Old skyscraper. The meaning of the word "skyscraper"

With hundreds of floors, these are always amazing structures that look prestigious and respectable. How are skyscrapers built and why do they do it? The feasibility of such decisions comes from the rapid growth of the population of the largest megacities on the planet. At the same time, developing a design for a building more than a hundred meters high is extremely difficult. Such a structure must be not only functional, but also safe. That is why today, to implement such projects, they resort to the use of the most innovative technologies.

What is the technology behind building skyscrapers? What are the tallest buildings today? What innovations have been used recently in the construction of skyscrapers? We will try to answer these and other questions in our material.

Choosing a site for construction

How are skyscrapers built? The most important role in the implementation of the project is played by the choice of site for placing structures. High-rise buildings put much more pressure on the ground than standard residential buildings. It is for this reason that skyscrapers stand only on dense soil, which does not contain cavities, heterogeneous masses and water deposits. Buildings of impressive height contain a massive underground part, invisible to the eye of the average person. Obviously, laying complex foundation structures requires a thorough analysis of the nature of the soil.

Walls and load-bearing structures

Modern skyscrapers cannot be built from brick or concrete slabs. Such a structure would inevitably be quickly destroyed due to instability under the influence of natural factors.

As a rule, when constructing skyscrapers, they resort to the use of load-bearing, composite steel structures. The highest level of strength is used as a material for all kinds of floors.

Layout

The internal structure of skyscrapers is radically different from urban housing. The main emphasis here is on fire safety. After all, evacuating people from a building dozens of floors high in the event of an emergency turns out to be extremely problematic. Therefore, the internal space of skyscrapers is separated by special fire barriers. In this case, one reserve elevator in the building always remains connected to an uninterrupted power supply.

The newest skyscrapers are designed in such a way that in emergency situations people can take refuge on technical floors that usually sit empty. At the same time, all entrances to premises are most often equipped with double doors. This is done in order to prevent drafts that supply the flame with oxygen during fires.

Life support

Skyscrapers are usually equipped with systems that ensure economical energy consumption. Many modern buildings have solar panels. Productive pumps, which are installed every 10-15 floors, are responsible for the water supply. It is simply impossible to pump water hundreds of meters into the air in any other way. Well, we can’t help but mention the autonomous air conditioning systems.

Cost of projects

How much does it cost to build a skyscraper? Not long ago, Japanese engineers announced that they were planning to build a structure called “Fuji”, the height of which would reach an unimaginable 4 kilometers. The building design involves as many as 800 floors. The finished structure should accommodate about one million people. Solar panels will be used to provide the building with electricity. What is the cost of implementing the project? According to experts, the construction of Fuji will cost Japan between $300 and $900 billion.

As for the tallest building currently in existence, it is the Burj Khalifa tower in the United Arab Emirates. Its height reaches 828 meters. The cost of such a skyscraper reaches about 20 billion dollars.

The next tallest skyscraper is the Shanghai Tower, the construction of which was completed in 2015, costing its creators only 1.7 billion. The height of this building is 632 meters.

Tallest skyscraper in the world

In 2010, the city inaugurated one of the most impressive buildings in history. The tallest skyscraper in the world (828 meters) is called Burj Khalifa. The presentation of the tower was a pompous event. Thousands of onlookers gathered around the huge building. The ceremony was broadcast worldwide. A record 2 billion viewers simultaneously watched the action on television.

The project took 5 years to complete. During the work, the plans that were responsible for financing changed several times. Architects regularly had to amend the structure's plan to maximize its height.

Despite all the efforts of the sheikhs, the Burj Khalifa, presumably, does not promise to remain the most impressive building in the world for long. After all, not so long ago the government of Saudi Arabia announced its own project, which should eclipse the famous tower in its grandeur. According to some reports, the height of the new giant called Kingdom Tower will be 1.1 kilometers.

Skyscrapers in New York

To this day, New York City remains one of the world leaders in the number of skyscrapers per unit area. The famous Empire State Building is a real tourist mecca. The skyscraper is located in the financial center of the city at the intersection of Fifth and Thirty-fourth Avenues. The structure occupies an entire block and rises 448 meters into the sky.

Not so long ago, the tallest skyscraper in New York was the World Trade Center. The monumental structure consisted of two twin towers, each 541 meters high and 110 floors. However, in 2011 a terrible tragedy occurred. It is no secret that the famous skyscraper was destroyed by a terrorist attack and disappeared into history forever.

In 2005, the famous Rofeller Center appeared on the map of the metropolis. Funds for the construction of the skyscraper were allocated by successful businessman John Rockefeller, after whom the building was named. The building rises 259 meters above New York. At the top of the structure there is an observation deck, from which one of the best panoramas of the city opens. It is noteworthy that the observation tower on the roof of the building, implemented for tourists, does not have protective nets or gratings. This allows visitors to the facility to enjoy simply fantastic views.

