1) New York State Museum- Museum dedicated to showcasing the rich history of the state of New York through a variety of programs and exhibits. Located on the Empire State Plaza, this is an example of the style of building that was considered to be the future of architecture in the 1960’s.
“New York State Museum, Albany, New York.” New York State Museum, Albany, New York. Accessed February 29, 2016. https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/.
Alfred E. Smith State Office Building- An example of Albany’s older architecture, this building was completed in 1928 and is reminiscent of the older style of building you might see in New York City.
Albany City Hall- This is another example of Albany’s older architecture and is home to the government for the city of Albany.
“The Official Site of the City of Albany, NY.” City Hall. Accessed February 29, 2016. http://www.albanyny.org/Government/CityHistory/CityHall.aspx.
New York State Executive Mansion- A third example of the 1800’s style of building in Albany, this mansion has been home to the Governor of New York since 1875.
“New York State Office of General Services – Convention and Cultural Events – Executive Mansion Tours.” New York State Office of General Services – Convention and Cultural Events – Executive Mansion Tours. Accessed February 29, 2016. http://www.ogs.ny.gov/esp/ct/tours/mansion.asp.
2) Google estimates this tour will last 37 minutes
3) The theme of this tour is going to be the history of unique, historical, architecture that the city of Albany has to offer. The five sites are each unique in that they each have certain distinct qualities of architectural theory. The audience for this tour would be for all ages. This would be a nice opportunity for those in the community to take a closer look at what they see everyday. Most people just walk by and take these architectural marvels for granted. Another population that could make use of the walking tour is the various organizations and student groups that come to the area everyday. Every day hundreds of people come to this area of downtown Albany for various reasons. On this tour they would be able to take a glimpse at the historic buildings that Albany is full of. What people can take away from this tour is a unique look at history combined with architecture. It will also take a look at some things that you don’t really see on a regular tour or from a street view when you walk by on a regular day. If you choose to actually book a tour with the various sites you can get an even more in depth look at the historic that Albany has to offer. These sites are all connected by the fact they are all maintained by the great state of New York and hold some sort of historic significance in one way or another.
New York State Executive Mansion
5)What architectural content will I choose to include?
How long will I want people to dedicate to each location?
Should I include information about the inside of the buildings as well?
Our tours are similar in some ways. Although yours is about historical buildings that are particularly downtown and are main attractions in Albany, it relates to my topic in the sense that both are about important places. My stops may not be well known as yours because I chose a few discreet places. In relation to your tour, I also want people to attention to the architecture of my buildings, some of them have their beginnings in early renaissance periods.
Question: Are these buildings related to one another in any way?
We share one location for our tours, which is New York State Museum even though we used different topics. Which one of your locations do you appreciate the architecture the most?
Your big challenge here is going to be figuring out what to say that the visitor can’t get from just taking a tour of the building themselves, or get from the building’s website. If you really commit to the architecture theme, some closeup photos of different parts of the building could help the visitor know what to look at, or some information on the architect or the architectural style and how the building fits that would help round out your tour to be more than about what goes on in the building.
You might want to think about, as Angie asked, how all these things relate–the Plaza buildings are very brutalist, the Smith building is Deco, the Mansion is more late victorian, and your visitors are walking right by the Center Square neighborhood, which is full of 1850s-1890s row homes. You’ve also got several classmates who are looking at Plaza buildings as well, so could you include someone else’s write up of the Museum and write your own stop at a historic home in the Center Square neighborhood to give yourself more architectural variety? Because it’s also weird and interesting that you’ve got the brutalist Plaza buildings hanging over the rowhomes neighborhood and the more Deco Smith building (I live right in this area, so I think about this a lot 🙂 )