Skyscraper

A skyscraper is a tall building with many floors where people can live or work. Most people say a skyscraper must be at least 100 metres (328 ft) or 150 metres (492 ft) tall, but there is no single rule for how tall a building must be to be called a skyscraper, except that it is very tall high-rise buildings. Skyscrapers can have offices, hotels, homes, and shops. They are common in big cities, especially in the Americas, Asia, and Australia, because there is a lot of need for space but only a little land.

Skyscrapers first appeared in the United States in the late 1800s, most notably in Chicago and New York City. One key feature of skyscrapers is a steel frame that holds up curtain walls. Modern skyscrapers often have a tubular structure and are built to look like a hollow cylinder to stay strong against wind, seismic activity, and other forces from the side.

There are thousands of skyscrapers taller than 150 m (492 ft) around the world, and most of them were built in the last few decades. The tallest skyscraper in the world is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which stands 828 m (2,717 ft) tall. Skyscrapers are found in many countries, with at least 70 having at least one.

Definition

The word "skyscraper" started in the late 1800s for very tall buildings made with steel frames. People were amazed by these tall buildings in big cities like New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis.

The first building called a skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, built in 1885. It had 10 stories and was 42 meters tall. Steel framing let architects build even taller buildings, leading to the supertall skyscrapers we see today around the world. Different people may have slightly different ideas about what counts as a skyscraper, but they all agree these are very tall, impressive buildings.

What is the chief characteristic of the tall office building? It is lofty. It must be tall. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and pride of exaltation must be in it. It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line.

— Louis Sullivan's The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered (1896)

History

Precursors

The tallest building in ancient times was the Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt. It was built in the 26th century BC and was the tallest for thousands of years. Later, the Lincoln Cathedral in England became taller, but its top part fell down. The Washington Monument in the United States and the Eiffel Tower in France were also very tall, but they were not real homes like modern skyscrapers.

In ancient Rome, buildings called insulae could be up to ten stories high. In the Middle Ages, Bologna had many tall towers. The city of Shibam in Yemen has over 500 tall houses made of mudbrick, each 5 to 11 stories high.

Early skyscrapers

The safety elevator, invented by Elisha Otis in 1857, made tall buildings possible. The Home Insurance Building in Chicago, built from 1884 to 1885, was one of the first to use a steel frame. This style became known as the “Chicago skeleton” and influenced future skyscrapers.

Skyscrapers started in cities with little land, like New York and Chicago, in the late 1800s. Rules about height and fire safety were created later. In Europe, tall buildings were limited to protect views of important places like St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Modern skyscrapers

Modern skyscrapers are made with steel or reinforced concrete and glass or stone walls. They have systems like water pumps and elevators.

After World War II, skyscrapers were built in many parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Oceania. Architects like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe helped shape modern skyscraper design.

In the 1960s, engineers like Fazlur Rahman Khan created new designs that allowed for taller buildings. Today’s skyscrapers focus on sustainability, using materials that help the environment.

New York City and Chicago tried to build the tallest buildings in the 1920s and 1930s. The Chrysler Building and Empire State Building were famous for their height. The World Trade Center was the tallest for a time, then the Willis Tower in Chicago took the title. The Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia later became the tallest.

Design and construction

The design and construction of skyscrapers focuses on building safe, tall structures that can support their weight, resist wind and earthquakes, and keep people comfortable inside. These buildings need strong frameworks to hold up all the floors and must have good ways to move people up and down, like elevators.

Skyscrapers often use a steel framework that allows walls to be made mostly of windows. This style started during the industrial age when materials like steel and concrete became easier to work with. Special designs, like tubular shapes, help skyscrapers reach greater heights while using less material.

Elevators are important for skyscrapers, making it easy for people to travel between floors. Modern buildings sometimes use special elevator setups, like sky lobbies or double-deck elevators, to save space and carry more people. These designs help balance the need for height with the space needed for elevators.

Economic rationale

Skyscrapers are usually built in city centres where space is very valuable. When land is expensive, it is better to build tall buildings up instead of spreading out. This saves money and creates a lot of space inside. That is why you see skyscrapers in big cities and not in small towns.

Because space in city centers is expensive, most rooms in skyscrapers are used by offices, shops, and hotels. Building very tall skyscrapers can be tricky, like needing many elevators to help people move fast. To help with this, some skyscrapers have special floors called sky lobbies where people can change to slower elevators to get to their floor.

Environmental impact

Further information: Bird-skyscraper collisions

Building a skyscraper needs many materials such as steel, concrete, and glass. This uses a lot of energy and resources. Making a skyscraper also requires strong foundations and lots of electricity for things like pumping water, using elevators, and lighting rooms far from windows.

Skyscrapers can use energy wisely. They can use natural light, special designs to save energy, and even get power from the sun. Some famous skyscrapers, like the Empire State Building and The Gherkin in London, show how tall buildings can help the environment.

In the lower parts of a skyscraper, more space is needed for strong structures and services like elevators and pipes. As buildings get taller, they need more energy for things like elevators and cooling. But with smart planning, skyscrapers can use natural air flow and cooler temperatures at higher levels to save energy.

History of the tallest skyscrapers

Main articles: History of the tallest buildings in the world and List of tallest buildings

In the early 1900s, New York City became an important place for building very tall structures. With new technology, cities like New York and Chicago tried to build the tallest buildings. Many famous skyscrapers were built there, changing how we think about architecture.

Some important early skyscrapers include the E. V. Haughwout Building, which had the first passenger elevator, and the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, the first with a steel skeleton. The Singer Building and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower were also record-breakers in their time. Later, the Chrysler Building and the famous Empire State Building became icons of New York City.

In the 1970s, the World Trade Center towers stood as the tallest, until they were surpassed by the Sears Tower, now called the Willis Tower. Today, the tallest building is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which shows how skyscraper designs have evolved to reflect different cultures around the world.

Future developments

See also: List of visionary tall buildings and structures and List of future tallest buildings

People have ideas for building very tall structures. Examples include the Burj Mubarak Al Kabir in Kuwait and the Azerbaijan Tower in Baku. One building now being built, planned to be over one kilometre tall, is the Jeddah Tower.

Wooden skyscrapers

Main article: List of tallest wooden buildings

Architects have designed tall wooden buildings. In 2015, a 14-story housing project in Bergen, Norway called 'Treet' or 'The Tree' became the tallest wooden apartment building in the world. In 2016, an 18-story wooden building at the University of British Columbia in Canada named Brock Commons took that record.

There are plans for even taller wooden buildings. One idea is a 40-story building in Stockholm, Sweden called 'Trätoppen'. Another plan is for a 70-story building in Tokyo called the W350 Project, to celebrate a company's 350th anniversary in 2041. There is also a proposal for an 80-story wooden building in Chicago, Illinois called the River Beech Tower.

Wooden skyscrapers can be lighter than concrete buildings and help reduce carbon in the air. They can be built using a special type of wood called cross-laminated timber (CLT), which makes the wood stronger and easier to assemble.