The El Dorado

The El Dorado
  1. About the The El Dorado in New York
    1. Building Catalogations
  2. Architect and team
  3. Architectural style
  4. Spaces and uses
  5. Structure and materials

The The El Dorado is an Art-deco skyscraper designed by Margon & Holder, and built between 1929 and 1931 in New York, NY.

The El Dorado is not the only name you might know this building by though. The building is, or has also been known as 300 Central Park West.

Its precise street address is 300 Central Park West, New York, NY. You can also find it on the map here.

The The El Dorado is a structure of significant importance both for the city of New York and the United States as a nation. The building embodies the distinctive characteristic features of the time in which it was built and the Art Deco style. Because of that, the The El Dorado was officially declared as a national landmark on July 9th 1985.

The building has been restored 4 times over the years to ensure its conservation and adaptation to the pass of time. The main restoration works happened in 1980, 1982, 1995 and 2000.

Building's timeline

Construction begins
1929
95
Construction completed
1931
93
a
Restoration
1980
44
b
Restoration
1982
42
Declared NL
1985
39
c
Restoration
1995
29
d
Restoration
2000
24
years ago
2024
  1. 1980 - Lobby restoration.
  2. 1982 - Mechanical equipment upgrades were carried out, elevators were automated, the lobby and garage doors were restored.
  3. 1995 - A gym was added in the basements.
  4. 2000 - Facada restoration. The architect in charge was Lawless & Mangione.

Architect and team

Margon & Holder was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design. But there was also one other architect involved, as far as we know. We are talking about Emery Roth.

That being said, architecture is a complex discipline involving many professionals from different fields, without whom this building would have not been possible. We will surely be leaving out a lot of names here, but here is a list of the people we do know also played their part in making the The El Dorado a reality:

  • Elkay Builders Corporation as the Main Contractor
  • Louis Klosk as the Main Developer

Architectural Style

The The El Dorado can be categorized as an Art-deco building.

The Art Deco movement flourished during the 1920s and 1930s, with many historians marking the outbreak of World War II as its final decline. Even though a couple of decades might not seem as much, the Art Deco movement had a great impact on architecture, and it's widely represented in many American cities due to the development boom that happened during that time.

Art Deco marked the abandonment of traditional historicism and the embracement of modern living and the age of the machine. In architecture, that meant leaving behind the ornaments of Beux-Arts and Neo-Gothic buildings and instead favoring simplicity and visual impact through geometric shapes, clean lines, and symmetrical designs. Ornaments were still an important part of the design, but they became bold and lavish, and were often inspired by ancient cultures or industrial imagery, instead of nature.

The The El Dorado was completed in 1931, right when the Art Deco movement was at its peak, so it kind of went with the trend at that time.

Spaces & Uses

The The El Dorado reaches an architectural height of 390ft (119m). It has a total of 33 floors, 31 above ground and 2 basements.

Ever since opening its doors to the public in 1931, the The El Dorado has mainly been used as Residential space.

About the residences

The The El Dorado has a total of 204 residential units throughout its 31 floors.

390ft (119m)
2 basements

Materials & Structure

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features yellow cast stone covering the first three floors. Starting from the fourth floor, the facade features a combination of toasted and brown bricks along with light terracotta. The main entrance is framed by three angular metal arches. Stone is present on some of the balconies, and terracotta and bronze are used for the facade pillar decorations.

Other materials found at the The El Dorado include, marble, used in the floor of the main lobby, and wood, found in panels covering the walls of the lobby.

Sources

  • s-media.nyc.gov