Skyscrapers
If you were asked what comes to your mind when the word skyscraper is mentioned, how would you respond? The image that comes to my mind is of towering buildings soaring proudly into the sky. Images of wealth, prosperity, and power also come to mind. Since the invention of the modern skyscraper at the turn of the 19th century through today, the skyscraper has evolved and changed. However, even if they have changed over the last century, their importance to the modern city is just as vital as ever. So please read on to learn more about this pinnacle of human construction—the skyscraper.
The Birth of the Skyscraper
The skyscraper was born in New York city at the turn of the 19th century. The first true skyscraper was New York's "Flat Iron Building." This twenty-two storey building was completed in 1902. Its original name was the Fuller Building. However, due to its easily identifiable tall and thin triangular shape — shaped liked a hand iron — the nickname Flat Iron soon became its official name. This building, located in the heart of Manhattan's shopping district on the corner of 5th Avenue and Broadway on the world famous Madison Square, was considered at the time to be a marvel of architecture and engineering. It was the first building to use a structural steel skeleton wholly in its construction. While many residents of New York at the time thought the building likely to tip over due to its narrow design, its owner George Fuller, called it, "the strongest building ever constructed." While the use of a structural steel skeleton made taller building possible, it was advances in elevator design which made the Flat Iron Building practical. Without the invention of the electrically powered "Otis Safety Elevator" a building of that height would have been impractical. While the Flat Iron Building was an important building in the evolution of the skyscraper, it was soon to be eclipsed by ever taller buildings.
The Skyscraper Keeps Growing
Over the next three decades the building of skyscrapers proliferated across the world. However, it was in New York, the birthplace of the skyscraper, that these engineering marvels were most prevelent. By the end of the 1920s there were 377 skyscrapers over twenty storeys tall across America. Of these 188 were in New York alone. The economic boom of the early part of the 20th century led to a desperate need for increased office space. With the limitations of the island of Manhattan restricting outward growth, the only solution was to build up. This led to an ever increasing height of the tallest buildings: from 22 storeys, to 45 storeys, to 60 storeys, and all the way to 71 storeys. The competition was on to build the tallest skyscraper. Prestige was at stake for the taller the building the more desirable it became. However, it was in 1930-31 that the the competition to build the tallest skyscraper was to come to its peak.
To Be the Tallest
The competition to build the tallest skyscraper in New York (the world) culminated in 1930-31. It was during this period, between the economic boom of the 1920s and before the onset of the depression of the 1930s, that many of the most iconic skyscrapers were built. At the height of this building boom hundreds of skyscrapers were built. However, three vied for the ultimate prize of being considered the world's tallest: the Manhattan Bank Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building. As these three behemoths were being built, an unofficial contest arose between the three buildings as to which would be the tallest. Secrecy and deception were employed to try and hide the height that these building were to be built to. The first to be completed was the Manhattan Bank Building which topped out at 927 feet. The Empire State Building was slated to be built to 1000 feet. The Chrysler building when finished appeared to be fall short of this 1000 foot level, but the builders hid a secretly constructed tower and installed it on the building after the building appeared to be done. The Chrysler Building was now 1048 feet tall, 48 feet taller than the nearly Empire State Building. The Chrysler Building appeared to have won. Not to be outdone the builders of the Empire State Building added another 50 feet to the design and a 200 foot dirigible tower to ensure that its final height of 1250 feet would not be supplanted by any further trickery on the part of the Chrysler people. The Empire State Building had claimed the prize as the world's tallest building. A record it held onto for the next forty years.
Higher and Higher
All records are made to be broken, and eventually the Empire State Building was eclipsed as the world's tallest building. In 1972 a pair of towers was completed on the southern tip Manhattan Island. These towers, known as the World Trade Centre or the Twin Towers, set a new record at 1368 feet. Two years later the title of the world's tallest building was transferred from New York to Chicago with the completion of the Sears Tower at a record breaking 1454 feet. This record stood for 24 years until the completion of the Twin Petonas Towers in Malaysia which eclipsed the previous record at 1483 feet. Today, the title of the world's tallest building rest in the Kingdom of Dubai. The Burj Dubai Building, completed in 2008, comes in at mind-numbing 164 storeys and 2034 feet.
Where might the limit of skyscraper construction be? Who knows? However, one thing is for certain. It is only a matter of time until the next world's tallest building is built.
