Doctor Who

[shipperx]

I'm a few eps behind. Anyway, re: Daleks in Manhattan, the Architecture geek in me is wondering why in the hell the Chrysler building is complete while they're still working on the lower floors of the Empire State building? Yeah, yeah, it's a geeky nitpick. But, still. The entire reason for the extra needle on top of the Empire State was to try to out pace the height of the Chrysler... which is to say that the Chrysler and the Empire were under construction at the same time.

I know. I know. It's a nitpick. But... architecture geek.

Comments

[kassto.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's interesting. I noticed the Chrysler Building there too and just assumed they'd got it right and that the Chrysler building was finished first. Both buildings are just gorgeous — so much more beautiful than the Twin Towers, which I went to the top of in 1989. I don't know how the poor workmen survived at the top of those skyscrapers back when they were Depression fodder and the safety precautions were minimal.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

It is accurate that the needle was all done in secret. They had discovered that the Chrysler was going to be the tallest building in the world, so they secretly made plans for the needle (which wasn't in the original plans) so that the Empire State would be taller when they placed it on top.

And, yeah, the days of the Art Deco skyscraper produced far more romantic buildings than anything done post Bauhaus.

[rahirah]

Shhhh. This is a magic New York with no racial tension. The buildings are put up by pixies!

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Thought it was bald men with cold hands. :)

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

I thought this was an alternate New York - as Barb said, no racial tension, magical buildings, pigmen, Daleks. You know, the usual.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Welllll, I did say it was a nitpick.

[wisemack.livejournal.com]

Hey, not a thing wrong with nitpicking. ;)

And I wondered about that but was too lazy to go look up the stats on the buildings so thanks for being my enabler the info.

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

The Chrysler Building was completed in May of 1930, at a height of 1,048 ft (77 floors) - by contrast, the Empire State Building was completed in April of 1931 (officially opened in May), at a height of 1,252 ft (102 floors)... yes, they were both under construction at the same time, but the Chrysler Building finished a good deal earlier. (Not trying to out-geek you, but for all the nits to pick in that particular two-parter, this was something they actually got right... *g*)

It looked to me like the lower floors were completely done during the episode (and the elevators working) - it was just the needle and upper floors being actively worked on.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

In skyscraper terms it's not really a good deal earlier. And it was a nitpick, but what prompted the reaction was that in an early shot they're on naked girders that looked well below the level of the needle. The story always taught in architectural history was that when they had completed the Chrysler they had realized that the orginal plans for the Empire had it ending up shorter, so they weren't back and redesigned in order to make it come out highter (Basically, it may have way more floors, but it has a lower floor to floor height). But since the early establishing shot had them working on naked girders before the transition point in the needle, given the procedure of doing a building (which you would dry-in before putting finsishes in) they would have been many months away.

Basically, timeline seemed skewy with their working on that area of the building if the Chrysler was finished. Then again, the Empire shouldn't have had finished rooms if it wasn't finished because buildings are finished from the outside-in and if they were at the point of having finished interiors, the exterior should have long been done.

But, given that it was being directed by Daleks they probably didn't have normal construction methods and schedules. :)

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

I guess it's hard to tell if the "lights were on" in the matte painting Chrysler Building... *g*

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

That too. :)