Skyscraper Day - September 3, 2022
Skyscraper Day comes on September 3 of every year. It is on September 3rd
because that is Louis H. Sullivan's birthday (1856), the architect credited
with the first skyscrapers.
Aim of skyscraper Day :
The aim of the day is to provides the opportunity to learn more about the
architects who commit a dream to paper and the construction crews that make it
a reality.
What are skyscraper ?
Skyscrapers are tall buildings that define a city's skyline. The term
originates in the United States in the late 1880s during the building boom in
Chicago and New York. At this time, buildings that had more floors than the
surrounding buildings were called skyscrapers. These days, buildings that have
at least 40 or more levels are called skyscrapers.
Skyscrapers are continuously habitable buildings of many storeys, mostly
designed for commercial use. There is no official definition or height above
which a building can be classified as a skyscraper. One common feature of
skyscrapers has a steel framework that supports curtain walls.
History of Skyscraper Day :
At the beginning of the 20th century, New York City was a centre for the
Beaux-Arts architectural movement, attracting the talents of such great
architects as Stanford White and Carrere and Hastings. As better production
and engineering technology became available as the century progressed, New
York City and Chicago became the focal point of the competition for the
tallest building in the world. Each city’s striking skyline has been composed
of numerous and varied skyscrapers, many of which are icons of 20th-century
architecture.
Top 5 Tallest building (skyscrapers) :
1. The Burj Khalifa in Dubai (828 metre)
2. Shanghai Tower in Shanghai, China (632 metre)
3. One world Trade center, North America (541 metre)
4. Lotte World Tower in Seoul, South Korea (498 metre)
5. The Empire State Building in New York (443 metre)
Facts on Skyscraper :
1. The Home Insurance Building in Chicago is generally considered the world's
first skyscraper. Completed in 1885, it was the first to use a curtain wall
construction on a steel frame.
2. Did you know that a skyscraper can become a destructive weapon? A building
can accidentally transform into a microwave capable of harming people.
There’s the “Walkie-Talkie” skyscraper in Central London. It has a curved,
concave surface on one side that has windows that concentrating light into a
narrow beam, turning it into a magnifying glass to burn ants. In 2013, a car
actually ended up with some completely melted parts by parking next to the
Walkie Talkie. In fact, a journalist was able to fry an egg under the “heat
ray” from the building. Fortunately, the skyscraper was equipped with
structures that help dissipate the reflected light in 2014, so pedestrians can
now walk calmly under the Walkie-Talkie.
3. Skyscrapers Affect Weather
Skyscrapers can modify the patterns of wind currents in the area. “Wind
tunnels” that blow hard at ground level are created by skyscrapers close to
each other. Moreover, as the building acts as a wall, there’s another part of
the wind that’s loaded with chemical pollutants rising into the atmosphere.
These pollutants then travel either to other regions or settle in areas around
the building.
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