Special Buildings

Special Buildings

Wherever people dwell, there are buildings. Some buildings are houses. Some buildings are barns. In the city, some buildings are very tall. Some buildings are plain. Other buildings are special. On these buildings you can see faces, beautiful flowers, and other lovely things carved out of stone. Special buildings can make a neighborhood special, too.

Here is a building with special things on it. This building is in New York City. It is 77 stories high. A story is another word for a floor in a building, so this building has 77 floors. The building was built by a company that makes cars. If you take a close look at the building, you will discover hidden shapes. What kinds of shapes do you think you will find on this building?

There are shapes of cars and car parts on the face of the building. Some people think the rounded parts look like hubcaps. A hubcap is a round cover that fits over the wheel of a car. Do you see the eagle heads? These shapes were used on the hoods of cars.

Here is another building. It has a gargoyle on it. Gargoyles are scary-looking stone figures. They were often put on a building to help the rain run off the roof. When it rains, the water runs out of the gargoyle's mouth. Some people used to believe that gargoyles could scare away bad luck. Would you like to live in a building that has gargoyles on it?

One famous building where you can see many gargoyles is in Washington, D. C. It is a large church. It took more than 80 years to build this building. There are many different kinds of stone creatures on this building. You can see strange-looking people, monkeys, fish, dogs, and elephants.