Innovative technologies

Currently, in the construction of skyscrapers all over the world, they are guided by the implementation of renewable energy sources in the project, the use of environmentally friendly, safe materials, and reducing the impact of the huge mass on the ground. Experts focus on possible vibrations of the structure and the impact of seismic phenomena on it.

How are skyscrapers built? First of all, designers resort to the use of composite materials. As a rule, the same patterns are repeated at all levels of the building. The use of composites reduces the overall weight of buildings by an average of 10%. Technology also makes it possible to significantly speed up the implementation of projects.

The most advanced technologies are used today in Asian countries. Here, they are especially concerned about the increased stability of high-rise structures, which is due to the high probability of natural disasters coming into play. Thus, a skyscraper located in Shanghai, according to experts, can maintain the integrity of its structures at wind speeds of more than 200 km/h, and can also withstand earthquakes of up to magnitude 7. This is achieved through the implementation of movable joints inside load-bearing steel columns. The presence of a swimming pool located on the 57th floor of a skyscraper has a huge impact on maintaining the stability of the structure. The latter allows the building to balance in space.

Not least of all in the construction of high-rise buildings is increased concern for the environment. Modern skyscrapers are increasingly playing the role of air filters that remove greenhouse gases and other harmful substances from the air. A striking example is the Bank of America building located on the island of Manhattan. Systems located in the walls of the building structure are capable of filtering polluted air and releasing it back into the space in a purified form.

The most in the world - the Burj Khalifa concentrates condensate, which is then released as a liquid to irrigate adjacent green spaces. Among other things, during the construction of the skyscraper, special grades of concrete were used that can withstand high temperatures that exceed 50 o C.

Finally

So we found out how skyscrapers are built. Not so long ago, some of the above projects seemed something futuristic and unattainable in the near future. As you can see, technology development does not stand still. Innovative solutions are quietly becoming part of our daily lives and are increasingly taken for granted.

Despite the fact that in the minds of most people the word “skyscraper” is closely associated with modern technology and modernist trends in architecture, the first buildings with a height of more than 100 meters appeared long before the invention of high-rise cranes and carbon fiber. Actually, the world's first skyscrapers were built back in Ancient Egypt by order of the ancient pharaohs. And the real fashion for high-rise buildings began in Europe back in the Middle Ages. However, we won’t lay all our cards on the table at once. About where and When were the world's first skyscrapers built?, read further in our article.

Pyramid of Cheops (Giza, Egypt)

The tallest of the Egyptian pyramids was built by order of Pharaoh Cheops approximately two and a half thousand years BC. The structure of the building was made up of 2.3 million limestone blocks, each of which weighs about two tons. After completion of its construction, the Cheops pyramid reached a height of 147 meters, which allowed it to remain the tallest building on our planet for more than three and a half (!!!) thousand years. Subsequently, however, the height of this impressive structure decreased somewhat as a result of a serious earthquake that collapsed the granite pyramidion that crowned the pyramid. Currently height the very first “skyscraper” in the world is 138.75 meters. Which is approximately comparable to the height of the tallest building in Minsk - the Vetraz residential skyscraper.

Cathedral of the Virgin Mary (Lincoln, UK)

The height record of the main pyramid of Giza was broken already during the Middle Ages, when the construction of the impressive Cathedral of the Virgin Mary was completed in the English county of Lincolnshire. The majestic Gothic cathedral was built from the end of the 11th century and during this time it collapsed several times. Fortunately, this did not stop the ambitious British. And in 1311, 239 years after its construction began, the majestic shrine finally appeared before the city residents in all its glory. In the fourteenth century, the high-rise spire of the cathedral reached a height of 160 meters, which allowed it to become the tallest building on the planet for 238 years. The first high-rise building in Britain lost its crown only in 1549, after the cathedral's spire was struck by lightning and, emitting a deafening roar, it collapsed directly onto the roofs of nearby buildings. After this incident, the church was, of course, repaired again, but they never decided to build a high-rise spire. Without it, the height of the building was a modest 83 meters. However, even in this form one of the first skyscrapers in the world remains a truly interesting and impressive structure. As some scientists note, it was Lincoln Cathedral that served as the prototype for the famous Victoria Tower in the Palace of Westminster.

St. Olav's Church (Tallinn, Estonia)

When one of the oldest churches in Estonia was built is not known for certain today. The first mention of the famous Oleviste Church dates back to 1267, but even then the temple was often called “old”. At that time, the cathedral belonged to a female Cistercian monastery. However, subsequently the main church of Estonia quite often changed its owners and was rebuilt. As for height, everything is somewhat simpler here. As historians note, at the turn of the 16th century, the height of the spire crowning the central tower reached 159 meters, which allowed the Church of St. Olaf to remain one of the tallest buildings of its time. In 1549, after the spire of Lincoln Cathedral was successfully knocked down by lightning, Tallinn's Oleviste became the sole leader. However, she was able to remain in this capacity for a relatively short time. In 1625, lightning struck an Estonian temple, causing the building to catch fire.

Yes, title the first skyscraper in the world passed to the Church of St. Mary in the Hanseatic town of Stralsund.

