Completed in 1931 on the former site of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, this 102-story tower by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon rose in just thirteen and a half months. At 1,250 feet to its roof, it remained the tallest building in the world for nearly four decades.
Its Art Deco form steps back as it climbs, narrowing toward a slender crown. The mast at the top was first meant to be a mooring post for airships, an idea dropped when the high winds made it impossible. Opening at the start of the Great Depression, the building struggled to fill its offices, and its owners did not turn a profit until the early 1950s.
Today about four million people a year visit its observatories on the 86th and 102nd floors. In 2007 it was ranked first on the American Institute of Architects' list of America's Favorite Architecture.
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