...designed most of the New York's super-apartment buildings in the late 1920's - 720, 740, 765, 770, 778 Park Avenue. Inspecting them more closely, I see that the limestone in the characteristic stone first floor facades seems to have been chosen with extreme care. Rough and smooth finishes are often alternated between the blocks, and the stone seems much richer in pattern and texture than the less fancy Park Avenue buildings.
How, exactly, would this get accomplished? Certainly the architect did not make full size drawings. Would he (or the developer) have been able to specify such a thing in writing. I cnat quite imagine boilerplate language like "make sure the limestone has really cool fossils and swirls and patterns"? And certainly no one on the owner/architect side would bother going to Kentucky or Indiana or wherever. Or is it just "give me A+ quality stone" and it is left up to the stone contractor?
Christopher
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