St. Mary's Church (Stralsund, Germany) and Strasbourg Cathedral (Strasbourg, France)

St. Mary's Church

It is quite difficult to tell anything interesting about the next two buildings. Like many of their predecessors, both cathedrals suffered from constant fires (usually caused by lightning strikes). However, the subsequent fate of the two churches was still somewhat different. Due to constant bad weather, the German temple underwent serious reconstruction, as a result of which the building became lower by 47 meters (from 151 m to 104 m).

Cathedral in Strasbourg

Strasbourg Cathedral, famous for its asymmetrical shape, has been preserved in its original form to this day. In 1874, the height of its 142-meter tower was surpassed by the Church of St. Nicholas in Hamburg.

St. Nicholas Church (Hamburg, Germany)

The Hamburg Church remained the tallest building on the planet for only two years (from 1874 to 1876). However, despite this, the history and fate of this structure is truly unique. The first wooden building on the site of the modern cathedral was built back in the 11th century. A century and a half later, a stone cathedral was erected on the site of a small church. But it was later rebuilt. The Church of St. Nicholas reached the apogee of its greatness in 1874, when a majestic Gothic church was built on the site of the previous building. At this moment, Hamburg Cathedral with its pointed 147-meter tower became the tallest building on earth. In 1876, its height was surpassed by the Rouen Cathedral (151 meters), and in 1880 by the Cologne Cathedral (157.5 meters). However, truly tragic times for the Church of St. Nicholas came in the middle of the 20th century. During the anti-Hitler Operation Gomorrah, the cathedral was almost completely destroyed. Surprisingly, only the 147-meter tower survived. The destruction of the temple continued in the fifties. It was only in 1990 that the collapsing tower was saved. Currently, the remains of the tower have been turned into a memorial to the “Victims of War and Arbitrariness.”

Not far from the church there is a small museum.

New time

In 1884, the tallest building in the world became the Washington Monument (170 m). In 1889, his achievement was surpassed by the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris (312 m). In the thirties of the 20th century, the era of “skyscraper construction” swept New York. And from that time on, buildings higher than 300 meters began to appear on the map of the planet one after another.

However, oddly enough, the very first skyscraper in the world(or rather, the structure that is generally considered to be such) appeared not in New York, but in Chicago. At the same time, the “giant building” reached a modest 55 meters in height. Currently, the Chicago high-rise Home Insurance Building is known for its innovative construction technology, as well as for the fact that the term “Skyscraper” itself was coined specifically for it. However, to this day world's first skyscraper never made it. In 1931, the technologically outdated building was demolished.

Chicago Tower Home Insurance Building. Officially the first skyscraper in the world. photo: chicagology.com

In the mid-fifties, high-rise buildings became a symbol of the United States of America, and at the same time of all modern times. However, in fact, “skyscraper cities” existed long before the formation of Manhattan. Thus, the historical towers of Bologna (about 90-100 meters) are widely known, as well as the towers of another Italian town - San Gimignano, located in the province of Tuscany.

Knowing these examples, answer the question: when the world's first skyscrapers were built, becomes much more difficult. Scientists are still arguing about different interpretations of this concept. However, maybe new interesting discoveries await us in the future?

Thank you for your attention! Good luck and see you again!

With the beginning of the rapid development of industry and the concentration of population in cities, the need arose to construct large volumes of multi-story and high-rise buildings. The first city in which high-rise buildings began to be built was Chicago, at the end of the 19th century. played a significant role in the development of the United States.

In this city, buildings with 12-16 floors began to be erected for the first time, which led to difficulties in their operation. Firstly, water pumps of that time could supply water only to a height of 15 m, and secondly, rising above 5-7 floors also did not contribute to the construction of tall buildings of 10-12 floors, and only the use of a frame system, the invention of a safe elevator, the development More powerful pumps made it possible to increase the height of buildings to 100 meters or more.

The first multi-storey and high-rise buildings were built from brick; the inconsistency of such construction was shown by the construction of the Monadnock building in 1891. The 16-storey building with load-bearing external and internal walls had an external wall thickness of 1.8 m (figure below), which, due to design features, did not allow having rooms with large areas and large display windows.

Exterior wall of the Monadnock building (Chicago, USA)

One of the first theorists of high-rise construction was Louis Sullivan, who formulated five basic principles for the construction of high-rise buildings, which are used by all modern architects. First, a skyscraper needs an underground floor, which houses boiler rooms, power plants and engineering equipment that provides the building with energy and heat. The second - first floor should be at the disposal of banks, shops and other establishments that need large space, a lot of light, bright shop windows and easy access from the street. The third - second floor should have no less light and space than the first, since it is easily accessible with the help of stairs. Fourth - between the second and top floors there should be office premises, which may not differ in any way from each other in layout. The fifth - the top floor, as well as the underground, must be technical. It must contain a ventilation system and other equipment. Sullivan, together with Adler, confirmed his principles in the Guaranty Trust Building project in Buffalo (picture below), where shops and a bank were located on the first and second floors, the top floor was reserved for the installation of the necessary equipment, and the ten floors between them were occupied by office space with the same planning decision.

