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October 26, 2010
Building of the Day: 636 Pacific Street
Brownstoner
Brownstoner yesterday saluted 636 Pacific Street, or what's left of it, as its "Building of the Day." A demolition squad in the employ of Bruce Ratner has reduced it nearly to a pile of rubble at this point.
Address: 636 Pacific Street, near 6th Avenue
Name: Former Allied Storage Building, now Atlantic Arts Building
Neighborhood: Prospect Heights
Year Built: 1924
Architectural Style: Italian Renaissance Revival, morphing into early Art Deco
Architect: Chep Kingsley
Landmarked: NoWhy chosen: This was built as the Allied Storage Building back in 1924. It was designed by Chicago architect Chep Kingsley, and was lauded by a storage industry magazine of its day, as the most beautiful and dignified storage building built in New York, and a complement to the new Williamsburg Savings Bank going up nearby. Self storage is a recent phenomenon of today's consumer society, but in the 1920's, only the rich could afford storage, and this building certainly looked quite elegant with its profusion of colorful cobalt and white glazed terra-cotta trim, and classical detail. There is an Italian Della Robbia style influence to the blue lozenges, as well as a clear early Deco influence in other motifs. Polychrome terra-cotta of this sort is a staple of early Art Deco architecfuture, coming out of the Art Nouveau tradition, and proceeding into the more familiar angular lines of later Art Deco. The building was owned by the same family until they sold it to the developers who turned it into much hyped loft-style condos in 2002. The developers renamed it the Atlantic Arts Building, although now it will be forever known as “Daniel Goldstein's Building”.
Photo: Brownstoner
Posted by eric at October 26, 2010 12:24 PM