Flatiron Building

The Flatiron Building is a landmark early skyscraper at the junction of Fifth Avenue, Broadway, and East 22nd Street in Manhattan. Completed in 1902 and designed by the Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, it takes its popular name from its distinctive shape: a narrow, wedge-like triangle that fills the acute corner where the two great avenues cross, tapering to a prow barely two meters wide.

Architecturally, it is a steel-framed tower clad in limestone and glazed terracotta, rising 22 stories in an ornate Beaux-Arts style with rusticated lower floors, classical detailing, and a richly decorated cornice. When it opened it was among the tallest buildings in the city, and its slender profile made it an immediate sensation, drawing crowds who marveled that the sharp point did not topple. Photographers, including Alfred Stieglitz, made it an icon of the modern metropolis.

Its cultural significance extends well beyond engineering. The building gave its name to the surrounding Flatiron District and became one of the most recognized symbols of New York, endlessly reproduced in film, art, and postcards. Contrary to a persistent myth, the phrase "23 skidoo" is often linked to the winds that swirled around its base, though the true origin is debated. Its distinctive wedge shape has since lent the generic term 'flatiron building' to similarly triangular towers erected on awkward corner lots in other cities around the world.

For visitors, the interior is not generally open to tourists, and in recent years the building has stood largely vacant during ownership disputes and renovation. The reward is the exterior view. The classic vantage looks north from the small pedestrian plaza and Madison Square Park across the street, where the wedge appears to sail up the avenue. The site is easily reached by subway and combines well with a walk up Fifth Avenue.