Jul 04 2011 02:09 pm
Posted by rb115770 under July 5 Assignment
Skyscrapers: New York vs. Other Top Cities
The Empire State Building. Photo Taken by: Michael Kenna. March-May 26, 2008
In present day United States, cities are recognized by their skyscrapers. Especially the main cities in each state including Dallas, Los Angeles, Piladelphia, New York, Boston, Miami and Chicago. Skyscrapers were and are still used to help represent each city. In 1913, one of New York’s earliest skyscrapers called the Woolworth Building, which stood at 792 feet was completed and helped define the new downtown along with other skyscrapers (Chudacoff 93). During the construction of the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building already stood tall over midtown New York. The Empire State building was completed in 1930 and until this day, 81 years later, it still stands tall overlooking all of New York City and New Jersey. “By 1929, the editors of The American City could count 377 buildings at least twenty stories tall” (Chudacoff 183). Chudacoff also adds that almost half of those skyscrapers stood in New York, while Syracuse, Memphis and Tulsa boasted with their own share of skyscrapers (183). Cities that competed with New York City included Cleveland and Chicago. The skyscrapers revolutionized the looks in the cities. In Cleveland, there stood the 52-story Terminal Tower; Chicago was represented by the 36-story Tribune Tower and New York had its 102-story Empire State Building (Chudacoff 183). Despite the occupation of vast territories of the city, skyscrapers helped define the true value of its respective city. Until this day, skyscrapers continue to tower in cities worldwide and they help define the city they’re located in. New York is the city most popular for its skyscrapers; however, many cities in the United States have their own beautiful, towering skyscrapers.
17 Responses to “Skyscrapers: New York vs. Other Top Cities”
dimitris.kouvaros on 05 Jul 2011 at 11:52 pm #
Robi has some pretty solid facts in his post. During the early 1900’s another form of modernization that took shape was the creation of skyscrapers. And from then and till this day, skyscrapers are a big part of the city there located in, especially New York. If you were to ask anyone “paint a picture of new york in your mind right now” odds are they will be imagining the skyscrapers in Manhattan.
jimmy.chu on 07 Jul 2011 at 5:48 am #
I agree with Dimitris that skyscrapers (architecture) during he 20th century is a perfect example of growing modernity. Every city did have a race to build the tallest building, but I believe the competition was more fierce between developers within New York City. Everyone wanted to gain recognition either for their personal or company’s gain and a prime example was the Chrysler Building. Although it was surpassed by the Empire State building a year later, the Chrysler Building still remains unparalleled monument to industry.