Guaranty Trust Building (Buffalo, USA)

As the design and construction of high-rise buildings has evolved, their architecture, structures and engineering equipment have constantly undergone changes. Inventions in the field of construction, technology, various influences exerted by legislation, architectural theories and styles have left their mark on high-rise construction.

Based on the experience of design and construction of the development of architectural styles, the stages of development of high-rise construction are divided.

Chicago School (1890-1915)

The first series of high-rise office block buildings was erected in the United States, on the basis of which Louis Sullivan and John Welborn Root proclaimed the architectural principle "Form defines function". The new style became known throughout the world as the so-called Chicago School style, which marked the beginning of the modern direction of designing high-rise buildings.

Initially, during the construction of multi-story buildings, by analogy with factories in England, cast iron columns were used according to the design of the architectural engineer William Le Baron Jenney, one of the founders of the Chicago School. The building was the first to use a curtain façade. Built in 1895, the Home Insurance Building is a typical example of the Chicago School of Architecture style, which determined the direction of high-rise construction for many decades. W. Jenny was the first to formulate the principle of separating the function of load-bearing structures and the building envelope, anticipating the curtain wall system. The Chicago School, by combining architecture and structures, structures and forms, in their work into a single whole, bridged the gap between them for the first time.

One of the first high-rise buildings to use a steel frame was the 30-story Park Row Building (architect R. Robertson, picture below), built in 1899. Although the external walls were brick, the facade was horizontally divided by belts and balconies of varying lengths an upper decorative belt and two towers.

General view of the frame

Despite the progressiveness of the design solutions, the architecture of the building has not undergone significant changes (figure below). His volumetric-spatial solutions repeated the motifs of stone buildings - massive lower floors, heavy horizontal floor-to-floor belts.

Park Row Building (New York, USA)

A) b)

a - general view; b - building tower

The use of a metal frame put forward new tectonic tasks for architects, which consisted in abandoning the cladding of the frame with massive stone walls and, on the contrary, in revealing it on the facade and filling the spaces between the frame with glazed surfaces. Thus, when designing an eight-story Leiter store, the façade of the building was 120 m long. Jenny used large and simple proportions, dividing the façade into sections. The frame of the building emphasized the expressiveness of the structure. Large glazed surfaces were separated from each other by fire-resistant metal columns, dividing the façade into large squares. This division of facades was inherent in almost all buildings under construction at that time; one such example is the Margarette Building, built in 1895. In the same year, the 14-story Reliance Building was erected (figure below) . The characteristic features of the erected building were: a steel frame of the so-called Chicago structure and significant window areas. Thanks to the wide bay windows and horizontal belts, the building acquired harmony and lightness. Large bay windows, which did not open in the central part, protruded forward, providing the necessary light front. Narrow windows located on different sides of the bay window served for ventilation. The building itself was divided into two functional volumes - the first two floors with large department store display windows were faced with dark stone, almost without decoration, and the facade of the upper 12 floors of offices was designed in an open and transparent manner, unusual for that time. This building became the forerunner of the glass and steel skyscrapers promoted in the 20-40s. 20th century by the world famous architect Mies van der Rohe.

General view of the Reliance Building (Chicago, USA)

One of the first residential buildings to use a steel frame in its structure was the 87-meter Flatiron Building (figure below), built in 1902 in New York, which was more than twice the height of the surrounding buildings. Designed by D. Burnham and D.E. Rutom, a triangular-shaped high-rise building, is perfectly located at the crossroads of Manhattan streets. It repeats the classical canons of a three-part division - the first three floors of the base with large spans are lined with massive hewn stone, the middle part, which gives the building harmony and lightness, is lined with light stone, and the upper part - the penthouse - is decorated with arcades and a carved cornice.

General view of the Flatiron Building (New York, USA)

In the first high-rise buildings “Home Insurance Building”, “Masonic Temple”, “Flatiron Building” and others, the use of lightweight frame structures due to the inertia of thinking did not in any way affect their architectural expressiveness; outwardly they reflected the styles fashionable at that time: Romanesque, Victorian, French or Classical Renaissance. The horizontal structures of bricks and natural stone facades gave the building a heaviness and bulkiness. However, the development of technology for the production of lightweight and powerful frame structures soon significantly changed the classic appearance of high-rise architectural objects.

Eclectic period

The period of eclecticism - neo-Gothic, art deco, “wedding cake”. The high-rise buildings built during this period largely replicate the styles of various structures. In 1908, architect Ernst Flag designed a tower for the existing 14-story Singer Tower. The shape of the towers imitates the corner towers of the Louvre in Paris, and the Metropolitan Life Tower (architect Le Brun), built in 1909, clearly resembles the tower in Venice on St. Mark's Square. This period saw a shift from tall office blocks to office towers.

