Prairie Skyscraper

Prairie Skyscraper

Author: Anthony Alofsin

Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Prairie Skyscraper traces the history and evolution of Wright's recently restored nineteen-story-skyscraper masterwork, which takes its place beside the S.C. Johnson Wax Research Tower as one of Wright's only two vertical structures-and, at 221 feet tall-his largest.


Skyscraper Gothic

Skyscraper Gothic

Author: Kevin D. Murphy estate

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 2017-07-06

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0813939739

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Of all building types, the skyscraper strikes observers as the most modern, in terms not only of height but also of boldness, scale, ingenuity, and daring. As a phenomenon born in late nineteenth-century America, it quickly became emblematic of New York, Chicago, and other major cities. Previous studies of these structures have tended to foreground examples of more evincing modernist approaches, while those with styles reminiscent of the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe were initially disparaged as being antimodernist or were simply unacknowledged. Skyscraper Gothic brings together a group of renowned scholars to address the medievalist skyscraper—from flying buttresses to dizzying spires; from the Chicago Tribune Tower to the Woolworth Building in Manhattan. Drawing on archival evidence and period texts to uncover the ways in which patrons and architects came to understand the Gothic as a historic style, the authors explore what the appearance of Gothic forms on radically new buildings meant urbanistically, architecturally, and socially, not only for those who were involved in the actual conceptualization and execution of the projects but also for the critics and the general public who saw the buildings take shape. Contributors: Lisa Reilly on the Gothic skyscraper ● Kevin Murphy on the Trinity and U.S. Realty Buildings ● Gail Fenske on the Woolworth Building ● Joanna Merwood-Salisbury on the Chicago School ● Katherine M. Solomonson on the Tribune Tower ● Carrie Albee on Atlanta City Hall ● Anke Koeth on the Cathedral of Learning ● Christine G. O'Malley on the American Radiator Building


Building the Skyline

Building the Skyline

Author: Jason M. Barr

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-05-12

Total Pages: 457

ISBN-13: 0199344388

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Manhattan skyline is one of the great wonders of the modern world. But how and why did it form? Much has been written about the city's architecture and its general history, but little work has explored the economic forces that created the skyline. In Building the Skyline, Jason Barr chronicles the economic history of the Manhattan skyline. In the process, he debunks some widely held misconceptions about the city's history. Starting with Manhattan's natural and geological history, Barr moves on to how these formations influenced early land use and the development of neighborhoods, including the dense tenement neighborhoods of Five Points and the Lower East Side, and how these early decisions eventually impacted the location of skyscrapers built during the Skyscraper Revolution at the end of the 19th century. Barr then explores the economic history of skyscrapers and the skyline, investigating the reasons for their heights, frequencies, locations, and shapes. He discusses why skyscrapers emerged downtown and why they appeared three miles to the north in midtown-but not in between the two areas. Contrary to popular belief, this was not due to the depths of Manhattan's bedrock, nor the presence of Grand Central Station. Rather, midtown's emergence was a response to the economic and demographic forces that were taking place north of 14th Street after the Civil War. Building the Skyline also presents the first rigorous investigation of the causes of the building boom during the Roaring Twenties. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the boom was largely a rational response to the economic growth of the nation and city. The last chapter investigates the value of Manhattan Island and the relationship between skyscrapers and land prices. Finally, an Epilogue offers policy recommendations for a resilient and robust future skyline.


Frank Lloyd Wright in New York

Frank Lloyd Wright in New York

Author: Jane King Hession

Publisher: Gibbs Smith

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13: 9781423601012

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

'Frank Lloyd wright in New York: The Plaza Years, 1954-1959', examines the momentous five-year period when one of the world's greatest architects and one of the world's greatest cities coexisted. Authors Jane Hession and Debra Prickel bring each of these unequalled characters to life, exploring the fascinating contradiction between Wright's often-voiced disdain of New York and his pride and pleasure of living in one of the city's greatest landmarks: the Plaza Hotel. From his suite, or 'Taliesin the Third', as it became known, Wright supervised construction of the Guggenheim, sparred with the New York press, and received many famous vistitors such as Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller. home...;Michael Carroll, a renowned astronomical and paleo artist for more than twenty years, has done work for NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His art has appeared in many magazines, including 'Time', 'National Geographic', 'Sky & Telescope', and ' Asimov's Science Fiction'. One of his paintings flew aboard MIR; another is resting at the bottom of the Atlantic, aboard Russia's ill-fated Mars 96 spacecraft. nd development without constraining


Skyscrapers

Skyscrapers

Author: George H. Douglas

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2004-08-19

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 9780786420308

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This history of skyscrapers examines how these tall buildings affected the cityscape and the people who worked in, lived in, and visited them. Much of the focus is rightly on the architects who had the vision to design and build America's skyscrapers, but attention is also given to the steelworkers who built them, the financiers who put up the money, and the daredevils who attempt to "conquer" them in some inexplicable pursuit of fame. The impact of the skyscraper on popular culture, particularly film and literature, is also explored.


