The steel was an integral part of Van Alen's design, as E.E. Nirosta was used in the exterior ornaments, the window frames, the crown, and the needle. It was the first use of this "18-8 stainless steel" in an American project, composed of 18% chromium and 8% nickel. The Chrysler Building uses bright "Nirosta" stainless steel extensively in its design, an austenitic alloy developed in Germany by Krupp (a German acronym for nicht rostender Stahl, meaning "non-rusting steel"). The 31st-floor contains gargoyles as well as replicas of the 1929 Chrysler radiator caps, and the 61st-floor is adorned with eagles as a nod to America's national bird. Approximately fifty metal ornaments protrude at the building's corners on five floors reminiscent of gargoyles on Gothic cathedrals. The structure contains 3,862 exterior windows. It is constructed of a steel frame infilled with masonry, with areas of decorative metal cladding.
The Chrysler Building was designed by William Van Alen in the Art Deco style and is named for one of its original tenants, automotive executive Walter Chrysler. In addition, the Chanin Building is to the southwest, diagonally across Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street. The Grand Hyatt New York hotel and the Graybar Building are across Lexington Avenue, while the Socony–Mobil Building is across 42nd Street.
The building is assigned its own ZIP Code, 10174 it was one of 41 buildings in Manhattan that had their own ZIP Codes as of 2019. As a result, the east side of the building's base is similarly aslant. The site bordered the old Boston Post Road, which predated, and ran aslant of, the Manhattan street grid established by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811. The site is roughly a trapezoid with a 201-foot-long (61 m) frontage on Lexington Avenue a 167-foot-long (51 m) frontage on 42nd Street and a 205-foot-long (62 m) frontage on 43rd Street. The land was donated to The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1902. The Chrysler Building is on the eastern side of Lexington Avenue between 42nd and 43rd streets in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. 3.1.4 Competition for "world's tallest building" title.3.1.3 Final plans and start of construction.The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1978, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark in 1976. Perceptions of the building have slowly evolved into its now being seen as a paragon of the Art Deco architectural style and in 2007, it was ranked ninth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects. When the Chrysler Building opened, there were mixed reviews of the building's design, ranging from views of it as inane and unoriginal to the idea that it was modernist and iconic. An annex was completed in 1952, and the building was sold by the Chrysler family the next year, with numerous subsequent owners. Although the Chrysler Building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, the corporation did not pay for its construction and never owned it Walter Chrysler decided to fund the entire cost personally so his children could inherit it. The construction of the Chrysler Building, an early skyscraper, was characterized by a competition with 40 Wall Street and the Empire State Building to become the world's tallest building. Reynolds, the building was constructed by Walter Chrysler, the head of the Chrysler Corporation. Originally a project of real estate developer and former New York State Senator William H. As of 2019, the Chrysler is the 11th-tallest building in the city, tied with The New York Times Building.
At 1,046 feet (319 m), it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel framework, and it was the world's tallest building for 11 months after its completion in 1930. The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.