Scraping The Sky In New York

It’s a wonderful town brimming over with architectural jewels but strangely brutalism doesn’t really get a look in, or at least it doesn’t on the surface.

Think of New York architecture and your mind my go to Art Deco skyscrapers, modernist office blocks or even the quintessential brown stone house. However, under the surface of Manhatten’s veneer and in every corner of the five boroughs lie undervalued examples of Brutalism.

Hunter College on the Upper West side, for instance, is a strong concrete statement. But nothing compares to the sublime work of Marcel Breuer, the Met Breuer. Angular and reminiscent of the Barbican it’s a refreshing vision of construction in a sea of Upper East Side commerce.  Step out and one enters the world of Mad Men Manhatten, with glorious Philip Johnson glass palaces.

If you are going to hang out in the city then there are three things to be armed with: a camera with a wide angled lens, a Hebrew national hot dog and a Subway card.