Wednesday, March 3. 1926
FRO PH ETIC S KYS C iAP ERS EB
. *■' -'• i t!
a HE New World has ever been a violator of traditioVi.
From the day upon which Columbus began his "first:
westward voyage to secure support for a thesis whitihj
was probably the world’s most epochal violation ofi
tradition, America i has seldom I done' the expected;
thing. This discard of .ttfuSitipn obtruded n as afl:
evidence of djsreapect
ever. Rather,.,it has tigjijWiurse ne c<esps!
and progressjveness,!, ilntafathmeled by mind and seiitintentaf!
adherent to custom. ' •■•TW+STWI! s,* - ' *• ~H
Take, for instance, the (ka)iae{:df€
New York, Chicago, Philadelphia
San Francisco, or any pf the urge
cities of the United States. Tra®-i
tion had no part in their buildirifr
They were necessary,; ik*d preatoitfar
they appeared, their spires and tW:
ers pointing like prophetic'"fittjgm
skyward, themselves * rtSfeW jefcapter
in the world's architects, and
showing the way to'stiltothw.tdjap
ters yet unwritten; '. i fl VP
Contribution to jj
Architecture bag u* origin iti me j
endeavors of man to proVitfe fbf liii I
physioal wjmts and :aeedsi oJßti#t*>
Rome, Greece, Ipdia,. Spain,,iG»rr
many, France—in i facL the whpiq pi
the Old World civilization’
architectural forma taad''! dedtgtis
which ivtilulhd';into) ;{jid classicsj3»f[
World. typl’idMciilhd l It
architecture , destipecb' to infltjeM|
rflfNir 0 * 1 fbf centuries. .'d |L.
‘ But'tor the' skyscraper
ho precedent, unlli&s* the; unsuccdrtri
ful tower pf, Babfl should rise -tip
but of the ashes pi antiquity to cdiim
such a distinction! ’.The skyscraper!
is dbtinctlif she gift of the utlited
States to architecture. And the full
richness of the gift is'still to be'rcS
vealed, for it has! by-produdts’uf
enormous potentiality. A I
The hecessity out of whioh the
skyscraper was fcora also furnished
the stimulapofi for the three inven
tions .that, made .tail buildings pas
sible—steel skeleton construction,
the power elevator and the hollow
tile fytt arch Spor-v/V j t-'id**'
f>, ■ Fifty Year* Ago ,j .
Haifa century ago “skyscrapers”
towered, four to six Stories above the
streets, and the first nine-story.build
ing was a distinct milestone. ■ It was
in this first nine-story building that
crude passenger elevators weretrietL
out in 1870. Prior to this time, <how-i
ever, cast iron was gaining a foot
hold .as a building material, the first
cast iron columns making thri? ap
pearance early in The century, in
the early seventies the cast iron frame:
typc of buildiag reached'*** zenitfi,
the store at Broadway and Ninth
now pccupied by Wanamaker’s be
ing one of the largest of that type.
"P* beams made tjieir appearance
about 1860, and with their introduc
tion, the development of cast iron
columns, and the introduction of the
passenger elevator, the skyscraper
germ was working m earnest,
“Cage Type" Structures
The skyscraper as it is known to
day did not Jump abruptly from the
sbnd masonry type of structure, with
foundation Walls of great thickness,
which gradually decreased toward
the top at the load decreased. There
was an intermediate stage, known
as "cage” construction, in which
floors were supported by an iron or
steel cage independent of the walls.
It was thus possible to build up the
Walls outside the “cage” much thin
ner, than in the q)d type of building,
as they had only their own weight
to support, This permitted of a
gyeat economy of space, a factor
which had become of prime im
portance by reason of the enormous
increase in city real estate values.
j The widely known World build
ing, in New' York, with its 1 famous
golden dofne was one of the early
cage type buildings, but not the first.
