Singer Building - Definition and Overview

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 Sewing Machine Company.

Manhattan view, c. 1909-1910; Singer Building tower in the left center

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 above grade, the Singer Building was the tallest building in the world from its completion until the completion in 1909 of the Metropolitan Life Tower on Madison Avenue in Manhattan.

The building was demolished in 1968 as it was functionally obsolete. The tower floors were squares only 65 feet (19.5 metres) on a side. It is the tallest building ever voluntarily demolished, and was until the destruction of the Avala TV Tower on April 29, 1999 the tallest building ever demolished. It remained the tallest occupied building ever demolished until September 11, 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center.

Today One Liberty Plaza occupies the site.

External links

• The Singer Building on Skyscrapers.com (http://www.skyscrapers.com/re/en/wm/bu/102519/)
• Old postcard view of the Singer Building on bc.edu (http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/fa267/20th/singer1.jpg)