Flatiron: Corydon Purdy & Earth, Wind, and Fire

[Fiona Shnapple]

That idea that P wants his readers to compare and contrast these two
Real Estate projects, that is, the Flatiron, the V in Bleeding Edge,
and the Twin Towers, is probably only our paranoid reading.   But
there it is, the Flatiron, when we open the novel, the Towers, when we
close it. 100 years between the erection of the Fuller or Flatiron and
the Twin Towers or World Trade Center. That double Penis. That V.
And, of course, the Wind has been a constant symbol, metaphor in
Pynchon's works. In Mondaugan, for example. Will the wind ever
remember...

The Earth, the Property Real Estate, unimproved vacancy or soon to be
once what occupies it is razed, those who live there bought off or
forced out, must be built into, to anchor the structure, to protect
the structure from the Wind, and it must be made Fireproof.
>From the Founding to the Fire

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/181.html

So, Corydon Purdy, for the Flatiron.

The Chicago-based Purdy, known today as the “father of skyscrapers,”
began his work during the infancy of skyscraper construction in the
late 1880s before moving his firm, Purdy & Henderson, to New York City
in the 1890s. At the time, Purdy was involved in the design of more
skyscrapers than anyone else in the world.


 In Purdy’s time, the term “skyscraper” described any building that
relied on iron or steel framework (skeleton) rather than thick, heavy
masonry walls, to carry a tall building’s loads. Reinforced-concrete
frames were also included in the description. The term gained
popularity after the completion of Chicago’s Home Insurance Building
in 1885, though the building was only 10 stories and 140 feet tall.
Designed by civil-structural engineer William Jenney, the Home
Insurance Building is still remembered as the world’s first
skyscraper, though it was demolished years ago.

Architectural historians Landau and Condit (“Rise of the New York
Skyscraper,” 1996) wrote: “Due to developments in the iron and steel
construction of skyscrapers that went well beyond the general
knowledge of most architects, the engineering profession had achieved
a new prominence and now raised its voice to affect changes in the
building laws and to ensure engineers played a greater role in the
construction of high buildings.”

When construction on the building began, locals took an immediate
interest, placing bets on how far the debris would spread when the
wind knocked it down. This presumed susceptibility to damage had also
given it the nickname Burnham's Folly.[37] But thanks to the steel
bracing designed by engineer Corydon Purdy, which enabled the building
to withstand four times the amount of windforce it could be expected
to ever feel,[38] there was no possibility that the wind would knock
over the Flatiron Building. Nevertheless, the wind was a factor in the
public attention the building received.

Due to the geography of the site, with Broadway on one side, Fifth
Avenue on the other, and the open expanse of Madison Square and the
park in front of it, the wind currents around the building could be
treacherous. Wind from the north would split around the building,
downdrafts from above and updrafts from the valuted area under the
street would combine to make the wind unpredictable.[39] This is said
to have given rise to the phrase "23 skidoo", from what policemen
would shout at men who tried to get glimpses of women's dresses being
blown up by the winds swirling around the building due to the strong
downdrafts.[40]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatiron_Building
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Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l