Building Natures

Building Natures

Author: Julia Daniel

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 2017-11-28

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 0813940850

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In Building Natures, Julia Daniel establishes the influence of landscape architecture, city planning, and parks management on American poetry to show how modernists engaged with the green worlds and social playgrounds created by these new professions in the early twentieth century. The modern poets who capture these parks in verse explore the aesthetic principles and often failed democratic ideals embedded in the designers’ verdant architectures. The poetry of Carl Sandburg, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, and Marianne Moore foregrounds the artistry behind our most iconic green spaces. At the same time, it demonstrates how parks framed, rather than ameliorated, civic anxieties about an increasingly diverse population living and working in dense, unhealthy urban centers. Through a combination of ecocriticism, urban studies, and historical geography, Building Natures unveils the neglected urban context for seemingly natural landscapes in several modernist poems, such as Moore’s "An Octopus" and Stevens’s Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction, while contributing to the dismantling of the organic-mechanic divide in modernist studies and ecocriticism.


New Americans

New Americans

Author: Glen A. Love

Publisher: Bucknell University Press

Published: 1982

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 9780838750117

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A study of the fiction of five early modern novelists -- Frank Norris, Hamlin Garland, Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, and Sinclair Lewis -- who reflect the conflicting values of a western past and an urban-industrial present.


Eco-Towers

Eco-Towers

Author: K. Al-Kodmany

Publisher: WIT Press

Published: 2015-05-05

Total Pages: 501

ISBN-13: 1784660175

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Eco-Towers introduces readers to groundbreaking designs, most progressive projects, and innovative ways of thinking about a new generation of green skyscrapers that could provide solutions to crises the world faces today including climate change, depleting resources, deteriorating ecology, population increase, decreasing food supply, urban heat island effect, pollution, deforestation, and more. The book suggests that the eco-tower culminates the cultural and technological evolutions of the 21st century by building and improving on the experiences of earlier designs of skyscrapers and philosophies particularly green, sustainable, and ecological. It argues that the true green skyscraper is the one that engages successfully with its larger urban context by establishing symbiotic relationships with the social, economic, and environmental aspects. Since tall buildings are becoming larger and taller, serving greater number of people, and exerting higher demand on the environment and existing infrastructure, any improvements in their design and construction will significantly enhance urban conditions. The book elucidates how green skyscrapers better serve tenants, mitigate environmental impacts, and improve integration with the city infrastructure. It explains how skyscrapers’ long life cycle offers the greatest justifications for recycling precious resources, and makes it a worthwhile to employ green features in constructing new skyscrapers and retrofitting existing ones. Subsequently, the book explores new designs that are employing cutting-edge green technologies at a grand scale including water-saving technologies, solar panels, helical wind turbines, sunlight-sensing LED lights, rainwater catchment systems, graywater and blackwater recycling systems, seawater-powered air conditioning, and the like. In the future, new building materials and smart technologies will continue to offer innovative design approaches to sustainable tall buildings with new aesthetics, referred to as “eco-iconic” skyscrapers.


The American Skyscraper, 1850-1940

The American Skyscraper, 1850-1940

Author: Joseph J. Korom

Publisher: Branden Books

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 552

ISBN-13: 9780828321884

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The skyscraper is an American invention that has captured the public's imagination for over a century. The tall building is wholly manmade and borne in the minds of those with both slide rules and computers. This is the story of the skyscraper's rise and the recognition of those individuals who contributed to its development. This volume is unique; its approach, information, and images are fresh and telling. The text examines America's first tall buildings -- the result of twelve years of in-depth research by an accomplished and published architect and architectural historian. Over 300 compelling photographs, charts, and notes make this the ultimate tool of reference for this subject. Biographies woven throughout with period norms, politics and lifestyles help to place featured skyscrapers in context. Quite simply, there is no book like this. The text, carefully and insightfully written, is clear, concise, and easily digestible, the text being the product of well-documented original research written in an informative tone. The American Skyscraper 1850-1940: A Celebration of Height is a richly documented journey of a fascinating topic, and it promises to be a superb addition to libraries, schools of architecture, students of architecture, and lovers of art.