Attempts to diversify the architecture of high-rise buildings result in eclecticism, when different styles are present in one building at the same time. Architects tried to use neo-Gothic and Romanesque, neoclassical and Renaissance styles to connect the new with the old. The most striking representatives of the neo-Gothic style were the high-rise buildings “Woolworth Building” (1913, architect G. Gilbert), “Enemy Building” (1921, architect G. Anderson and others), “Tribune Tower” (1925 g., architect R. Hood, J. Howells), in which light vertical elements rising to the sky and Gothic turrets visually emphasized the height of the buildings.

In 1922, during an international architectural competition for the right to design the Chicago Tribune Tower newspaper building (picture below), new architectural ideas were formulated.

Chicago Tribune Tower (Chicago, USA)

Architects demonstrated this in practice by building two world-famous skyscrapers in early 1930: the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building (architect William van Allen) built in the theatrical art deco style (picture below). The 77-story Chrysler Building was the first building to be taller than the Eiffel Tower and is a transitional type from a stepped building to a tower.

Chrysler Building (New York, USA)

The lower part has a complex U-shaped plan, and the upper part takes on the character of a tower. The architect's desire to enrich the rhythm of the facade with a combination of vertical and horizontal elements led to the arrangement of details of different styles. The finishing of the building resembles stylized automobile wheel rims, which gives the building a symbolic image of the Chrysler company. Soon, the championship in height goes to the Empire State Building (architects Shreve, Lam and Harmon) with a mast for airships, which would break the first time the aircraft docked. However, this was the first time that the futurists' idea that non-bosscrapers would be accessible from the air was actually tried to be implemented. The 381-meter Empire State Building remained the tallest building in the world for more than 40 years (from 1931 to 1972).

In 1972, the palm passed to the 442 m high Sears Tower building, built in Chicago.

International style

In the period between the war and the economic crisis, two buildings were erected in the Art Nouveau style: the PSFS Building in Philadelphia (1932, architect Nou and Lescaze) and the RCA Building of the Rockefeller Center (1940, architect. Hood and Fulow, Hofmeister, Corbett, Harrison and Mac Murray). The PSFS Building in Philadelphia, with its flat roofs, expressive vertical lines and asymmetrical subsections, marked the onset of a new stage in the development of the style - it was one of the first attempts to apply the principles of the International (International) style to the construction of American skyscrapers. The building was the only high-rise building included in the 1932 Modern Architecture Exhibition, an international exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York organized by Philip Johnson and Henry Russell Hitchcock. The companion publication, International Style, chronicles the triumph of the skyscraper for the first time in literature and architectural history.

Since 1919, Mies van der Rohe began to actively research the problems of modern architectural form. Mies based the study of architectural forms on three of the most important problems in his opinion that shape the architecture of buildings: the horizontal division of the building as an expression of its internal structure, the division of the volume of the building according to a functional basis, as well as the use of folded or smooth glazing surfaces as architectural elements.

If Le Corbusier took the geometric shape of the building as the basis of the plan and subordinated it to a functional solution, then Mies van der Rohe, on the contrary, when developing the external appearance of the building, proceeded from the relative position of its individual parts depending on their purpose. Since the 40s. XX century Mies van der Rohe initiated the construction of a new generation of high-rise buildings, the so-called “international style”. He managed to combine architectural and structural form, simplifying the structure of the functional space as much as possible. A typical example is the high-rise 82-meter residential buildings “Lake Shore Drive” (picture below), built in 1951 in Chicago. Between 1948 and 1969 Mies van der Rohe designed fourteen high-rise buildings in Chicago. All of them were based on a simple cubic shape. The Seagram Building, built in 1958 and designed with Philip Johnson, became the prototype for the modern office building. This building was an innovation in urban planning. For the first time, a technique was used in construction when the building was moved inward, creating a spacious area in front of its entrance. This method of development led to the adoption of new urban planning legislation in 1961, which regulated the organization of public areas. Office skyscrapers in the style of Mies van der Rohe have become one of the most common ones built around the world. However, copies did not always match the quality of the original, and the demand for such skyscrapers in the world gradually decreased. After this technique became widespread, the emphasis of the building moved from the top to its base, where public areas were located. A boom in the construction of buildings with a square in front of them, the so-called plazas, began. As a result, during the construction of several buildings next to each other, the street line disappeared, creating a continuous area, which forced architects to move away from such a solution in all high-rise buildings and apply this technique dispersedly.

Lake Shore Drive building (Chicago, USA)

In imitation of Mies van der Rohe, high-rise buildings in the international style were built around the world. In Russia there is the building of the Hydroproject Institute (architect G. Yakovlev, picture below), in Belgium there is the Tour Martini building, in Sweden there is the building of the SAS company and many others.

