Model plane on the roof of 77 Water Street

[thomasjfletcher]

Does anybody know anything about the model plane on the roof of 77 Water Street? Who commissioned the work and was it made by an “artist”? Is it privately owned? Has anybody got a picture of this wierd thing??
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/LM/028A.jpg

tom
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/

[Jack Ryan]

Unfortunately, I have no photos to post but I CAN tell you that the sculpture was designed by some guy named Rudolph de Harak and executed by the sculptor William Tarr in 1969. It is cool, aint it?

[thomasjfletcher]

It is-I havn't actually seen it though, I've just heard about it. Apparently it's a full-size model of a WW1 Sopwith Camel, complete with runway. It was put there to amuse inhabitants of surrounding scyscrapers, notably the WTC.
Here's the only pic I could find, a satelite image------(you can see the plane and runway and "77")
http://img10.exs.cx/img10/5984/77_Water_alt.jpg

[Jasonik]

...the biplane on the roof of 77 Water Street in Lower Manhattan, a playful touch installed by the developer, the William Kaufman Organization.source (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/16/nyregion/16Blocks.html?ex=1105592400&en=10b58e63367815bc&ei =5070)

Proposed water tower enclosure. (http://www.jbharch.builderspot.com/page/page/750215.htm) :P


...77 Water Street. On each of the four corners of this modern, plaza-style building is a contemporary sculpture. We like the one directly in front of you on the southwest corner: William Tarr’s gentlyswaying Rejected Skin, 1969.source (http://www.theinsider.com/nyc/attractions/2LowerManhattan2.htm)

Are you sure Jack?

[ZippyTheChimp]

Nice research.

[Jasonik]

Thanx, I'm disappointed I couldn't find a photo though.
I'd have better luck finding a photo of the Lepus californicus jacalopus (http://members.aol.com/thermog2/shadowrun/creatures/jackalope.html) :wink:

[Jack Ryan]

We're both right! Rudolph de Harak and William Tarr are credited with both the biplane sculpture AND 'Rejected Skin'. The latter is indeed made from rejected pieces of the building's aluminum siding.

[asg]

I have a decent picture of the roof of this building, how do I post it here?

[NYatKNIGHT]

How to post a photo: http://forums.wirednewyork.com/viewtopic.php?t=1280

[asg]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/asg9000/77_Water_St.jpg

[ManhattanKnight]

Another one:

http://img140.exs.cx/img140/9900/77roof4us.jpg

[Jasonik]

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dieter-welzel.de/db_Fensterblick_links_gezoomt_von_DB_60_Wall_Stree t_10_06_20031.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dieter-welzel.de/Uber_mich/Fotos/New_York_2003/Fotoalbum_New_York_2003/fotoalbum_new_york_2003_1.html&h=301&w=400&sz=85&tbnid=RTn8Z_PqO4YJ:&tbnh=90&tbnw=120&hl=en&start=15&prev=/images%3Fq%3D60%2Bwall%2Bstreet%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D% 26sa%3DN
http://www.dieter-welzel.de/db_Fensterblick_links_gezoomt_von_DB_60_Wall_Stree t_10_06_20031.jpg

[Jasonik]

http://www.wirednewyork.com/skyscrapers/40wall/wall40_s.jpg (http://www.wirednewyork.com/skyscrapers/40wall/wall40.jpg)

[philiph]

Here's a picture (http://flickr.com/photos/phrenologist/31351263) I took of the top of 77 Water St. when I worked in a nearby building.

[lofter1]

Nice shot ^^^

I wish they would do some work on the street level plaza at 77 Water Street ... it is pure 70s, all most to the point of kitsch, but currently looks a tad ragged around the edges.

nyc-architecture (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nyc-architecture.com/LM/lobby.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nyc-architecture.com/LM/LM028-77WATERSTREET.htm&h=445&w=603&sz=23&hl=en&sig2=buM5PcdlSFgxZpcoYsniLw&start=2&tbnid=IPp4UpIigC5JpM:&tbnh=100&tbnw=135&ei=tuLwRcmQD4SihgTSkr2RCg&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%252277%2Bwater%2522%2Bplaza%26gbv%3D 2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den) has images of how it looks now.

