Who Invented The Skyscraper?
The answer is generally a contested one. Some call William Le Baron Jenney as the father of skyscrapers because he built the world’s first ten-storey skyscraper (in those times it was a skyscraper!) in the United States in 1885; while other argue that the Tacoma building, which was built by George A. Fuller in 1889, was the first skyscraper because it used the technology which was then employed to make higher skyscrapers, thus crediting Mr. Fuller with the title of the inventor of the skyscrapers.
In the same year (1889), Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, a French structural engineer, completed the work on the Eiffel Tower but his construction can not be classified as a skyscraper because it is not habitable. In the early years of the 20th century there was a kind of race among the architects in the United States to build the world’s tallest building. The Empire State Building, completed in 1931, which is a 102-storey, 430 meters (approximately) tall building was a result of that race. Then the interest in skyscrapers seemed to have waned. There were some skyscrapers built in this period but they were more like exceptions than the norm.
The race began again when the Malaysians built the Petronas Twin Towers (Menara Berkembar Petronas) in 1996. This kicked up a frenzy to build the world’s tallest building ( A skyscraper). The Taiwanese responded with Taipei 101 in 2004, which is more than half a kilometer into the sky. The Arabs weren’t far behind and Burj al-Khalifa, which stands at more than 800 m, is now the world’s tallest building. Burj al-Khalifa is in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. There are other skyscrapers under contruction too, the most famous are: Shanghai Towers, China; Tour Genrali, France; Pagcor Tower; Manila Bay; 151 Incheon Tower, South Korea etc.
Category: Inventions