Building of the Day: 88 Hanson Place
We are starting a new feature Building of the Day. It’s a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy. Address: 88 Hanson Place Name: Hanson Place Central United Methodist Church…
We are starting a new feature Building of the Day. It’s a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy.
Address: 88 Hanson Place
Name: Hanson Place Central United Methodist Church
Neighborhood: Times Plaza (Fort Greene) BAM Historic District
Year Built: 1929-1931
Architectural Style: Modern Gothic/Art Moderne
Architects: Halsey, McCormick and Helmer
Designed by same architects as the Williamsburgh Savings Bank, next door, it is totally different from any other church in Brooklyn, with receding and projecting planes, echoing the bank building.
It has stores incorporated into its ground floor, and many of the same kinds of decorative Deco reliefs and lettering. Forever tied to the bank, physically and stylistically, this block front is an ironic joining of God and Mammon. GMAP
[Photos by Suzanne Spellen]
rf,
I agree completely.
The Target Mall turns it’s back on Fort Green.
It’s unfriendly urban planning in many respects, and it particularly shuns Fort Greene.
Let’s hope the Barclay Center isn’t as bad.
The St. Felix side of this building always seems so unfriendly, like an armory or a factory. It feels like dead space.
(Is this more irony?)
Posted by: Pigeon at February 26, 2010 3:10 PM
what with the scaffolding all around, construction of the LI railroad station, and the stupid traffic patterns created by the Target mall (whose brilliant idea was it to make people walk through the car service drivers and loading bays from the buses on Fulton St. to get to the mall? Why is the office building entrance to the mall closed on weekends, forcing people to walk all around the building to get in? And why is the Pathmark entrance so far for pedestrians?), I think it’s been hard to see the charm of the old buildings. It’s already a lot better now than it was a few months ago before the railroad station was finished. But someone should send Bruce Ratner to urban planning school. (Fat chance!)
Mr. B and Montrose;
I like this idea. Looking forward to more.
Montrose, how does Mr. B feel about you calling his flea “Mammon?”
So many great buildings out there, too. Montrose will have a great time with this. I’m making my list of buildings I want to know more about (especially those wedding G-d and Mammon 🙂
I’d like to see a building of the day on the United Order of Mechanics joint on Putnam.
I agree, DeLepp.
BOTD is a good feature.
The info you provide is interesting, Minard.
And it jibes with my perception of the exterior as armory-like.
To me, the exterior is fascinatingly peculiar, though uninviting.
Glad to see this feature is back, it’s what got me to brownstoner in the first place.