skyscraper

Very tall building, so named because it appears to ‘scrape the sky’, developed in 1868 in New York City, where land prices were high and the geology allowed such methods of construction. Skyscrapers are now found in cities throughout the world. The world's tallest skyscraper is the Sears Tower (1973) in Chicago, Illinois, which measures 527 m/1,729 ft to the top of its antenna. Taipei 101 (2003), in Taipei, Taiwan, at 509 m/1,671 ft is the tallest to its structural roof.

Other notable skyscrapers include Kuala Lumpur, Mayalsia's Petronas Twin Towers (1998), the world's tallest twin towers, at 452 m/1,483 ft. In Manhattan, New York, are the Empire State Building (1931), which is 381 m/1,250 ft (and 102 storeys) high; and, until their destruction by terrorist attack in 2001, the twin towers of the World Trade Center (1970–74), at 415 m/1,361 ft and 110 storeys high. Chicago has many of the earliest skyscrapers, such as the Home Insurance Building (1883–85), which was built ten storeys high with an iron and steel frame. A rigid steel frame is the key to skyscraper construction, taking all the building loads.

The walls simply ‘hang’ from the frame (see curtain wall), and they can thus be made from relatively flimsy materials such as glass and aluminium.