The Empire State Building was completed in 1931 after less than 2 years of construction. The reason why it was completed so fast was that the Empire State Building was built at the era of "The Skyscraper Race". At the time it was racing with the older Trump Building, and the Walter Chrysler Building. The Trump Building was finished first, breaking the world record, then the Walter Chrysler Building was finished breaking the world record again. Finally, the Empire State Building was finished, once again breaking the world record for the tallest building. It was constructed at almost 4 stories a week, to a competed height of 102 stories.
The official height of the building was 1,454 ft. tall. It held this title for 36 years. The designs for the building were drawn in only two weeks. About 4,000 workers were used to complete the building, especially emigrants. The project as a whole was completed ahead of schedule(15 months, not 18), and under budget(24 million instead of 41 million). Despite all this, the tower was practically empty until 1950, 29 years later. This gave it the nickname: "The Empty State Building". It was sold in 1951 for 51 million dollars, at the time, the biggest real estate price paid for a single building. The building proved it's strength when a B-25 bomber flew into it in the fog at the80th floor in 1945. The plane started a fire and caused large damage, but the fire was put out in 40 minutes, and the building was fixed and strengthened.
The Empire State Building was built at a time when dirigible air travel was the rage. The peak of the skyscraper was designed as a docking station for airships; but the transition of people from airship to skyscraper was later considered to risky after an attempt.
The Empire State Building was voted the America's #1 favorite architecture by the AIA in 2007.
No comments:
Post a Comment