Skyscraper day – Architects pushed their creative skills to build something awe-inspiring

By: Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit
Every year 3rd September is celebrated as National Skyscrapers Day on the birth anniversary of Louis H. Sullivan, often called the ‘father of modern skyscrapers’. The term ‘skyscraper’ originated in the United States in the late 1880s. Historically this was the time when there was a building boom in New York and Chicago. The world we live in was transformed around the turn of the 20th century. Architect Louis Sullivan, through intuition and innovation, and his prominence in his field, has become the keystone in shaping modern architecture.
Sullivian is known as the ‘father of modern skyscrapers’ as he was the chief architect behind famous buildings such as the Wainwright Building, the Bayard-Condict Building, the Krause Music Store and more. Skyscrapers are very tall buildings that define a city’s skyline. A skyscraper is a tall habitable building with multiple floors. These high rise buildings are around 100 metres or 150 metres in height. As per guinnessworldrecords.com, the world’s first skyscraper came up in Chicago in 1885. It’s a 10-storey building, with its peak at 138 feet. It was called the ‘Home Insurance Building’. Most people think that building skyscrapers is a must, while others think that building them is worthless. “Skyscrapers are, literally, prominent features of many cities. These days, buildings that have at least 40 or more floors are designated as skyscrapers. Today technology allows us to construct structures that we would never have been able to make in the past. Some of the creations are impressive based on what they accomplish but others are masterpieces in themselves.
Today, Man’s capability to build such tall buildings, as the skyscrapers we are familiar with covering our cities today, is a major expression of the advancements we have made as a culture. Humans have erected buildings to show their social and political influence since the dawn of time, however skyscrapers enhanced these capabilities through their vertical style and dominance of height. Technically, the first “skyscrapers” were constructed with the Byzantines and Egyptians as ziggurats or pyramids. These were built to show political power, and the sacredness of monuments through height and limited accessibility. The world’s first skyscraper came up in Chicago in 1885. The 10-storey building, with its peak at 138 feet, was called the ‘Home Insurance Building’. The architect of the world’s first skyscraper was Major William LeBaron Jenney. Records say, the skyscraper in Chicago did not last long and it was demolished in 1931, the same year when the Empire State Building in New York came up. There is no doubt that the tall buildings have captured the imagination” , prosperity, and hard work of people during the course of history. Skyscrapers represent great power, hard work, and control in the United States, the skyscraper is the greatest symbol of American history.
Skyscrapers are engineered to be built vertically in order to save space in big cities where real estate is expensive. However, some of the first skyscrapers, like Jenney’s model, utilized a larger and wider base than modern skyscrapers, as the technology was in its first use on the market.
There is no doubt that the future of skyscrapers is in the hands of environmental and architectural engineers that can develop sustainable and cost-effective buildings for commercial and residential use. Further, the use of computer climate control system has made the building a more comfortable environment for everyone.