Jul 01 2011 11:28 am
Posted by Sujan under Uncategorized
Skyscrapers
CREDIT: Gottscho, Samuel H., photographer. "The Empire State Building. From south," 1934.
Courtesy of "Chicago and Its Makers" (Chicago: Felix Mendelsohn, 1929).
Skyscrapers offered visual proof of progress in twentieth-centuries cities, skyscrapers. Corporate offices, along with banks, law offices, and advertising agencies that served them, now towered over downtown streets. Chicago’s 36-story Tribune Tower, and New York’s 102-story Empire State Building represented the reorientation of downtown space in the transition from industrial to corporate city. Chicago tribune tower construction started in 1923 and completed in 1925 is 462 feet tall. When the Empire State Building opened on May 1, 1931, it was the tallest building in the world – standing at 1,250 feet tall. This building not only became an icon of New York City, it became a symbol of twentieth century man’s attempts to achieve the impossible.
Source: New York Documentary directed by Ric Burns
2 Responses to “Skyscrapers”
xiaoyun.xu on 06 Jul 2011 at 3:45 pm #
America entered into a modern skyscrapers age since the 1920s. Skyscrapers are an increasingly common sight where land is expensive, as in the centers of big cities, because they provide such a high ratio of rentable floor space per unit area of land. Skyscrapers are considered symbols of a city’s economic power. Not only do they define the skyline, they help to define the city’s identity.
glejdis.xamo on 06 Jul 2011 at 11:25 pm #
When we think of major cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angles the first thing we think of are the skyscrapers that cover the cities. Throughout history major cities have earned their reputation based on their infrastructure and architecture. Sujan is right when depicting skyscrapers because they are truly an embodiment of a cities life. Skyscrapers have modernized New York as well as other cities by their massive design and symbolism.