If you were asked what comes to your mind when the word skyscraper is mentioned, how would you respond? The image that comes to my mind is of towering buildings soaring proudly into the sky. Images of wealth, prosperity, and power also come to mind. Since the invention of the modern skyscraper at the turn of the 19th century through today, the skyscraper has evolved and changed. However, even if they have changed over the last century, their importance to the modern city is just as vital as ever. So please read on to learn more about this pinnacle of human construction—the skyscraper.
The Birth of the Skyscraper
The skyscraper was born in New York city at the turn of the 19th century. The first true skyscraper was New York's "Flat Iron Building." This twenty-two storey building was completed in 1902. Its original name was the Fuller Building. However, due to its easily identifiable tall and thin triangular shape — shaped liked a hand iron — the nickname Flat Iron soon became its official name. This building, located in the heart of Manhattan's shopping district on the corner of 5th Avenue and Broadway on the world famous Madison Square, was considered at the time to be a marvel of architecture and engineering. It was the first building to use a structural steel skeleton wholly in its construction. While many residents of New York at the time thought the building likely to tip over due to its narrow design, its owner George Fuller, called it, "the strongest building ever constructed." While the use of a structural steel skeleton made taller building possible, it was advances in elevator design which made the Flat Iron Building practical. Without the invention of the electrically powered "Otis Safety Elevator" a building of that height would have been impractical. While the Flat Iron Building was an important building in the evolution of the skyscraper, it was soon to be eclipsed by ever taller buildings.
The Skyscraper Keeps Growing
Over the next three decades the building of skyscrapers proliferated across the world. However, it was in New York, the birthplace of the skyscraper, that these engineering marvels were most prevelent. By the end of the 1920s there were 377 skyscrapers over twenty storeys tall across America. Of these 188 were in New York alone. The economic boom of the early part of the 20th century led to a desperate need for increased office space. With the limitations of the island of Manhattan restricting outward growth, the only solution was to build up. This led to an ever increasing height of the tallest buildings: from 22 storeys, to 45 storeys, to 60 storeys, and all the way to 71 storeys. The competition was on to build the tallest skyscraper. Prestige was at stake for the taller the building the more desirable it became. However, it was in 1930-31 that the the competition to build the tallest skyscraper was to come to its peak.
To Be the Tallest
The competition to build the tallest skyscraper in New York (the world) culminated in 1930-31. It was during this period, between the economic boom of the 1920s and before the onset of the depression of the 1930s, that many of the most iconic skyscrapers were built. At the height of this building boom hundreds of skyscrapers were built. However, three vied for the ultimate prize of being considered the world's tallest: the Manhattan Bank Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building. As these three behemoths were being built, an unofficial contest arose between the three buildings as to which would be the tallest. Secrecy and deception were employed to try and hide the height that these building were to be built to. The first to be completed was the Manhattan Bank Building which topped out at 927 feet. The Empire State Building was slated to be built to 1000 feet. The Chrysler building when finished appeared to be fall short of this 1000 foot level, but the builders hid a secretly constructed tower and installed it on the building after the building appeared to be done. The Chrysler Building was now 1048 feet tall, 48 feet taller than the nearly Empire State Building. The Chrysler Building appeared to have won. Not to be outdone the builders of the Empire State Building added another 50 feet to the design and a 200 foot dirigible tower to ensure that its final height of 1250 feet would not be supplanted by any further trickery on the part of the Chrysler people. The Empire State Building had claimed the prize as the world's tallest building. A record it held onto for the next forty years.
Higher and Higher
All records are made to be broken, and eventually the Empire State Building was eclipsed as the world's tallest building. In 1972 a pair of towers was completed on the southern tip Manhattan Island. These towers, known as the World Trade Centre or the Twin Towers, set a new record at 1368 feet. Two years later the title of the world's tallest building was transferred from New York to Chicago with the completion of the Sears Tower at a record breaking 1454 feet. This record stood for 24 years until the completion of the Twin Petonas Towers in Malaysia which eclipsed the previous record at 1483 feet. Today, the title of the world's tallest building rest in the Kingdom of Dubai. The Burj Dubai Building, completed in 2008, comes in at mind-numbing 164 storeys and 2034 feet.
Where might the limit of skyscraper construction be? Who knows? However, one thing is for certain. It is only a matter of time until the next world's tallest building is built.