The Development of Modern Architecture: The Skyscraper

The skyscraper is the most important development in 20th century architecture. Techniques for making steel, a more refined and stronger iron, led to new possibilities in architecture. Metal beams can span great distances and support increased loads. With steel-cage construction, the exterior no longer has a support function so windows can be larger. Not only structural steel, but new construction methods were necessary for the development of the skyscraper, such as steam shovels, cranes, hydraulic jacks, pile drivers, pneumatic hammers, concrete mixers, and a host of other machines--all in use before World War Two. Timber scaffolding was replaced by stronger tubular steel scaffolding. Another technical development which made tall buildings feasible was the invention of the elevator, first installed in 1857; the electric elevator dates from about 1889 and by about 1900 the escalator was invented. As early as the late 1920s air-conditioning was used. Gradually new materials were invented: aluminum in windows, stainless steel for sleek interiors, new kinds of glass. It's important to consider why skyscrapers were built. For one, they were a practical necessity: to provide residences, to centralize large commercial enterprizes. A tall building allows for intense occupancy. In addition, the skyscraper is more economical in urban locations where commercial property is expensive.
MAS	But the skyscraper also became symbolic. Height became an obsession. Corporations wanted to have the tallest building. Cities also competed in the height sweepstakes. The visibility of the skyscraper signified commercial success; thus, companies often wanted a striking cap or tower--a unique skyline identity. Some today, like the Transamerica Corporation (left), use their office tower as a kind of logo.
From the beginning there was one significant problem: with a number of skyscrapers the street-level environment could become a sunless canyon. Eventually, cities passed ordinances requiring a series of setbacks. This proved to be helpful aesthetically since skyscrapers then didn't have to look like a classical columns; instead, they could have shelf-like recessions with roof terraces or penthouses.
	William Le Baron Jenney (1832-1907) Home Insurance Building, Chicago, 1885 (now demolished) This 10-story office building is usually called the first skyscraper. The problem for architects was how to treat the top and bottom of a tall building. A precedent was the Italian palazzo with a clearly defined base and cornice.
Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) Wainwright Building, St. Louis, 1890-91 Although this 10-story office building uses organic ornament (Louis' stylistic innovation) and still has the sense of a base, shaft, and capital, it has a strong sense of verticality or emphasis on height.		both MAS
Burnham and Root Monadnock Building, Chicago, 1891
	MAS	Although this is technically a skyscraper, it is actually a conventional masonry building. In order to support the 16 stories, the walls at the base are 72 inches thick and the size of window openings had to be restricted. Older styles of construction are pushed to the limits here; in fact, this was the tallest building ever constructed with supporting brick walls.
Cass Gilbert (1859-34) Woolworth Building, New York City, 1913 This famous skyscraper, 792 feet tall, was from 1913-1930 the tallest building in the world. It was commissioned by Frank W. Woolworth, the owner of the five and dime chain. It has a "U"-shaped plan with a 29-story mass at the bottom and with a 30-story square tower rising from the center of the front. The whole is sheathed with cream-colored terra cotta. This steel cage building with Gothic piers stresses verticality.		both MAS
Details in the entrance, the setbacks, and top borrow from Gothic architecture. The Gothic cathedral did in fact provide the outstanding precedent for a tall building. Preachers at time called the Woolworth Building the "Cathedral of Commerce" because of its Gothic details and its 3-story lobby with gold mosaics, one of which depicts Woolworth holding his building, just as medieval paintings depicted the donors of churches offering their works to God. See this site for additional images.
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In 1922 an important architectural competition was held. The Chicago Tribune offered a $50,000 prize for the winning entry for a new corporate tower, marking that newspaper's 75th anniversary. The jury received 263 submissions from 23 countries. Below are three of the losing entries: Walter Gropius, Adolf Loos, and Eliel Saarinen.
Two of the losing entries are strikingly "modern" while the center Doric column-skyscraper alludes to classical architecture. However, many of the entries, as well as the winner, show how much the skyscraper relied on Gothic precedents. Hood, one of the winners, went on to design a number of other skyscrapers, usually more pared of ornament, including Rockefeller Center.
Raymond M. Hood (1881-1934) and John Mead Howells, Chicago Tribune Tower, 1923 Note the flying buttresses at the top of the tower.		MAS

	William Van Alen (1882-1954) Chrysler Building, New York City, 1930 Only seven years after the Chicago Tribune competition, this famous skyscraper adopts a different style--Art Deco. It even playfully incorporates hubcaps and hood ornaments as part of the design. The design also makes a virtue of the necessary set backs required by the zoning laws. See this site for additional images.
Additional details of the Chrysler Building
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Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon Empire State Building, New York City, 1931 The skyscraper is coming into its own. Verticality is emphaphasized but without the use of traditional (or Gothic) forms.
The Seagram Building (below) is seen as the epitome of modern architecture and of the so-called International Style. This much-imitated elegant building has eliminated the obvious base and because of steel cage construction it can have a glass curtain wall, in this case dark tinted glass. Instead of set backs, it makes a straight shot upward with bronze I-beams emphasizing the height. It occupies much less space on the lot than it could by law; instead it incorporates a plaza as part of the design. This building has spawned many lesser imitations so that now this form (what some call the cigar box on end) is seen as impersonal and repetitive.
Mies Van Der Rohe (1886-1969) and Philip Johnson (b. 1906) Seagram Building, New York City, 1958