15 Park Row New York City - 120 Years Later, Still Relevant in Contextualism and Sustainability

15 Park Row New York City - 120 Years Later, Still Relevant in Contextualism and Sustainability

After the 1884 Home Insurance building in Chicago and 1889 Tower building in New York, 15 Park Row became the tallest building in the USA in 1899 and it held this record for nine years. Completed just before the arrival of the 20^th century, this building deserves to be recognized for the sophistication of its architecture with respect to contextual understanding of the 19^th century historic texture in Lower Manhattan, its uniquely economical floor plans, and its use of natural ventilation and daylight. The compositional techniques using the proportional analysis of its context reflect the highest level of architectural education of its time by its architect Robert H. Robinson. In addition, it also offers a unique glimpse to the state-of-the-art technology of its time regarding its structure, its use of movement systems that was capable of serving 4000 users.