Reach for the Sky

Reach for the Sky

The industrial world

Skycrapers are a product of the Industrial Revolution, which began in England in the eighteenth century. New inventions revolutionized the way people lived. Steam engines, and later electricity, made enough energy available to do many more times the work that people and animals had done before. A new method of smelting iron produced huge quantities at low prices. Other inventions gave builders steel, a material even stronger than iron. Cities grew an skyscrapers provided a solution to the problems of overcrowding because they take up little space on the ground. Skyscraper frames were first built with iron, then with steel. New engines powered elevators to hoist people to the top. The weight of a tall building can easily cause it to sink or lean, so the early skyscrapers were usually built on solid rock. This is why so many were built on Manhattan, a rocky island in New Your City.

Coalbrookdale Bridge

The world gained a new construction material when inexpensive iron was developed. In 1779, the English built Coalbrookdale bridge in Shrpshire, which was the first iron bridge to be constructed.

The first skyscraper was built in 1884 in the city of Chicago, Illinois. It was only ten-stories high.

Eiffel Tower

This iron and steel tower was built for the Paris Exposition of 1889. When radio was invented, the tower began its long career as an antenna. It carried the first transatlantic radio-telephone call.

Manhattan two towers skyscrapers. Photo by Elena.

The Tallest of Them All

For more than 4,500 years, the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt was the tallest building in the world. Then the Eiffel Tower was built in France in 1889. In may parts of the world today, skyscrapers and towers continue to grow taller and taller. Some of the tallest building in history: St. Peter's Basilica, Italy 1612, 453 ft. Great Pyramid of Khufu, Egypt, 2700 BC, 479 ft. Eiffel Tower, France, 1889, 984 ft. Empire State Building, USA, 1931, 1,250 ft. Sears Tower, USA, 194, 1,453 fr. CN Tower, Canada, 1976, 1,804 ft.

Crown

The Art Deco style, a novelty of the 1930s, inspired the triangle-shaped windows. These are set within tiers of arches on the crown of many buildings.

Going Up

Steam engines powered the first elevators, which were used only for freight. The first passenger elevators were installed in 1857 after a way was found to stop them from falling if a cable broke. By 1889, they were powered by electric motors. The elevator doors of the Chrysler Building are decorated in the Art Deco style.

Life at the Top

Native Americans were some of the earliest construction workers on skyscrapers. They worked at great heights while standing only on 8-in wide steel beams.

Core

A strong frame is built inside the building for the elevators. This frame also helps the buidling resist the pushing and twisting forces of the winds.

Chrysler Building

Walter Chrysler built this 77-story skyscraper in New York City during the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. It provided much-needed employment for many construction workers. The building was the headquarters for his automobile empire and a monument to his success.