Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
City of Skyscrapers
By the time New York settled into the 20th century, elevators and steel-frame engineering
had allowed the city to grow up - literally. This period saw a building boom of sky-
scrapers, starting with Cass Gilbert's neo-Gothic 57-story Woolworth Building (1913). To
this day it remains one of the 50 tallest buildings in the United States.
Others soon followed. In 1930, the Chrysler Building, the 77-story art deco masterpiece
designed by William Van Alen, became the world's tallest structure. The following year,
the record was broken again by the Empire State Building, a clean-lined art deco monolith
crafted from Indiana limestone. Its spire was meant to be used as a mooring mast for diri-
gibles (airships) - an idea that made for good publicity, but which proved to be impractic-
al and unfeasible.
A Starchitect's Canvas
New York City's heterogenous landscape lends itself well to the dabbling sketching pen-
cils of some of the world's leading architectural personalities, or 'starchitects' as they've
come to be known. You'll find Frank O Gehry's rippling structures, SANAA's white-box
exteriors and Renzo Piano's signature facade tucked between the city's glass towers and
low-rise bricked behemoths.
Best Skyscrapers
Empire State Building
Like a martini, a good steak and jazz, this Depression-era sky-
scraper never ever gets old. (
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)
Chrysler Building
Manhattan's most elegant skyscraper boasts steel ornamentation in-
spired by the automobile, including gargoyles that are shaped like retro hood ornaments. (
Flatiron Building
This is New York's original flavor of skyscraper with 20 triangular-
shaped floors tucked behind ornate brick. (
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)
One World Trade Center
This blue, tapered monolith is now the tallest building in
America and the Western Hemisphere. (
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)
