What is a skyscraper and how do you determine how tall it is? Easy questions, right? Wrong. There is probably no real definition of a ‘skyscraper’ although most people know one when they see one. Most high-rise buildings are just that: a high rise building. But a skyscraper is usually taller than all the high-rise buildings around it and it changes the overall skyline. They also tend to be pointy at the top - as if they are scraping the sky. Bulky building with a square top - a high-rise building, skinny building with a pointy top - a skyscraper. Pretty simple. If only. . .
Now, how do you determine how tall a skyscraper is - and, remember, egos are resting on your definition. Everyone wants to build the tallest building and some architects have kept plans secret until the ‘other’ building has been built. Then they reveal their plans - 2’ taller. Well, there are 3 definitions of the tallest:
the architectural top
the highest occupied floor
the tip (including antennas, flagpoles, etc.)
Check out the list below. Is the first one taller than the second? Only because it has a tall antenna at the top. And, is the Ping An Finance Center taller than the Shanghai Tower?
Here’s a list showing the top 10 in all three categories.
The first one in all three lists is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (the United Arab Emirates)
the Shanghai Tower. Originally it was supposed to have a round section near the top but the designers thought that a rectangular one would fit the rest of the building’s shape better.
We visited the Skyscraper Museum today. Neat small museum with lots of great pictures and descriptions of the many skyscrapers in the world. We like the story of the evolution of the skyscraper - only after elevators were developed (who wants to climb up the stairs of a skyscraper?), ways to get water pressure to the top floors were developed in the late 19th Century and steel frames were designed to replace putting so much weight on bricks (how thick would a 30-story have to be at the bottom to hold up the entire 30 stories?). When these three challenges were answered, the competition was on: between architects, between cities and between countries. Who has the tallest?
The Museum then cataloged the development of the skyscrapers and had lots of information about how they were built. I was entranced by a film about putting the top on one of the tallest buildings and the men who were up there maneuvering it into place. Oh, my.
This one is not only tall but massive: And he building is secondary to the clock - which tells the faithful when to pray in Mecca: it is the Makkah Royal Clock Tower in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, right in back of the Kaaba.
The museum spent some time explaining the building of the World Trade Centers and how they fit in Lower Manhattan.
Here’s a picture of lower Manhattan before they were built:
and after they were built.
But, of course, the next picture has to be of when they had fallen and had to be razed. What a difference in the skyline and what a difference in all of Lower Manhattan and for the US as a whole.
I’m thinkin’ that the red-clad building on the left of this picture is the new World Trade Center being built.
Meanwhile, it was a small fun museum that gave us some insights into when and how skyscrapers were built.
And, now we’re on the way home - and here we are at Grand Central, wondering which one of the New York cheesecakes we’re going to take home.
And, did I mention our parking ticket? Yep. At the local lot where we park when we take the train into town, we pull into a numbered spot and then pay when we get to the parking kiosk. Well, usually I can remember the number from the car to the kiosk. Today, I got the wrong number - I put down 438 instead of 439. Oops. And, we had a ticket when we got back to the car.
Ah, but it was easy to take care of. We toodled up to the city office, spoke to the clerk who looked into her computer and noted that this was our first ticket. AND IT BETTER BE OUR LAST - SINCE THEY WILL CHARGE US THE NEXT TIME.
Got it, I got it. Whew. (And, we leave tomorrow so I know I will never get another one.) (Well, it depends upon how long they keep records.)
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