Here are some renders of ideas for the plaza (http://http://www.cameronsinclair.com/work/NYC2.html) from Cameron Sinclair (http://www.cameronsinclair.com/):

http://www.cameronsinclair.com/images/small/77%20water%203.jpg

http://www.cameronsinclair.com/images/small/77%20water%202.jpg

[Merry]

This photo is from my New York City calendar for today, August 27th, 2010:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4931591378_1ef87332d0_o.jpg

New York Architecture Images page (http://www.nyc-architecture.com/LM/LM028-77WATERSTREET.htm)

From the www:

http://www.woostercollective.com/2007/03/03/BIPLANE3.jpg
http://www.woostercollective.com/2007/03/who_knew_1.html

[Merry]

The view in 1969 (see slideshow) is much better without "Mustard & Fatty" ;).


Lower Manhattan’s Mysterious Warplane

By Nick Carr


http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-OU376_NYPLAN_F_20110719175549.jpg

See more photos (http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/07/20/plane-on-the-roof-in-lower-manhattan/tab/slideshow/)

For years, Shawn Hakimian has wondered why a World War I fighter plane sits on the roof of 77 Water Street.

“It’s not every day you see an airplane taking off from a New York City building,” says Hakimian, a developer whose 75 Wall Street condominiums have views onto the roof of the neighboring Water Street building and the biplane that is parked there, on a landing strip lined with runway lights. “It’s one of our buyers’ most commonly asked questions.”

When the William Kaufman Organization built the 26-story office tower in 1970, the owner wanted to adorn its roof with something more interesting than air-conditioning machinery.


http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-OU378_NYPLAN_E_20110719175845.jpg
A photo of the newly installed plane replica, taken in 1969.

“When you’re in a building that’s higher, and you’re looking down, it’s pretty ugly,” says Robert Kaufman, the company’s president. “So we said: ‘what can we do?’ And we got the idea of putting an airplane on the roof.”

Though Kaufman delights in onlookers wondering if a plane did indeed fly in and land on 77 Water Street, the aircraft is actually just an artistic re-imagining of a 1916 British Sopwith Camel, designed by Rudolph de Harak and constructed by sculptor William Tarr. It was hoisted into place by crane in 1969 and hasn’t moved since.

The high-altitude plane is just one of many whimsical embellishments found on Kaufman-owned buildings throughout New York City. At 767 Third Avenue, an otherwise bland cement wall abutting the property is decorated with a three-story chess board, on which historic matches have been recreated. Explore the plaza at 77 Water Street, and you’ll find a full-size replica of a turn-of-the-century penny candy store, open for business. And neighboring buildings with a view of the setback at 127 John Street have a view on a cat chasing a canary, set in tile.

But why go to the trouble of installing a replica World War I fighter plane on the roof of a building where few can see it?

Though it might lack the necessary mechanics to get off the ground, it’s a safe assumption that 77 Water Street’s biplane has taken flight countless times over the past 40 years in the imaginations of Wall Street residents and office workers fortunate enough to count it in their windowscape – and that’s enough for Kaufman.

“You can’t just impose these buildings and ignore the people that have to look at them,” he said, adding later: “It’s very satisfying when you do something that people so appreciate.”

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-OU379_NYPLAN_G_20110719180109.jpg

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-OU380_NYPLAN_G_20110719180213.jpg

http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/07/20/plane-on-the-roof-in-lower-manhattan/

Scouting New York (http://www.scoutingny.com/)

[lofter1]

Sculptor William Tarr also did the great Cor-Ten steel door found at 102 Greene Street (http://www.sohopics.com/?p=4) in SoHo ...

http://www.freedumb.net/img/102greenst.jpg

And the Martin Luther King Memorial (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/1033729476/) found at West 65th and Amsterdam ...

http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/MLK_memorial_scuplture.jpg/225px-MLK_memorial_scuplture.jpg

[scumonkey]

“You can’t just impose these buildings and ignore the people that have to look at them,”
Someone please tell that to Gene...

[uakoops]

Wow. About 10 years ago I was working next door (32 Old Slip, One Financial Square), and I never knew that was there.

[RoldanTTLB]

And like that, I've seen it for myself:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6067/6025695620_8faf321dc1_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7799907@N05/6025695620/)