μαυσωλεῖον
Albany
House of the Muses
Brutal Angles
Albany's Cloisters
Behind the Gate
Condensation
Above and Below
Exahust
Steps Up
The Alfred E. Smith Building holds a commanding view over the city of Albany. Prominently rising above the Capitol, the 1928 structure is confident in its Art Deco simplicity. Terraced like a Babylonian ziggurat, the Smith Building lacks none of the effect of its Manhattan relatives. Part of this is thanks to its position atop the effective crest of the Hudson’s western valley-wall, but even still, the Alfred Smith Building is an Art Deco masterpiece.
The upper limestone-composed levels sit on a sturdy base of granite and the main entrance is entombed in a two story arched portal. This portal features a grand Beaux-Arts window with a pair of revolving doors. To ensure no-one failed to ascribe this brilliant structure to the State, a group of large government seals are carved into the granite above and the names of New York State’s counties run in a band around the base. However, in true Art Deco fashion, this building remains a compelling work of architecture regardless of its commission.
The five first-story windows closest to the Eastern portal are paired with tapenums featuring lion heads carved nearly in the round. The remaining first story windows on the East, South, and North sides of the building include stunning brass transoms featuring a perfect Art Deco motif with a central lion head and radiating lightning bolts. These windows also have dividing mullions with gilded column designs. The North and South portals are done in an Imperial purple-granite with Aeolic pilasters carved in a shallow relief on both sides of the standard brass doors. Above the doorway is a a shallow carving in the granite of the buildings name and mature piece of ironwork atop all. The twenty-forth floor is home to a band of Federal eagles carved into the limestone and the top quarter of the building above this is distinguished with a three story colonnade.
The greatest part of this building's exterior is the group of low relief carvings done in the base’s granite. These carvings are so great as to deserve their own discussion which can be found here.
Manhattan, Chicago, and Washington all have a greater quantity of Art Deco architecture and many of their examples surpass the Alfred E. Smith Building, but not too many. The home of this building does nothing to diminish its architectural and artistic value.
Copula
Justice?
Bird of Prey