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June 30, 2006

Broken Angel: A History Lesson

building
We have yet to see anyone reading the Daily News Brooklyn supplement nor is it available online as far as we can tell, but we now have proof of its existence in the form of a faxed story from a reader. The subject: Everybody's favorite architectural lark, Downing Street's Broken Angel. Artist Arthur Wood, now 75, bought the 1864 building for $2,100 in 1979 and then proceeded to turn it into arguably the largest piece of public art in the city. Over 27 years, he has built 8 lofty spaces rising 108 vertical feet into the sky. The feat he's targeting to cap it all off involves creating a huge whale out of an old helicopter and hanging it from the building. We get a huge kick out of the building but are a little curious about how he's managed to elude the wrath of the DOB.
Photo by Scott Dyer via Curbed
GMAP
Older article on Broken Angel:
A Broken Angel Lifts Its Eccentric Wings [NY Times]




Posted by Brownstoner at 9:02 AM | Comments (14)
Categories: Architecture

Comments

If you like this building, look up the City Museum in Saint Louis. This jaded New Yorker was bowled over on a recent visit.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 30, 2006 9:43 AM

When I spoke to Arthur Wood and his wife last year, they said the DOB tried once to take it down saying it was unsafe. But from what he said, the DOB brought in countless engineers etc who all stated that the building was overbuilt, not under, and was deemed safe. Now I believe they just let him be, and no has complained.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 30, 2006 10:07 AM

Photos of Broken Angel by Arthur Wood's son:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/onebadapple/sets/127493/

Posted by: Kevin at June 30, 2006 10:14 AM

fyi, Broken Angel is featured in David Chapelle's otherwise boring movie 'Block Party", with some funny discussions with the couple that own it. if you are a fan you should check it out

Posted by: flexo at June 30, 2006 10:59 AM

I met Arthur last week while working on my house. He's a cool cat. I hope he's able to do what he wants to with the place.

Posted by: Shahn Andersen at June 30, 2006 11:18 AM

If you thought Block Party was boring then you're just not Hip Hop.

Posted by: DaveBS at June 30, 2006 11:32 AM

Arthur said the article gets a lot of things wrong, but i haven't seen it either. he told my girlfriend that the city used to try to get him to give up the building but he did his homework and successfully fought them at every turn. i wish they had hired him to design the atlantic yards :)

Posted by: Jimmy Legs at June 30, 2006 11:39 AM

My back yard has a great view of this building. They were working on it fast and furious in the early 90s, and there was a NY Times article about the building around that time. Shortly after that, they stopped working for a long time, presumably because the article attracted the attention of DOB.

Posted by: Anonymous at June 30, 2006 11:51 AM

lets start a movemen to get ratner to hire Arthur Wood !!!!

he's an artist too for cryin out loud !

Posted by: Anonymous at June 30, 2006 2:44 PM

this is magical. i love looking at it. there should be more stuff like this. everytime the gov't be it city or fed comissions something, it looks like sh%t. (see union square hand coming out of smoke disaster on Virgin bldg)

Posted by: Anonymous at July 1, 2006 9:43 AM

I don't think the smoke thing on union square had anything to do with the federal or state gov.

Posted by: Anonymous at July 2, 2006 9:11 AM

We had a meeting on Friday with the Department of Buildings. We were told that they would begin demolition on the building in 3 weeks from now, if we do not submit plans by an architect/engineer to bring the building to code. The city would do the work and then place a lean on the property. To have the city do the work would zero out the value of the property and leave my parents with nothing. We understand that the Department of Buildings is in a difficult situation, as there are some safety concerns with the building. We are attempting to comply with the Department of Buildings, and would like to submit plans as soon as we can get an architect/ engineer on board. If any qualified individuals are willing to work with us in this short time frame we would very much appreciate it. I can be contacted at chriswood718@yahoo.com.

Posted by: christopher wood at October 21, 2006 10:28 PM

whats up i think the bulding is cool and nobody should try to destroy it if anything put your focus on the ghettos for a change hey hit me up on my space timmy2testies

Posted by: timmy2testies at February 12, 2007 5:39 PM

whats up i think the bulding is cool and nobody should try to destroy it if anything put your focus on the ghettos for a change hey hit me up on my space timmy2testies

Posted by: timmy2testies at February 12, 2007 5:40 PM

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