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Now that The Conco Companies are hard at
work providing concrete services on the two tallest buildings currently under
construction in the Western U.S., we were curious about the history of the
nation’s earliest skyscrapers. According
to Wikipedia, it was the technological advancements that were available by the
1870s that “enabled the construction of fireproofed iron-framed structures with
deep foundations, equipped with new inventions such as the elevator and
electric lighting.”
Chicago and New York City were at the
forefront of construction of the country’s tallest buildings, including the world’s
first skyscraper, the 138-foot tall Home Insurance Building that opened in 1884
in Chicago. During the late 1880s to the
early 1890s, the financial district of Chicago experienced a boom in the
construction of aesthetically pleasing skyscrapers that balanced practical
commercial designs. These large, square-shaped,
palazzo-styled buildings were multi-functional with shops and restaurants at
ground level and office space on the upper floors. This era of skyscrapers was often referred to
as “the products of the Chicago school of architecture”. By 1892, the construction of skyscrapers
higher than 150-feet was banned in the city.
New York City’s skyscrapers were eclectic
in design and many of them were much narrower towers than those being built in
Chicago. For five years, the world’s tallest
building was the New York World Building, which opened in 1890 and was home to
the now defunct newspaper of the same name.
The skyscraper was commissioned by Joseph Pulitzer and designed by
George Browne Post. The 20-story building
(although by today’s standard would only be 16 or 18 stories) was 309-foot tall
and 349-feet to the tip. The skyscraper
was demolished in 1955 in order to expand the Brooklyn Bridge entrance ramp.
Conco
is one of the leading concrete contractors in the Western United States and
offers a wide range of innovative, quality services. Our concrete services include commercial,
educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works
projects. We have regional offices
serving Northern California, Southern California, Washington State, Oregon,
Colorado and Nevada.
Source:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_skyscrapers
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