5 famous architectural photos: New York buildings
by

5 Famous architectural photos guide, Seminal buildings pictures, Celebrated property pictures

5 Famous Architectural Photos

21 June 2021

Architects and designers focus their energies and passions on ensuring that every nook and cranny of a building is designed with loving care and attention.

And their efforts are evidenced in finished projects where beauty is balanced by functionality and practicality is intertwined with passion.

But buildings are also brought to life in interesting ways by the people who live and work in them, and by artists and photographers who find endlessly inventive angles and perspectives.

These five famous architectural photos captured seminal buildings at times when they symbolised societal transformation.

Here are five famous architectural photos you won’t forget.

5 famous architectural photos: New York buildings

5 Famous Architectural Photos – Photographers

  1. Torre David #1 (2011)

This iconic colour shot by Iwan Baan shows a cross-section of the Torre David skyscraper in Caracas, Venezuela, which was designed by architect Enrique Gomez but was left unfinished and became a ‘vertical slum’ which a community of squatters made their home. By documenting architecture that’s imperfect and a community that’s usually ignored, Baan broke boundaries with this photo and his genius was recognised at the 2012 Venice Biennale.

  1. Case Study House No.22 (1960)

Pierre Koenig’s Stahl House is probably the most famous of the modernist Case Study houses which sit perched on hillsides above Los Angeles. This famous photo by Julius Shulman captures the stylised home from an angle showcasing its dramatic overhang with the LA city lights beyond. Two models in cocktail dresses sit relaxing inside, adding a human and almost traditional touch to this otherwise starkly modern composition.

  1. Sunset, Gorbals (1968)

During the 1960s, a slum clearance programme demolished the original tenement buildings in Glasgow’s Gorbals and heralded the end of an era for this proud working-class community. This seminal photograph by Oscar Marzaroli captures the sun setting between two massive, partially constructed high-rise buildings, with chimney stacks from traditional tenements silhouetted in the foreground. A seminal photo that perfectly captures the city during a transitional phase, it influenced everyone from musicians like Deacon Blue to commercial photographers like SNS Group.

  1. Clinton Road, London (1977)

German photographer Thomas Struth works exclusively in black and white, which adds a unique and fascinating dimension to his images of all types of buildings and social spaces, from high-rises to amusement parks. This memorable one-point perspective photograph of a deserted London street complete with contemporary cars and tumbledown terraced houses brilliantly captures the anomie of late 70s Britain.

  1. Lunch Atop a Skyscraper (1932)

This breath-taking shot was probably taken by Charles C Ebbets and it’s instantly recognisable. Taken on the 69th floor of the Rockefeller Plaza, it features a gang of construction workers casually shooting the breeze as they take a break on a steel girder suspended above the sprawling city below. Possibly the most renowned photograph ever taken of New York City, it captures the Big Apple’s ambitious built environment and the esprit de corps amongst the men who made it. Reproduced on millions of posters worldwide and widely parodied, Lunch Atop a Skyscraper is a death-defying image that epitomises the city that never sleeps.

We hope you’ve been inspired by these five famous architectural photos – perhaps they’ll inspire you to record your own projects for posterity?

Comments on this guide to 5 famous architectural photos help article are welcome.

Glasgow Building Designs

Glasgow Architecture Designs – architectural selection below:

New Glasgow Architectural Photos
Glasgow Architectural Photos

Riverside Museum
Design: Zaha Hadid Architects
Riverside Museum Glasgow

Kelvin Hall television and film studio
Design: Reiach and Hall Architects
Kelvin Hall television and film studio vision

Merchant City boutique hotel
Merchant City Property

Comments / photos for the 5 famous architectural photos advice article page welcome