Artists Magazine - USA (2020-01 & 2020-02)

ArtistsNetwork.com 55

Thomas Schaller

AUDACIOUS ARCHITECTURE

The love that Thomas Schaller

(thomasschaller.com) holds

for the Flatiron Building

encompasses his childhood

in Ohio, his student days in

architecture school and his

time as a New York City-

dweller, during which he

walked near and around the

skyscraper hundreds of times

and considered it (as he still

does) an old friend.

“It can be easy to for-

get how audacious the

Flatiron was when it was

constructed in 1902,” says

Schaller. “It must have

seemed outrageous. As one

of the world’s very first sky-

scrapers, Daniel Burnham’s

brilliantly designed building

managed to embrace the

past (with its adaptation

of Classical Greek column

design), its era at the time

and its future (foreshadowing

the vertical skyline of the

New York City to come).”

Schaller points out that

the unique triangular design

of the Flatiron respects the

energy of the City’s street-

oriented design—where

Broadway slashes through

the rectangular grid at Fifth

Avenue—while also push-

ing itself up proudly and

“shamelessly” into the clouds.

“It continues to inform and

to inspire to this day,” says

Schaller. “I can never see it

without smiling. I still feel a bit

amazed at its improbability.”

Madison Square Park, NYC

by Thomas Schaller

watercolor on paper, 22x14

Courtney Jordan is a freelance

fi ne arts writer who makes her

home in New York City.