Empire State Building

REPORT
ON
THE EMPIRE STATE
(NY-USA)
(TO STUDY INTERIOR OF THE BUILDING)

SUBMITTED BY

SAHIL SWARUP DASH

(11702795)

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Contents
LOBBY.................................................................................................................................................3
VISITORS’ CENTER..........................................................................................................................4
2ND FLOOR: NEW EXHIBITS..........................................................................................................5
MAIN DECK: 86TH FLOOR..............................................................................................................6
The Highest Open-Air Observatory in New York.............................................................................6
102ND FLOOR OBSERVATORY.....................................................................................................7
Newly Renovated 102nd Floor Observatory......................................................................................7
REBUILDING......................................................................................................................................8
ReBuilding the Empire State Building...............................................................................................8
Recapturing Lost Features.............................................................................................................8
Original Lighting Design With Contemporary Technology...........................................................8
Marble Restoration........................................................................................................................8
Art Deco Chandeliers....................................................................................................................8
Anemometer Installation...............................................................................................................8
Art Deco Ceiling Mural.................................................................................................................9
Ceiling Mural Facts.......................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................10

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TASK 1
TO STUDY INTERIORS OF THE BUILDING

The Empire State Building is more than a spectacular view. It’s an immersive experience
inside a world-famous landmark. In addition to Observation Decks, includes the new
entrance on 34th street, two-story building model, self-service ticketing kiosks available in
nine languages, the restored lobby with its stunning art deco ceiling murals and the historical
Dare To Dream Exhibit.

LOBBY
The Fifth Avenue lobby is one of the few interiors in New York to be designated a
historic landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. In 2009, 18 months
were spent restoring its aesthetic to the original 1930 design - it only took 13 months
to build the entire building!

Highlights of the lobby include the Art Deco inspired ceiling murals—in a homage to
the mechanical age, planets and stars are rendered as an assembly line of gears,
brought back to life in 24-karat gold and aluminum leaf—and, on the wall above the
front desk in the Fifth Avenue lobby is one of the most famous images in New York
City, a depiction of the building itself with beams of lights radiating from the mast.

The landmarked lobby is now the finale to the Empire State Building experience.

In 2018, the new guest entrance was opened on 34th Street.

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VISITORS’ CENTER
New 34th Street Visitors’ Center is a spacious, fully air-conditioned venue designed for
visitors to orient themselves, clear security, and buy tickets at our self-serving kiosks.

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2ND FLOOR: NEW EXHIBITS

New 2nd Floor Exhibits Take Guests on the Journey From the Building’s Construction
to Its Place in Pop Culture Today
Featuring brand new immersive and interactive exhibits, the reimagined Empire State
Building Galleries bring travelers through time on their way to one-of-a-kind views from the
86th Floor Observatory.

 The Site in the 1920s: Through building surveyors, Guests can look in and see the
New York City streets of the late 1920s come to life in full color.
 Construction: Be transported back in time as hot rivets, and steel beams fly
overhead, and the sounds of New York City come alive in surround sound. Visitors can also
interact with specially commissioned cast sculptures of construction workers as they work
and take their lunch break.
 Modern Marvel: The Modern Marvel exhibit outlines the specific measures taken to
make the Empire State Building a world leader in sustainability and a leading example in
energy efficiency.
 Otis Elevators: Walk through a stimulation of an actual elevator shaft in this
dedicated exhibit from Otis Elevators showcasing not only how the original elevators
operated, but learning about the latest technology installed in the newest elevators, which
transport more than 10 million tenants and Observatory Guests each year.
 Urban Campus: Urban Campus offers a glimpse into some of the major tenant
spaces, amenities, and hidden views of the building as experienced by those who work there.
 World’s Most Famous Building: More than seventy screens display highlights of
ESB’s starring role in pop culture from every decade since the 1930s.
 King Kong: Walk into an office from the 1930s where the famous, giant ape’s fingers
pierce the walls as he dangles from the building and dodges vintage fighter planes. Those
brave enough can even step into Kong’s hands – but beware, you might feel the power of this
fearsome ape firsthand!
 Celebrity: This exhibit highlights some of the most-famous visitors (athletes,
musicians, actors) with their images and signed memorabilia adorning the walls for Guests to
admire

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MAIN DECK: 86TH FLOOR

The Highest Open-Air Observatory in New York
Find yourself in the center of it all, above it all, when visit the Empire State Building’s open-
air 86th Floor Observation Deck. As the most famous observatory in the world, the 86th Floor
has been the setting of dozens of movie and television scenes, as well as tens of millions of
unforgettable personal moments.
The Observation Deck wraps around the building’s spire, providing 360-degree views of
New York and beyond. From up here you’ll get one-of-a-kind views of Central Park, The
Hudson River and East River, The Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, The Statue of Liberty,
and much more. Our official Observatory Experience app teaches you about your view from
every direction. Then take advantage of our high-powered binoculars to get a closer look.

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102ND FLOOR OBSERVATORY

Newly Renovated 102nd Floor Observatory
Venture up the Empire State Building’s mast in a Glass Elevator as your approach our newly
renovated 102nd Floor Observation Deck. Featuring 360-degree views through floor-to-
ceiling glass windows, the 102nd Floor offers you the chance to experience unparalleled
panoramic views of New York City and beyond.

