Broken Angel: A History Lesson
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…
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]
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
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
I don’t think the smoke thing on union square had anything to do with the federal or state gov.
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)
lets start a movemen to get ratner to hire Arthur Wood !!!!
he’s an artist too for cryin out loud !
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.
If you thought Block Party was boring then you’re just not Hip Hop.
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.
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