility of our web experience for everyone, and we welcome feedback and accommodation requests. If you wish to report an issue or seek an accommodation, please contact us at accessibility@cityrealty.com.

An equal housing opportunity

{"1":[40.775,-73.94,"East Side","_es"],"2":[40.79,-73.99,"West Side","_ws"],"11":[40.76,-73.98,"Midtown","_m"],"3":[40.736,-73.99,"Downtown","_d"],"13":[40.711309,-74.01,"Financial
District\/BPC","_fd"],"4":[40.682676,-73.973007,"Brooklyn","_b"],"12":[40.8444,-73.9376,"Upper Manhattan","_um"],"5":[40.7477089,-73.930411,"LIC \/ Queens","_qns"],"18":[40.8889782,-73.9025,"The Bronx","_bx"]}