Skyscrapers

views updated

Skyscrapers


The high cost of real estate led to multistory buildings being created in American cities beginning in the 1850s. By the 1880s, very tall buildings had become status symbols, not only for the cities where they appeared but for the cash-rich corporations that built them. In the twenty-first century, almost every American city has at least one skyscraper. When the rest of the world thinks about American cities, it thinks of skyscrapers. The skyscrapers of Manhattan are as recognizable a symbol of New York City as the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, France, or Tower Bridge to London, England. Following America's lead, in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, the skyscraper has become a symbol of influence and economic power.

Two technological developments made skyscrapers possible. The invention of the elevator by Elisha Graves Otis (1811–1861) in the 1850s meant that people could be carried to the upper floors. One of the problems with early skyscrapers was that the extra-long elevator cables stretched, making it impossible to line up the elevator car with every floor. The other development is known as "steel framing." As masonry buildings go higher, the walls need to become thicker at the bottom. William LeBaron Jenney (1832–1907) began to work on steel framing in Chicago in the 1880s. Using this technique, the weight of the building hangs on a steel frame that takes up very little space.

Many of the most famous buildings in the world are skyscrapers. The Empire State Building (see entry under 1930s—The Way We Lived in volume 2), built in 1931, was the tallest in the world for forty years. (In 2002, that title was held by the twin Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.) Others, such as the Art Deco Chrysler Building (see entry under 1920s—The Way We Lived in volume 2), completed in 1930, are admired as much for their stunning looks as for their dramatic height.

Skyscrapers are used to solve problems of space in overcrowded cities around the world. By concentrating many thousands of people in a very small space, however, they also cause congestion and overcrowding on the streets below. History suggests that the most important role of the skyscraper is a cultural one. Tall buildings are the best way for countries and corporations to display their wealth, power, and technological strength.

Perhaps the most famous skyscraper will always be one that no longer exists. The World Trade Center, which began being built in 1966, was located in the heart of the financial district in New York City until September 11, 2001, when a commercial airliner commandeered by terrorists slammed into the north tower; eighteen minutes later, another hijacked airplane crashed into the south tower. Within two hours, each damaged tower fell to the ground. Thousands were killed.


—Chris Routledge

For More Information

Dupré, Judith. Skyscrapers. New York: Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, 1996.

Skyscrapers (video). Boston: WGBH and PBS, 2000.

Skyscrapers.com.http://www.skyscrapers.com (accessed January 29, 2002).

Willis, Carol. Form Follows Finance: Skyscrapers and Skylines in New York and Chicago. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1995.

"World Trade Center." The Great Building Collection.http://www.GreatBuildings.com/buildings/World_Trade_Center.html (accessed on January 29, 2002).

More From encyclopedia.com