A City of Towers
A Vertical City
A City of Glass
The Flatiron Building (1902)
"SKYSCRAPERS" is a word used to describe the tall "elevator buildings" of 10 to 20 stories built in New York in the 1870's. Technologies and inventions of the time: steel (invented by Englishman, Henry Bessemer, with the ability to
inexpensively mass produce it), and the invention of the elevator combined with
electrical plumbing pumps, central heating and the telephone would lead
to the construction of skyscrapers. George
Fuller, whose company built the Flatiron Building, devised a means of
creating steel cages for tall buildings that had "load bearing
capacities" that supported the weight of these tall buildings. Today's skyscrapers are, obviously, much taller and more massive than the first ones. Skyscrapers came of age in Chicago with the use of cage construction in the 1880's and the building of the Tacoma Building (1889) by George Fuller. More skyscrapers were built there following a devastating fire in 1871 -- the one allegedly started by O'Leary's cow. Ironically, New York City, today famous for its skyscrapers, had stricter building codes so the construction of skyscrapers moved slower here. In fact, it was not until after 1870 that buildings in New York City were built above five stories. Cast iron buildings were introduced to New York City in 1848 by James Bogardus who actually had a factory at Duane and Centre Streets in Manhattan that produced and shipped cast iron in prefabricated form. The Haughwout Building (488-492 Broadway), its cast iron forged at the Architectural IronWorks factory of Daniel Badger, was Manhattan first cast iron building to have an elevator. The Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building or the World Trade Center towers -- the tallest skyscrapers -- first come to mind when one thinks of "skyscrapers." Earlier and smaller ones may be forgotten. The Architecture of New York: Histories and Views of Important Structures, Sites and Symbols by Donald Martin Reynolds lists the following three buildings as New York City's first skyscrapers (all three were either demolished or destroyed by fire):
The New York Tribune building, constructed in 1875 on Park Row, was one of the tall buildings built by city newspapers in an area along the east side of City Hall Park that became know as "Newspaper Row." The Tribune building stood 260 feet high and was taller than any other structure in Manhattan except for the Trinity Church spire. Also in this neighborhood were the New York Times’ original building (at 113 Nassau Street and later at 138 Nassau Street & 41 Park Row) and the New York World building (built in 1890 on Park Row). Newspaper offices were located in this area to be conveniently near City Hall, the city courts and the city’s largest post office. The island of Manhattan is composed of a large amount of mica schist rock, especially suited for the construction of skyscrapers. As skyscrapers became popular and more and more were constructed in the City, New Yorkers began to worry that eventually the city would be without enough light and air. Zoning laws were introduced in 1916 after the construction of the Equitable Building (1915) and the City adopted a "setback law" which required the buildings to be set back at specific intervals (according to the width of the streets at the skyscraper's locations) so that light and air would be admitted to the street. This law resulted in the construction of "wedding cake" (tiers that get thinner and narrower as the building rises) or "ziggurat" skyscraper-style structures with stepped towers. This style was very popular from the 1920s to the 1950s. Some of New York City's most noteworthy taller buildings have included:
The Flatiron Building is located on 23rd Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. In the background is a lovely gold-domed building on Fifth Avenue; the front door to the building reads “Sohmer Piano Company” although it’s probably now an expensive condominium. The original Madison Square Garden was located nearby at Madison Square Park. Burnham, the architect of the Flatiron Building, also designed the Colombian Exposition, a worlds fair in Chicago in 1893 which celebrated Columbus' 400th anniversary of the discvery of the New World. Burnham also conceived the design for the city of Chicago and contributed to the development and designs of Cleveland, San Francisco and Baguio City in the Philippines. He also designed Union Station in Washington, DC and rethought the original design of Washington's National Mall adding a reflecting pool. In January 2010 the world's tallest skyscraper, Burj Khalifa, opened in Dubai. in the United Arab Emirates. It is an incredible 160 story, 2,717-foot building. |