Alternate Realities : The Chrysler Building

Alternate designs for the crown of the Chrysler Building. The skyscraper’s architect, William Van Alen, was exploring different options for the crown’s aesthetic, and the design on the far-right was ultimately built.

The design process is never-ending. As a project develops, the architect will consider myriad different ideas and strategies, and in most cases will be juggling multiple schemes at the same time. The path is fluid, and there is discovery and enlightenment along the way. There is always another refinement or detail to add if time allows, but it rarely does. The only reason there’s an end is because something needs to get built, and it usually needs to happen quickly. Think of it like an ongoing movie that changes and evolves over time, and the final built form is just a snapshot from somewhere near the end of the video. It’s the architect’s responsibility to make sure that snapshot is the best possible one given the time constraints and deadlines.

It’s an unfortunate thought, because there could be lots of value in the discarded schemes. Take the above illustrations of the Chrysler Building in New York, for example. It shows three proposed designs on the left, with the built design on the far-right. William Van Alen, the tower’s architect, was exploring different options and aesthetics for the tower crown, with the built design on the far-right. Personally, I believe the built design is far-and-away the best scheme of the lot, but it’s still interesting to consider the alternate realities contained in the other designs. How would the public perceptions be different if one of the other designs was built? The tower would’ve still been the tallest in the world, but I don’t believe it would’ve been as iconic as the built scheme.

There are countless other examples of this throughout the history of architecture, and in many cases the final structure isn’t what the architect originally intended. There are many reasons for this, including budget constraints, time constraints, and zoning limitations, among many others. This suggests a different way of looking at our built environment. It’s like every building is a screenshot from a movie, frozen in time along with all the other screenshots surrounding it. This is the reality of architecture, and it’s always fascinating to get a window into the rest of the film, like we do with the images above.

Check out other unbuilt designs here.