Defying categorization and parameters of installation and land art, Christo's six-decade career is defined by an unhindered vision and grand landmark installations. Christo’s prints of wrapped buildings, such as Allied Chemical Tower Packed, 1971, initially served as project proposals to wrap Manhattan skyscrapers. In 1964, he and Jeanne–Claude—his life and creative partner—were inspired to alter the city skyline when arriving from Europe aboard the SS France. After repeated rejections of project ideas in Lower Manhattan, they sought to wrap the Allied Chemical Tower, No. 1, the former headquarters of The New York Times in Times Square. This and all of their proposed projects in New York City would go unrealized until the installation Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979– 2005 that references the extensive period from their initial proposal until the project was finally approved by New York City’s mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