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REBUILDING
ReBuilding the Empire State Building
The Empire State Building lobby is one of the few interiors in New York to be designated a
historic landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. As part of the Empire State
ReBuilding modernization initiative, the ESB lobby has been recreated to the original
architects' Art Deco design intent, while introducing a contemporary visitor processing
system and employing state-of-the-art technology.

Led by ownership, the restoration team included Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners
LLP (BBB), Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), historians, artists, and specialty craftsmen. Guided by
historical documents, photos, original design sketches, blueprints, and forensic analysis of
existing architectural elements, the team of experts worked for nearly two years to restore the
aesthetic of the original 1930 design.

Recapturing Lost Features

Over the years, key design elements were obscured and lost. In the 1960s, an acrylic-panel
dropped ceiling was installed, covering an ornate ceiling mural and introducing fluorescent
lighting to the lobby. Glasswork, such as intricate cast glass fixture lenses that lined elevator
banks and side corridors, were replaced over time with acrylic inlays. JLL discovered
photographs and descriptions of original panels at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning,
New York, which served as a guide for highly-skilled artisans used to recreate over 12,000
linear feet of the historic glasswork.
Original Lighting Design With Contemporary Technology
Through the extensive research, the BBB team identified original ESB lighting concepts to
match that intent with modern lighting technology, featuring energy-efficient bulbs and
ballasts that can be adjusted based on lighting needs and New York power grid demands.
Additionally, ESB restored the original 1930s lighting levels, tuning the overall lighting
scheme to its original intensity to bring out the colors in the lobby's stone walls and ceiling
mural.

Marble Restoration 
The original masons used carefully-selected international marbles throughout the lobby to
create a unique example of "bookmatching," in which slices of stone from the same block are
arranged to mirror each other, highlighting the marble's natural veining for artistic purposes.
Pieces of the building's original marble were removed or damaged over the past 78 years, so
BBB searched the world and replaced lost material with new marble to match.

Art Deco Chandeliers

Original ESB lobby blueprints showed plans for two ornate chandeliers to be installed one
each over the second floor pedestrian bridges along the 33rd and 34th Street lobby corridors.
BBB discovered that the original chandeliers were never created. Instead, two 1920s fixtures,
which were since removed and destroyed, were hung in the later phases of the original
construction.
Anemometer Installation
On the wall mural within the Fifth Avenue main lobby entrance, JLL coordinated the
restoration of the anemometer that was later replaced by a clock to measure wind speed and
direction from a weather station above the ESB's world-renowned 86th floor Observatory.
Although the anemometer was part of the original 1930s design, its weather station will offer
modern-day technology.

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Art Deco Ceiling Mural

The Empire State Building's main lobby originally featured an ornate ceiling mural in a
tribute to the opportunity and spirit of the Machine Age.

Featuring 23-karat gold and aluminum, the mural is an Art Deco representation of a celestial
sky with sunbursts and stars that reflect light with a warm glow, drawing the eye upward to
the ceiling. But in homage to the Machine Age, the sunbursts and stars are represented by
gears.

The ceiling remained the focal point of the lobby until the 1960s, when it was painted over
and covered with a dropped ceiling and flourescent light fixtures. As part of the Empire State
Building's capital improvements program commenced in 2007, a team of artists and
historians worked collaboratively to recreate the original 1930s ceiling.

The restoration team was guided by historic photographs, on-site forensic analysis, original
plans, and even decades-old dirt patterns attracted electronically to the metals under the paint
covering the mural.

A 26-step process was used to recreate the Art Deco mural using the same techniques as the
original artists from Rambusch Studios. The full replication, including research, design,
execution and installation took approximately two years to complete and was finally installed
at the Empire State Building in 2009.

Ceiling Mural Facts

 The materials used on the replicated ceiling are the same materials used to create the
lobby ceiling in 1931.

 The mural used over 15,000 square feet of canvas, and is a complex layout of over 75
pieces of canvas fitted together.

 115,000 sheets of aluminum leaf were used on the finished ceiling mural.

 Over 20,000 man-hours have gone into the replication of the ESB ceiling.

 The mural used 1,300 square feet of 23-karat gold leaf and 14,000 square feet of
aluminum.

 There are 16 layers of paint, glazes and leaf used in the ceiling mural.

 The recreation process involved 26 steps from beginning to completion.

 The recreation and installation of the new mural consumed nearly twice the time it
took to construct the Empire State Building

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REFERENCES
Britannica, T. E. (n.d.). Empire State Building. Retrieved from
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Empire-State-Building

BUILDING, G. (n.d.). THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING. Retrieved from

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Empire_State_Building.html

(n.d.). EMPIRE STATE. NEW YORK. Retrieved from https://www.esbnyc.com/

(n.d.). EMPIRE STATE. Retrieved from http://architectuul.com/architecture/empire-state-building

(n.d.). Empire State Building. DESIGN BOOK. Retrieved from

http://www.designbookmag.com/empirestatebuilding.htm

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