Gain a Bird's-Eye View of NYC's Historic Art Deco Skyscrapers

Talk Highlights:

• Zoom in on dazzlingly detailed drone-scan images of classic Manhattan skyscrapers like the Chrysler, Empire State, and Woolworth buildings
• Discover lesser-known but equally amazing landmark towers in cities from coast to coast
• Find out from digital artist Chris Hytha how he creates his one-of-a-kind skyscraper portraits
• Hear the surprising stories of the people who commissioned these towers and how they earned their fortunes
• Peek inside the book, Highrises: Art Deco, with art by Chris Hytha and stories by Mark Houser

About this Event:

The prosperity of early 20th-century America resulted in a boom of skyscrapers that still tower over cities across the country today. Focusing on the character and craftsmanship on display at the top of these landmark buildings in a way that can’t be seen from street level, the Highrises Collection reveals fascinating details and stories of these distinctly American icons. In the book Highrises: Art Deco, photographer Chris Hytha and author Mark Houser combine their talents to bring readers the best skyscraper visuals and stories from across the country.

In 2020, Hytha created a photo project documenting Philadelphia rowhomes. Through this project, he developed a particular style with straight-on composition, inspired, he shares, by the analytical photography of Hilla and Bernd Becher. Once that project was complete, Hytha says, "I wanted to find a new building typology that would challenge my creative process, and satisfy my curiosity."

To find it, he looked upward.

"I have lived in Philadelphia for nearly a decade, and seeing skyscrapers as a kid is what inspired me to go into architecture. At first, the project was going to be all Philadelphia skyscrapers, but once Mark got involved, he helped narrow the scope to Early skyscrapers, and we decided that the project should cover the whole country."

For Mark Houser's first book, MultiStories, he used vintage postcards to show the buildings. "When I started planning my second book to focus on skyscrapers from the Art Deco era," he shares, "I was trying to figure out how to make them new and show them without using the same photos everyone has seen before. When I saw Chris's stunning images, I knew I wanted to work with him."

Their combined efforts created a 212-page tome that highlights 100 skyscrapers across 49 American cities. The upper portion of each highlighted structure is shown in a unique close-up drone scan composition. These eye-catching portraits are accompanied by a story of the building and the people who built it, as well as vital statistics like height, number of stories, architect, and year of completion. Additional images might include vintage newspaper clippings, close-up detail shots, or sketches.

"Due to the volume of buildings captured, most of the time I only had one opportunity to capture the image," Hytha told Untapped New York. "To be economical, I would plan jam-packed trips across the U.S.A. to capture as many buildings in a region, often waking up for sunrise to shoot one in Columbus, Ohio, for example, then drive to Cleveland to shoot another for sunset. The shoots were meticulously planned to get the best lighting, depending on which direction the captured facade faces. I always like the sun illuminating the captured facade, ideally at an angle to highlight the depth and detail."

Hytha told Untapped New York that our city's skyscrapers were the most difficult to capture! He "saved the best for last so I could gain hundreds of hours of experience in cities across the U.S.A. before photographing the Big Apple."

While Hytha was chasing the light, Houser was chasing down stories, unearthing the narratives of the people behind the skyscrapers and answering questions like, "What did they do to be so successful that they got to leave their personal legacy on the skyline?"

Beyond the personal tales of tower builders, Houser was struck by the complicated logistics of building a skyscraper and the effects on society at large. "We tend to forget the mind-blowing technology these buildings represented when they first arose," he says, "We're used to skyscrapers nowadays, but when the Chrysler Building went up, there were plenty of people walking around who could still remember when the tallest thing in Manhattan was the steeple on Trinity Church." 

Their favorite Art Deco buildings? For Hytha, it's the Carbide & Carbon building in Chicago, which graces the cover of their book. "There is something so unique and extravagant about this structure, I was in awe when I first saw it many years before this project started," Hytha says. "The GE building in NYC is a close second."

For Houser, his favorite in New York is the American Radiator Building, what he calls "the granddaddy of all Art Deco skyscrapers." But, "Overall, it's one on the other side of the state, Buffalo City Hall. The top looks like candy corn, and Chris' Highrises version is my phone's wallpaper screen. And it's even better inside, with a lobby packed with spooky, shadowy statues and murals straight out of a superhero comic book."

About the Speakers:

Chris Hytha is a designer and visual artist with a passion for photography and a degree in architecture from Drexel University. For the past decade, his work has centered around the built environment, with an emphasis on digital editing.

Mark Houser is an author, professional speaker, and award-winning journalist. Through his books, talks, and tours, he shares the surprising and inspirational stories of the entrepreneurs and architects behind landmark skyscrapers in every big city in America.