Building of the Institute "Hydroproject" (Moscow, Russia)

Modernism (postmodernism, futurism)

Until the mid-60s. The Art Nouveau style prevailed in world architecture, giving the world a large number of magnificent buildings. However, already in the second half of the 60s. New theoretical and practical approaches emerged, which contributed to a departure from the architectural principles of modernism. This, in turn, influenced high-rise construction. Publications by R. Venturi and D.S. Brown defined the direction of postmodernism. The appearance of the buildings has become significantly more complicated. The first significant building of the postmodern era was the AT&T Headquarter, designed by Philip Johnson (1984), who worked with Mies van der Rohe on the Seagram Building project.

The main idea of ​​his building was a demonstrative return to the historical roots of skyscraper architecture. Instead of glass curtain walls, a heavy stone facade was again used, which mixed various architectural styles and reappeared in Sullivan's three-part structure (base, trunk, capital). The rapid development of the market for such buildings occurred in conjunction with the mass production of a large number of architectural forms and details. In the architecture of postmodernist buildings, one scheme was used - the historical type of tower, ending with a pyramid-shaped top. In 1985, Caesar Pelli built the World Financial Center in New York, repeating his project at the Canary Wharf Tower in London in 1991.

In the 90s The last century continued the search for an alternative to rectangular cubic buildings of the international style, which often did not fit into the existing structural development. The clear forms of this style began to be replaced by more plastic, sculptural ones. The volumetric-spatial solution was considered not only as a purely functional, but also as an architectonic expression of the building.

In Europe, high-rise buildings were initially built not to solve any specific practical needs, but rather as a tribute to technological progress and as an expression of the power of society, one such building was the Tour di Midi office building in Belgium (picture below).

Tour di Midi building (Brussels, Belgium)

In historically established European cities with medieval centers and dominant historical buildings, a new approach to high-rise construction was required. The model of concentrated placement of high-rise buildings in the city center, as was common in American cities, could not be used in Europe. Various European countries have formulated this approach differently. French architects Auguste Perret and Le Corbusier were the main developers of the concept of constructing high-rise buildings to create completely new cityscapes. By concentrating high-rise buildings in residential areas, they tried to flatten the compressed plan and make more room for light and air. Their high-rise buildings, designed as elements of promising urban development, reached a height of 200 meters and were located at a considerable distance from each other, leaving the territory for transport interchanges and green areas.

Tall buildings in Western and Eastern Europe served as symbols of state and economic power. If Western Europe took the path of copying American skyscrapers, then Eastern Europe developed its own style, expressing the ideological positions of socialism.

The first high-rise buildings erected in the Soviet Union, in their architectural expressiveness and artistic composition, largely repeat the features of Russian architecture and, in particular, the Moscow Kremlin (tent ends, spiers, turrets and other elements). One example is the building of Moscow State University on Vorobyovy Hills. The work carried out in the post-war years on the restoration and reconstruction of cities, the search for new urban development models led to the need for the construction of high-rise buildings and complexes in megacities. Such buildings in the development of large cities served to highlight the center or became dominant at the intersections of the main urban transport routes. Unlike American models, where the concentrated placement of high-rise buildings was adopted, in Europe high-rise buildings were located in specially designated areas outside the city boundaries, for example, the Défense district near Paris, or through dispersed placement in the structure of urban areas. Only in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) high-rise construction was carried out in the very center of the city. This was due to several reasons - the significant destruction of the city after the Second World War, the desire to attract financial structures and their significant pressure to locate bank offices and other financial organizations in one place. Stereotypical modernist forms were replaced by various variations of postmodernism. One of these buildings was the Andromeda Tower in Vienna (picture below). Built in 1998, the 113-metre, 29-storey building has a glazed façade with skylights, and protruding volumes give the building a dynamic effect.

Andromeda Tower (Vienna, Austria)

The desire to create interesting three-dimensional forms and an attempt to humanize residential areas led to the emergence of new types of high-rise buildings. The tallest twin towers of the Petronas Tower (picture below) in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) with a height of 452 m, erected in 1998 according to the project of the C. Pelli association, reflected the national architectural features of traditional buildings of Southeast Asia - minarets and pagodas, and the reinforced concrete structure made it possible to make the towers in the spirit of postmodernism - plastic and multifaceted.

Petronas Tower (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Structural Expressionism

The search for new formative possibilities in design and construction, the desire to move away from simple geometric volumetric-spatial solutions have led to an increase in the expressiveness of buildings with different purposes. The definition of the style "structural expressionism" emerged from the so-called technical modernism, when the structural elements of a high-rise building are shown from the outside, on the facade of the building. At the same time, buildings of structural expressionism have different volumetric-spatial solutions.

The Bank of China (picture below), located in Hong Kong and built according to the design of I. Pei in 1990, has a futuristic architectural form. The polygonal volume-spatial structure of the building with a height of 367 m is reminiscent of the features of national Chinese architecture - the volume decreasing with ledges upwards is shaped like a stem bamboo, and diagonal structures exposed outward emphasize the elegance of the volume.

Bank of China Building (Hong Kong)

The only seven-star hotel in the world, the Burj Al Arab (architect D. Spears), 321 m high, built in 1999 in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), is distinguished by its unusual volumetric-spatial shape in the form of a sail (picture below).

