Editing Empire State Building (section)

===Form===
[[File:EmpireStateBuilding20205thAvenueEntrance.jpg|thumb|left|The five-story base as seen from Fifth Avenue, with the main entrance at center. The Empire State Building sets back significantly above the base.]]

The Empire State Building has a symmetrical [[massing]] because of its large lot and relatively short base. Its [[Articulation (architecture)|articulation]] consists of three horizontal sections—a base, shaft, and [[Capital (architecture)|capital]]—similar to the components of a [[column]].<ref name="Reynolds p. 290" /> The five-story base occupies the entire lot, while the 81-story shaft above it is [[Setback (architecture)|set back]] sharply from the base.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=612}}<ref name="The New York Times 1930a">{{Cite news |year=1930 |title=Smith Skyscraper Has a Novel Design; Setbacks of the Empire State Building Will Begin With the Sixth Story |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/01/08/94228622.pdf |access-date=December 8, 2017 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503210732/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/01/08/94228622.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=15}} The setback above the 5th story is {{convert|60|ft}} deep on all sides.<ref name="Reynolds p. 290" /> There are smaller setbacks on the upper stories, allowing sunlight to illuminate the interiors of the top floors while also positioning these floors away from the noisy streets below.{{sfn|Tauranac|2014|p=157}}{{sfn|Kayden|Municipal Art Society|2000|pp=8–9}} The setbacks are located at the 21st, 25th, 30th, 72nd, 81st, and 85th stories.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1981|p=16}} The setbacks correspond to the tops of elevator shafts, allowing interior spaces to be at most {{convert|28|ft}} deep {{crossreference|(see: {{section link||Interior}})}}.<ref name="Reynolds p. 290" />

The setbacks were mandated by the [[1916 Zoning Resolution]], which was intended to allow sunlight to reach the streets as well.{{Efn|name=zoning|Per the 1916 Zoning Act, the wall of any given tower that faces a street could only rise to a certain height, proportionate to the street's width, at which point the building had to be set back by a given proportion. This system of setbacks would continue until the tower reaches a floor level in which that level's floor area was 25% that of the ground level's area. After that 25% threshold was reached, the building could rise without restriction.{{sfn|Langmead|2009|p=81}}{{sfn|Kayden|Municipal Art Society|2000|p=8}}{{sfn|Willis|1995|p=67}}

The 1916 Zoning Act was amended in 1961 so that buildings erected thereafter could not exceed a [[floor area ratio]] that was calculated for each zoning district.{{sfn|Kayden|Municipal Art Society|2000|pp=11–12}} The maximum ratio for the Empire State Building's district is 15, unless it includes a public plaza.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/zoning/districts-tools/c6.page |title=Zoning Districts & Tools : C6 – DCP |website=www1.nyc.gov }}</ref> A [[grandfather clause]] permits preexisting structures to continue under the old rule. Therefore, the Empire State Building's floor area ratio of 25 cannot be duplicated, or even approached, by a new building in that district.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Willis |first=Carol |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/1550360 |title=Form Follows Finance: The Empire State Building |journal=Landscape of Modernity: Essays on New York City, 1900–1940 |year=1992 |editor1-last=Ward |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Zunz |editor2-first=Olivier |page=181 |access-date=March 7, 2019 |archive-date=January 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111052820/https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/1550360 |url-status=live }}</ref>}} Normally, a building of the Empire State's dimensions would be permitted to build up to 12 stories on the Fifth Avenue side, and up to 17 stories on the 33rd Street and 34th Street sides, before it would have to utilize setbacks.<ref name="The New York Times 1930a" /> However, with the largest setback being located above the base, the tower stories could contain a uniform shape.{{sfn|Popular Mechanics|December 1930|p=920}}{{sfn|Willis|1995|p=96}}{{sfn|Langmead|2009|p=81}} According to architectural writer [[Robert A. M. Stern]], the building's form contrasted with the nearly contemporary, similarly designed [[500 Fifth Avenue]] eight blocks north, which had an asymmetrical massing on a smaller lot.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=612}}