the sermons in stones

Istanbul, 1997.

cheese sits on the toilet while we take showers, and i like to stand on my tip toes and draw his silhouette in the steam from a high angle, then stand back to see how warped it is from his actual shape

Chrysler Building (No. 3)

The Chrysler Building is renowned for, and recognized by, its terraced crown, which is an extension of the main tower. Composed of seven radiating terraced arches, Van Alen’s design of the crown is a cruciform groin vault of seven concentric members with transitioning setbacks, mounted one behind another.The entire crown is clad with Nirosta steel, ribbed and riveted in a radiating sunburst pattern with many triangular vaulted windows, transitioning into smaller segments of the seven narrow setbacks of the terraced crown. Due to the curved shape of the dome, the Nirosta sheets had to be measured on site, so most of the work was carried out in workshops on the building’s 67th and 75th floors. 

According to Robinson, “Its ‘dormers’, each smaller and higher than the previous one, continue the wedding-cake layering of the building itself. This concept is carried forward from the 61st floor, whose eagle gargoyles echo the treatment of the 31st, to the spire, which extends the concept of 'higher and narrower’ forward to infinite height and infinitesimal width. This unique treatment emphasizes the building’s height, giving it an other worldly atmosphere reminiscent of the fantastic architecture of Coney Island or the Far East.”

Above the 71st floor, the stories of the building are designed mostly for exterior appearance, functioning mainly as landings for the stairway to the spire and do not contain office space. They are very narrow, have low and sloping roofs, and are only used to house radio transmitters and other mechanical and electrical equipment. For example, the 73rd floor houses the motors of the elevators and a 15,000-US-gallon (57,000 L) water tank, of which 3,500 US gallons (13,000 L) are reserved for extinguishing fires. 

Television station WCBS-TV (Channel 2) originated its transmission from the top of the Chrysler Building in 1938. WCBS-TV transmissions were shifted to the Empire State Building in 1960 in response to competition from RCA’s transmitter on that building. For many years WPAT-FM and WTFM (now WKTU) also transmitted from the Chrysler Building, but their move to the Empire State Building by the 1970s ended commercial broadcasting from the structure. 

The crown and spire are illuminated by a combination of fluorescent lights framing the crown’s distinctive triangular windows and colored floodlights that face toward the building, allowing it to be lit in a variety of schemes for special occasions. The V-shaped fluorescent “tube lighting” – hundreds of 480V 40W bulbs framing 120 window openings – was added in 1981, although it had been part of the original design. Until 1998 the lights were turned off at 2 a.m., but New York Observer columnist Ron Rosenbaum convinced Tishman Speyer to keep the lights on until 6 a.m. Since 2015, the Chrysler Building and other city skyscrapers have been part of the Audubon Society’s Lights Out program, turning off their lights during bird migration seasons.

Philosopher, poet, and civil rights activist Audre Lorde in her home study on State Island (circa 1981), around the time she wrote her autobiographical book “Zami: A New Spelling of My Name.”