In a New York state of mind …

… ahead of our return to the Big Apple after having lived there for two-and-a-half years, ending 2011. Yikes! Sounds so long ago. For now, two of my favourite downtown buildings, the Chrysler Building and the Flat Iron.

In the Chrysler Building, the details are an ode to the Machine Age of the 1920s with America’s flagship automobile, the Chrysler Plymouth, the main inspiration. The striking chrome eagle gargoyles represent the hood ornaments of the Plymouth automobile, but what’s loved most is the tapered roof — Jazz Age sunburst scallops with triangular windows. Looks sensational at night.