Burj Al Arab Hotel (Dubai, UAE)

The Lloyd Building in London was erected in the style of structural expressionism in 1986 (R. Rogers company). Structural elements facing the façade - racks and horizontal belts - are placed around the building, while ventilation pipes face the façade, emphasizing the height and giving elegance to the entire volumetric-spatial design of the building, and deliberately exposed stairs give it a sculptural appearance (picture below).

Lloyd Building: a - general view; b - night lighting of the building

A) b)

Bioecological style (1990 onwards)

The bioecological style, emerging since 1990, includes not only architectural and constructive innovations, but also, to a greater extent, achievements in the field of engineering, used to create intelligent, self-sufficient and self-regulating buildings. The biological style is not only the use of resources, but also a new approach to the architecture of high-rise buildings - natural ventilation and natural lighting, the use of intelligent building management systems, as well as regulating facade systems, renewable energy systems (solar panels, wind engines and etc.), modern vertical transport, etc.

The considered stages of development show the path traveled, make it possible to evaluate it and determine the directions for further development of high-rise construction.

Kashcheeva K.

Historic Skyscrapers

The Home Insurance Building, which was built in 1885 in Chicago, is considered to be the first skyscraper to appear in the United States. Initially, the architect William Le Baron Jenney planned to make this building ten floors, but later two more floors were added to it. Nowadays, in the USA, a building taller than 150 meters is considered a skyscraper. The first building that fits this definition was built in 1913 in New York. This is the Woolworth Building. To this day it is one of the main decorations of the metropolis, stretching 241 meters high, or, measured in modern “skyscraper” language, 57 floors.

Broadway has gone crazy.
Running around and roaring.
At home
fall from the sky
and hang.
But even between them
you'll notice Woolworths.
Corset box
about sixty floors

V. Mayakovsky “The Young Lady and Woolworth”

Now New York can rightfully be called a city of skyscrapers. There are exactly 140 of them here - buildings made of concrete and steel, of different heights, different styles and purposes, which cut through the heavenly surface of the American “Big Apple”.

Built in 1902, the Flatiron Building, New York's oldest skyscraper and once a favorite haunt of respectable American gentlemen (the air currents created lift the dresses of ladies passing by), has now been eclipsed by taller buildings.

Such, for example, as the Chrysler Building - a 319-meter-high building owned by the Chrysler company, was built in 1930 and became one of the symbols of New York. Interestingly, the skyscraper's spire became the first human-built object to exceed the 312 meters of the Eiffel Tower, which held the height record since 1889.

It is believed that every person who visits New York must do several things - take a ferry to the Statue of Liberty, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and climb to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building - the most famous skyscraper in the United States. Few people know that in 1945, a B-29 bomber that went off course crashed into the skyscraper. Although the steel frame withstood the impact, damage was estimated at $1 million and 14 lives lost.

As one of the largest office centers in the United States, the skyscraper is the workplace of several thousand people. All of them must be delivered to their workplaces on time, for which there are 72 elevators in the building - all of them are connected to a special mechanism, which itself calculates when and on what floor each of them should stop. On average, New Yorkers are accustomed to waiting for an elevator no more than 17 seconds. After this time has passed, they press the button a second time. And after 30 seconds they begin to be indignant.

From the time the skyscraper was built in 1931 until 1972, it was the tallest building in the world, rising 381 meters or 102 floors. After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the Empire State once again became the tallest building in the city. The events of that day shocked the whole world. The World Trade Center, a complex of seven buildings, was destroyed as a result of terrorist attacks and 3 thousand people were buried under steel and a meter layer of dust. The central structures of the complex were considered to be two 110-story twin towers - North (417 meters high) and South (415 meters high). Now in their place the construction of a new World Trade Center complex is underway, namely its main building - the Freedom Tower. Completion of construction is planned for 2013. The height of the skyscraper including the spire will be 541 meters.

In addition to New York, there is another metropolis in the United States, where you can see high-rise buildings jutting into the sky everywhere. Chicago is the only city in the world that has completed construction of more than one building with over 100 floors. This is where the tallest skyscraper in the United States of America is located - Willis Tower. Once the tallest building in the world, rising 443 meters or 110 floors, with a total area equal to 57 football fields, it now ranks only seventh.

A few months ago, construction of another skyscraper was completed in Chicago - the 96-story hotel of media tycoon Donald Trump - Trump International Hotel and Tower. The height of the spire of this building reaches 415 meters, which makes it the second tallest skyscraper not only in the metropolis, but in the entire United States.

The tallest building located West of Chicago is the U.S. Bank Tower is a bank built in 1989 in Los Angeles. It is the eighth tallest building in the United States and also the tallest skyscraper in the state of California. At an altitude of 310 meters, on the roof of the building, there is a helipad.

