Skyscrapers and Their Influence on a City

One of the innovations was the construction of skyscrapers. Before steel was used, a skyscraper was only considered four to five stories tall and was made out of stone. Very little light was able to get into the building because the structure would become unsafe if too many windows were put in. This made the building very dark, cold and damp. In 1885, with the innovation of steel, the first skyscraper, The Home Insurance Building, was built in Chicago, Illinois. This building paved the way for architects around the country to build taller and stronger skyscrapers into today’s times.

Steel frame structures are made as the name suggest from steel, the material is strong and flexible. When weight is added it bends without cracking. Another characteristic of steel is that its plasticity or ductility, meaning that when force is added it won’t crack however it will lose shape therefore giving warning for people to evacuate the building. A disadvantage of steel is that is loses strength when subject to fire. Studies have shown that it can loose up- to half its strength when subject to fire, therefore making it imperative to cover the steel with boards or spray on.

Believe it or not, skyscrapers have only been around since the the late 1880’s. The main reason for this was because the materials used to build buildings at the time could not support the weight of a skyscraper. If people wanted to build taller buildings, they had to use stronger materials that could withstand the weight of the building and keep it from collapsing. At the time, that material was steel, but there was a problem; steel was not mass produced at the time. This made it financially unethical to build with, the price of steel only began to drop after Andrew Carnegie created his steel business. Andrew Carnegie helped strengthen the American economy turning it into a world power by learning from his poverty when he was younger, starting his steel business which provided the world an important resource for the development of industry, taking advantage of workers to maximize profit, and devoting his later life to philanthropy.

In 1973, the Sears Tower, now know as the Willis Tower was completed. At the time it was the tallest building in the United States.

The term skyscraper here should be taken lightly. Needless to say, a 23 story multi-use building doesn’t exactly inspire the grandeur of the Manhattan skyline. As it is with every major project in a city, this one was met with harsh criticism regarding where the money was to come from and what this glass edifice towering over the surrounding brick shopfronts would do to the still-developing downtown fabric. However, once the building is completed it’s anticipated that the residents of Fargo will see that building bigger will not only bring bigger business but notoriety and growth as well.

The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco style skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan. At 1,046 feet, the structure was the world's tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931.

ZOOM! BAM! CRASH! The Twin Towers have just been hit! Run for cover! “They were the tallest buildings in New York City, and for a brief period upon their completion, they were the tallest buildings in the world.”

The history of Architecture started long time ago. The nomadic were groups of people whom move from one place to another in order find shelter and food to survive. As they progress, their techniques to survive evolve. The need for a permanent shelter became vital for a better stability of the group. This is the time when the first structures that provided protection appeared. Post and lintel were the first forms of Architecture, that satisficed the basic needs. Architecture evolved to be more sophisticated and fulfill the people’s needs. Consequently, Architecture evolved throughout different periods such as: Ancient architecture, Romanesque, The medieval, Renaissance, Early modern, and the industrial age, Modernism and Contemporary

By 1948, Chicago was well recognized as an architecturally rich city, in particular due to all the important skyscraper buildings that the city hosted. Mies’ first skyscraper design to be built came in 1949 when he designed The Promontory Apartments. Mies’ first approach at high-rise buildings was a clear foreshadow for the Lakeshore Drive Apartments. “Notably, it was the first tall building to exhibit its construction materials.” The Lakeshore Drive Apartments, “renowned for their structural clarity and composition,” used common materials

In other words, “Ordinarily, people think that wealth is increased and life is far more attractive and thrilling; for if this were not so, who would be drawn into New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia…”(Mumford). The development of skyscrapers was only introduced for cities to boast about the amount of money they have, so then people would be captivated by a city's image and heighten their reputation. A consequence of this action is the establishment of multiple skyscrapers creates a safety hazard for the public. Namely, if there was ever an earthquake that was strong enough to cause the skyscrapers to break apart, people’s lives would be in danger as the people would be trapped inside or the debris would be crashing down upon the streets (Twenties in Contemporary Commentary, The). Public services such as policemen or firefighters were not equipped or prepared to handle these types of situations, if one was ever to occur. Skyscrapers were not only a waste of money, but a result of this impractical building could harm the lives of citizens living in

The Freedom Tower also known as “One World Trade Center” is the tallest skyscraper in the western hemisphere, and the fifth tallest skyscraper in our planet earth. The building structure consists of 104 stories can also be described as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center. The Building location is 285 Fulton Street, Manhattan New York, United States 10007, as depicted in the map below Figure 1.

skyscraper architecture "http://www.coshe.com/search/" The architectural design of the 20th century skyscrapers has been redefined due to the advancement of our modern technology. Benny Louie Humanity 450 Dr. Maureen Schmid 17 May 1999 The architectural design of the 20th century skyscrapers has been redefined due to the advancement of our modern technology. In our modern society, the architectural design of skyscrapers is changing the downtown landscape of metropolitan areas. Due to the change of technologies, it has changed the architectural design of skyscraper dramatically in terms of the its function, design structures, heating and cooling systems and it social status in society. The basic function of the architecture is to provide a

The 12th century Gothic builders were the first to discover how to construct great buildings were their stability depended upon knowing how to transmit the thrust through specific parts of the structure, the buttresses that formed its skeletal and the ribs not upon the thickness of their walls. The result was a dynamically stable architecture capable of building

Today technology allows us to construct structures that we would never have been able to make in the past. Some of the creations are impressive based on what they accomplish but others are masterpieces in themselves. Man’s capability to build such tall buildings, as the skyscrapers we are familiar with covering our cities today, is a major expression of the advancements we have made as a culture. The power necessary to build such tall structures inspired competition between architects to see who could build the tallest one. One skyscraper that has inspired many and served as a model, for high rise buildings that were created after, is the Chrysler Building. The Chrysler Building serves as an identifying mark to anyone that

For whe“When the Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 in Paris it, in a way, taunted American architects to build something taller. By the early twentieth century a skyscraper race was on” (Rosenberg 1). Smith and Raskob teamed up and were racing against Walter Chrysler (founder of the Chrysler Corporation) to build the tallest building. Being the envy of the city was not the only purpose of building such a fantastic building, but there was also a practical reason. Tenants were willing to pay higher rents in tall buildings. So, the owner of the tallest building collected the highest rents and became even wealthier (Mann 12).