Returning to architecture, let us briefly consider the Manhattan Financial District. From the dark, canyon-esque streetscapes rise building facades of unrelenting verticallity. Particularly curious are some of the classically detailed skyscrapers built prior to the dominance of mid-century modernism. Facade elements; columns, arches, entablatures, closely reference the classical orders.
The examples I have presented so far have shared a discernible intent to elicit wonder, to purposefully challenge the perception of the viewer/reader. The neo-classical skyscrapers of Lower Manhattan seem more like an idealized geometry, the Greek temple being the "primitive form" in this case, which has been recklessly extrapolated and extended into the sky.
The classical orders were used to provide human scale in architecture. Looking back to the human body as an idealized geometry, the orders use the language of head, body, foot, i.e. capital, column, base. In the classical skyscraper, the anatomical components of the facade are stretched, multiplied, scattered, sent up high above the street environment.
Image source: New York Apartment Blog
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