Antiquity in Gotham: The Ancient Architecture of New York City

Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis

Published by Fordham University Press 2021

Antiquity in Gotham

The Ancient Architecture of New York City

Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780823293865

Overview
Contents

About this book

The first detailed study of “Neo-Antique” architecture applies an archaeological lens to the study of New York City’s structures

Since the city’s inception, New Yorkers have deliberately and purposefully engaged with ancient architecture to design and erect many of its most iconic buildings and monuments, including Grand Central Terminal and the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch in Brooklyn, as well as forgotten gems such as Snug Harbor on Staten Island and the Gould Memorial Library in the Bronx. Antiquity in Gotham interprets the various ways ancient architecture was re-conceived in New York City from the eighteenth century to the early twenty-first century.

Contextualizing New York’s Neo-Antique architecture within larger American architectural trends, author Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis applies an archaeological lens to the study of the New York buildings that incorporated these various models in their design, bringing together these diverse sources of inspiration into a single continuum. Antiquity in Gotham explores how ancient architecture communicated the political ideals of the new republic through the adaptation of Greek and Roman architecture, how Egyptian temples conveyed the city’s new technological achievements, and how the ancient Near East served many artistic masters, decorating the interiors of glitzy Gilded Age restaurants and the tops of skyscrapers. Rather than classifying neo-classical (and Greek Revival), Egyptianizing, and architecture inspired by the ancient Near East into distinct categories, Macaulay-Lewis applies the Neo-Antique framework that considers the similarities and differences—intellectually, conceptually, and chronologically—among the reception of these different architectural traditions.

This fundamentally interdisciplinary project draws upon all available evidence and archival materials—such as the letters and memos of architects and their patrons, and the commentary in contemporary newspapers and magazines—to provide a lively multi-dimensional analysis that examines not only the city’s ancient buildings and rooms themselves but also how New Yorkers envisaged them, lived in them, talked about them, and reacted to them. Antiquity offered New Yorkers architecture with flexible aesthetic, functional, cultural, and intellectual resonances—whether it be the democratic ideals of Periclean Athens, the technological might of Pharaonic Egypt, or the majesty of Imperial Rome. The result of these dialogues with ancient architectural forms was the creation of innovative architecture that has defined New York City’s skyline throughout its history.

Explores the often overlooked ancient architecture that was fundamental to the creation of many of New York City’s buildings.

Author / Editor information

Macaulay-Lewis Elizabeth :

Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis is Associate Professor of Liberal Studies and Middle Eastern Studies. She is also the Executive Officer of the MA Program in Liberal Studies at The Graduate Center, The City University of New York.Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis is Associate Professor of Liberal Studies and Middle Eastern Studies. She is also the Executive Officer of the MA Program in Liberal Studies at The Graduate Center, The City University of New York.

Reviews

Antiquity in Gotham: The Ancient Architecture of New York City by Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis looks at how ancient architecture was reconceived in New York City and places it within larger American architectural trends.

Making the very new from the very old: Macaulay-Lewis's exploration of the long fashioning of New York in Neo-antique shapes wonderfully illuminates the metropolis, lucidly explicating how quotation and transformation of ancient models served New Yorkers’ needs and aims thanks to a range of architects, artists and patrons, starting from the earliest years of the United States. Monuments known even far outside Manhattan shine here in new ways, and so do less-traveled street corners; lost buildings, and monuments reconstructed, beckon too, as the book moves between bank and arch, skyscraper and lobster palace. Valuable, naturally, to anyone interested in the post-antique world’s reception of ancient Old World architecture, it has much to give anyone studying American history and society. Macaulay-Lewis's guidance is a welcome gift also to anyone studying the ancient paradigms; their understanding is enriched in seeing how ancient forms and esthetics could signify in such multiplex ways in the early modern and modern city.---Ann Kuttner, University of Pennsylvania,

Seeking evidence of the ancient world in 400-year-old New York might seem like a fool's errand, but Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis unearths a trove of examples—from Federal Hall, which evokes the Parthenon, to the San Remo's towers, inspired by the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates—that delivered gravitas and timelessness to the incipient American city.---Sam Roberts, The New York Times,

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction: From the Appian Way to Broadway Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
One. Herculean Efforts: New York City’s Infrastructure Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
Two. The Genius of Architecture: Ancient Muses and Modern Forms Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
Three. Treasuries of Old and Treasuries of New Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
Four. Modern Museions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
Five. Togas at Home Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
Six. Dining Like Nero Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	133
Seven. To Be Buried Like a Pharaoh Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
Eight. Heroic New Yorkers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	174
Nine. Eclectic Antiquity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	200
Reflections: Useable Pasts and Neo- Antique Futures Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 288
Illustrations
- Other: 72 color and 43 black and white illustrations.
Keywords: City Beautiful; Classical; Greece; Egypt; New York; McKim; Mead & White; Reception; Rome; Urban Studies

eBook

Published: March 23, 2021
ISBN: 9780823293865