Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, Skyscraper in the Flatiron District, Manhattan, United States
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower stands beside Madison Square Park and reaches a height of 213 meters across 50 floors. The structure presents itself in white limestone with a large clock face on each side.
The tower was completed in 1909 and held the record as the tallest building in the world until 1913. The design took inspiration from the campanile of San Marco in Venice.
The tower's clock faces and bells were kept in the 1960–1964 renovation by Morgan & Meroni, which replaced the marble cladding with limestone and removed most Renaissance Revival ornament. Since 2002 a computer-controlled multicolour lighting system changes colour for holidays and events. The tower has housed the New York Edition Hotel since 2015.
The building now houses the New York Edition Hotel in the Flatiron District. Its location beside Madison Square Park makes orientation in the neighborhood straightforward.
The tower is modeled on St Mark's Campanile in Venice, but it is older than its model: the campanile collapsed in 1902 and was rebuilt in 1912. It is also more than twice the size of the Venetian original, rising 700 feet (210 m) on a footprint of just 75 by 85 feet.
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