Rise of the New York Skyscraper, 1865-1913

This authoritative book chronicles the history of New York's first skyscrapers, challenging conventional wisdom that it was in Chicago and not in New York that the skyscraper was born. Two experts - an architectural historian and a historian of technology - draw on rich and diverse contemporary sources in order to provide in-depth coverage of developments in commerce, land use, technology, design, and zoning law as they related to the New York skyscraper. Landau and Condit investigate the key role of engineers in skyscraper construction; the evolution of the metal frame, fire-proofing technology, and elevator transport; and the relation of form and style features to site conditions and building code provisions. They discuss the architectural and engineering history of specific buildings: the monumental high-rises of the first half of the 1890s, which were expressions of corporate power and authority; the buildings constructed on speculation by anonymous real estate interests in the second half of the 1890s; the major works of the first decade of the twentieth century (among them the Times and West Street buildings); and such culminating works as the Singer Building, Metropolitan Life tower, and Bankers Trust Building. Throughout they report on the public's (often scathing) response to these great buildings looming in their midst.