As one of the world powers, the United States often creates new trends in various fields. For example, in 2003, a number of projects for environmentally friendly skyscrapers were presented. One of them is the Bank of America Tower, the construction of which was completed in 2009. Its environmental friendliness lies in the use of special sun-sensitive lamps that can provide the building with electricity through daylight. However, the Hearst Tower, built in 2006, is considered the most environmentally friendly building in New York. 80% of the steel used for construction was obtained from recycled materials. Also, the facade of the building is not just a design component, but also a clever move that allows more sunlight to penetrate inside. And finally, on the roof there are reservoirs for rainwater, which is subsequently used for fountains, cooling systems and watering plants.

We talked about the highest and and, but did not delve too deeply into their history. Therefore, this time I propose to look back hundreds of years - to the period when there were no skyscrapers with steel frames, but people tried to build buildings that even now amaze with their scale, and to the near past - to the time of the first skyscrapers.

The tallest buildings and structures of antiquity

The 140-meter pyramid was built on the orders of Pharaoh Cheops. If it had been more like a residential building, it would still qualify as a skyscraper in terms of height. For comparison: the high-rise building on Red Gate Square, one of the “Stalin Sisters”, reaches 138 meters.

On the island of Sardinia by the 15th century BC. e. erected a whole complex of defensive nurag towers, which may have had a religious purpose. The height of the tallest tower was originally about 19 meters; now the destroyed structures are much lower. 19 meters is more than a five-story Khrushchev building.

The Taj Mahal, a magnificent building in Agra, India, was built in 1653. Now the Taj Mahal is a museum that attracts a huge number of tourists. Unfortunately, as in the case of the Pyramid of Cheops, this building lost a huge part of its original beauty due to looting. For example, we will not see the 10-meter golden spire, cut down by the British colonialists. The guides also talk about the strings of pearls that connected the four towers to the central dome.

The height of the mausoleum is 73 meters. For comparison: the first skyscraper is considered to be the Home Insurance Building, a 42-meter-high office built in 1885 in Chicago. Another mausoleum is closer to this size - the 46-meter Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.

It is worth saying that in 1870, before the construction of the above-mentioned skyscrapers, a 40-meter office building Equitable Life Building was built in New York. Sometimes it is called the first skyscraper - only because of the frame it does not fall into the general classification. It was the first office building with passenger elevators - hydraulic models from the Otis company.

Equitable Life Building

The criterion for the presence of a steel frame is no longer absolutely necessary at the moment. In 1998, two 88-story buildings were erected in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, connected by a ball-bearing bridge. Elastic concrete reinforced with quartz and comparable in strength to steel was used for construction. But the mass of a skyscraper is twice that of buildings of a similar size. The height of the buildings is 451 meters, including the spire.

Moreover, the tallest building in the world is not built on a steel frame. The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE, also used specially developed concrete that can withstand temperatures of up to 48 degrees Celsius. The concrete was laid at night, adding ice to the solution.

The Burj Khalifa Tower was built by the same company that built one of the Petronas Towers - Samsung.

Petronas Towers, Malaysia

Tom Cruise on the Burj Khalifa skyscraper, Dubai, UAE

Burj Khalifa

Overcoming obstacles

If we talk about the USA, then the builders had some other problems, such as imperfect elevators and pumps that did not allow water to be raised to the highest floors. These tasks were soon overcome, but as the buildings grew, new challenges arose.

In the USA, a 40-story Equitable Building was built in 1913-1915. The 164-meter skyscraper cast such a shadow on the city that at noon it deprived houses on an area of ​​30 thousand square meters of sunlight. To avoid similar problems in the future, New York passed a law according to which the building had to be raised with ledges. This is how skyscrapers with stepped outlines appeared.

Manhattan, 1932. Zoning Law Results

The higher the building, the more exposed it is to natural conditions. The height of Taipei 101 in the capital of Taiwan is more than half a kilometer. Southeast Asia is characterized by typhoons and earthquakes. The tower has already withstood several earthquakes and stands calmly in any gust of wind. Moreover, people in this tower do not suffer from “air sickness”; they do not feel the sway at high altitudes.

The risk of collapse is reduced by a pendulum ball installed between the 87th and 91st floors of the 101-story building. The ball weighs 660 tons and allows you to compensate for gusts of wind. And the frame of the building is very strong, but not rigid, so it cannot simply “break.”

Taipei 101, Taiwan

Each high-rise building brings new challenges. The Shanghai Tower has a twisted design to combat wind and a double shell to maintain temperature. The site for the Petronas towers had to be moved 60 meters so that the twins would stand on the same type of soil, and the material for them had to be produced exclusively in Malaysia - so a special grade of concrete was created for them.

Among the complex Russian projects, the skyscraper on Red Gate Square should be noted. Under one of the buildings of the 138-meter high-rise building there is a metro lobby, which was built at the same time as the building. For some time, the “cloud cutter” had to stand at an angle on the edge of the pit, and after the ground settled, it would definitely tilt. To avoid this, the building was built with a slope, and the soil was frozen using the technology used in the construction of the subway. The soil melted, the building sank and stood strictly (almost) vertically. The task was so difficult to calculate that a similar method was not used anywhere else.