Skyscrapers – History and future

Architecture is the alphabet of giants; it is the largest set of symbols ever made to meet the eyes of men. A tower stands up like a sort of simplified statue, of much more than heroic size. (Gilbert Keith Chesterton)

 Man has always been daunted by exceptionally tall buildings (or structures), that’s the reason that more or less, all Seven Wonders of the World are essentially man-made structures and each of them has to do something with structural significance. Gigantic structures known as skyscraper are looked upon as a symbol of power, prosperity and pride for the city or the emperor. From the first skyscraper (Home Insurance Building, Chicago) to the latest jaw-dropingly tall Burj-Dubai, these building have continued to amaze the spectators and inspire other architects to dream of coming up with an even taller structure. The race continues, and we can’t really predict on how tall will be the ultimate skyscraper.

History:

We don’t know much about the very first construction in the human history or first man-made building for that matter, but we can safely assume (going by the human nature) that from the very first construction, man had this desire to build and posses the biggest or the tallest one. Apart from being a status emblem, skyscrapers also comes handy in the urban cities where land is scarce and the demand of residential and commercial building is high. Even though we find many examples of tall or exceptionally large buildings from the ancient times, it was actually the scarcity of land that prompted the construction of these concrete giants. The construction of skyscrapers kicked in from the Chicago city back in late nineties and the trend was followed by almost all major cities in the world.

Present & Future:

Now days, skyscrapers are looked upon as an average building in well developed cities unless they are exceptionally high or brilliantly designed. Hong Kong is said to have the most skyscrapers in the world, other cities with a considerable number of tall buildings include New York, Tokyo, Chicago, Sao Paulo (Brazil), Manhattan, Shanghai, Toronto, etc. The major break through in skyscraper history came when the old model, which was supported by steel frame, was replaced by frame-tube structure (and many other models) by Fazlur Khan, probably the most influential architect in the history of skyscrapers. Some of the worth mentioning skyscrapers of present and future are Burj Dubai, Sears Tower, Taipei 101, Empire State Building, Shanghai World Financial Center, Jin Mao Tower and Bank of China tower.