Completed in 1930, this 1,046-foot tower on Lexington Avenue was briefly the tallest building in the world. William Van Alen designed it for the automaker Walter Chrysler, who paid for it himself as an investment for his children.
It was built in a race for height against 40 Wall Street. Van Alen had a 125-foot spire secretly assembled inside the top of the building, then raised it into place in about 90 minutes, taking the title. It held the record for 11 months, until the Empire State Building surpassed it.
The crown of seven stacked, sunburst-like arches is clad in Nirosta stainless steel, the first American use of that alloy. Lower down, steel eagles and replicas of 1929 Chrysler radiator caps jut from the corners like gargoyles. Critics now regard it as a paragon of the Art Deco style.
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