The Rise of Wall Street

21.04.2010 - 31.10.2010

The Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Place, New York, NY 10280, USA

From colonial times, when the first bastions were erected to mark the edge of town, Wall Street has been continuously transformed, both in function from commercial and residential to financial as well as in scale. Row houses were replaced by lowrise banks, then massive highrise office buildings. The skyscrapers that line Wall Street today represent the climax species of an intense urban process that the exhibit documents with graphics of successive buildings on a given site since 1850. These Vertical Wall Street images dramatically illustrate the cycles of growth that shaped the financial district over time, charting both the evolution from small to tall and the growing girth of buildings enabled by new technologies and slow, but savvy site assembly.Wall Streets highrise history illustrates and exaggerates the typical story of skyscraper development expressed by the value of land and the demand for prime locations. As the district became the center of finance in the mid19th century, Wall Street lots became the richest dirt on earth, selling at the highest prices per square foot ever recorded. The multiplicity of small lots and continuous occupation for more than 300 years also meant that Wall Streets big buildings represented the most expensive and challenging engineering and construction projects of their time. The exhibit explores how high stakes in architecture paralleled financial speculation at the heart of the capital of capitalism.

Opening Hours:
Wednesday/Sunday:.12/6 PM

General admission:
$5, $2.50 for students and seniors.

Group Visits:
The Museum schedules tours and group visits to community organizations, seniors groups, and corporations. To schedule a 40 minute visit for your group, or to inquire about rates, please email groups@skyscraper.org at least two weeks in advance (requests must be made in writing). Guided tours are offered during non public hours: Monday & Tuesday, 10 AM / 6 PM Wednesday / Sunday, 10 AM / Noon

How to Get There:
http://www.skyscraper.org/LOCATION/directions.htm

Contact:
For general information call 2129681961 or email info@skyscraper.org

For information about educational programs, to book a tour, or to register for a Family Program, email education@skyscraper.org or call 2129456324