The pioneer was the Home Insur
ance Building, in Chicago, a ten
story structure elected in 1883. New
York’s first real skyscraper was not
built until 1889, when the eleven
story Tower biding was erected at
SO Broadway. ,
f- The Chhnging Skyline
New Ychfc’s skyline was broken in
1897 by the American Sflrety Build
ing, with its twenty-one stories ris
ing 312 feet above the street. It
enjoyed this , rare altitude in lone
grandeur until &was outreached by
the Park Row bonding with twenty
six stories, ~\> ■
” ■ : r, m *.•
Picture
r^- TT~lj
_ Skeleton constriction, ' prove®' 1 jfe
b'e the moss(sptliajß of atf tSfl'build
ing develo at !£)ss.' to" tti?
average m a, on the; The
steel fram -drafted skjiwafd. tier'
upon tier, me'riveters hammering
together tlife , fabricated'. members
from perch( s high, im.thet air. * ’Sud
denly, one < ay, stonework or brick
work walls would begin "to appear!
perhaps half-way up the frame, with
nothing be «w except j the
framework. It was almost like start
ing a build! tg at the roof, in the
eyes of the-b s&Hdered onlookers.! It
was obvious | itDW, that ‘ the thick
founditjtm had gone ife' way,
and flat of burjdipgs was
to be fidhthf lonly by consideration
of he&b! «2d;.-Safety ; High land
valuediVWifli'mtified, and compact
ness disjects, was as
! v; 11’
Steel brnughf
(with itfJU!.Section .%eed
which fhia prciriid tb bt a very-dis-.
tihet advantage.' X Structural steel
members, 4 j^ljbncated before being
brought tp the'jolj, go up like magic,
according {o-.the architect’s design.
Skyscraper construction had more
than its bare utility and economy tp
command it, however, even in \ its
early stages. The architectural
monstrosities of the seventies and
eighties, and the early nineties be
gan to be replaced with buildings
having more of symmetry and archi
tectural simplicity. The Skyscraper
became, in fact, a distinct contribu
tion to architecture, individual to a
high degree, yet happily combining
beauty of design with the maximum
of utility. '•
There are none who will Suggest
■ that the Wool worth building or the
Equitable bujßfipg-in. New York are
not superb,*<xpre»ions of architec
tural jaeauty'. Taty represent both!
the vfsiop ops the builders and the!
American zest for the ’game of
creating. They are utilitarian, ob
viously. But utilitarianism has not
: been allowed to' crowd out the
aesthetic. The artist was given lat-,
itude to express American business
of each of ’these, and many other
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... the concord daily tribune
! towering structures in this country.
| How well thjd expression was given
I heroic bitiftg <s attested by the vast
j number's .of did World architects
; and artijfl who have come to Amer
i icap cities to study the new building
I art. i ;V'
[ , Bu9<bgi : Tiiai A« Cities
These skyspr*pers are often ver-
I tiable pities,jjn .thetjlsejves. Take,
i for instance! the two mentioned
above.. The- .building,
' 'with-its fifty-eight’Stories, has a floor
%Pjf)co'Of'sso ) ooo square feet and, due
'’tothp manher in rvhichdt is divided,
has v ?bout 14.JKJ0 tewuits. The
E&Wtjfblt balding, which is un
acfubtedjy the largest office building
in’thprworid, houses 12,000 tenants
In its 1,237,000 square feet. The
Union "Trust building in Cleveland
’’With a fldor space of 1,173,000 square
feet, is the' second largest office
building.,
..If creative beauty had' full sway
in. the building of cities, every con
gested center would be a veritable
fairyland. But the tall building must
pay! This question'of building for
profit is getting constant consider
ation from the National Association
Os Building Owners and Managers,
and from investors, bankers, corpo
rations and engineers. Even this
quest of profitable return acknowl
edges, however, the sound value of
beauty as an investment. Often a
[ builder goes still further, and ex
pends considerable sums in features
. that cannot pasrijih' be productive of
revenue. Cfft'it altruism, self-ad-
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occupied strLi h'r??-. rWf't:
.mphe World , J ®{|..
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vertising, gratification sfivanity or
what you jsvill^*—it is the'.'fesults that
count. And those painting
Iteroic pictures against, ftdl sky, fur
nish an - inspiration-'iiftj'ti constant
source Os other work
of artist or provide.
Europe jtaking.Cue
Nov/ Paris is to? jjtiikyscraper.
Other European cities arc seriously
considering tall buildings, Europe
has been slow to adopt the Amer
ican idea, however, /Vienna having
long held the alfftudiJ record with
a building 82 feet' rail. , But America
goes merrily on bep way striking
boldly irad(£e*v and designs 1
whiqh .m»y- yat .play part 1
in the building of cities of j
Eprope and Asia. The Chicago i
Tribune building is ah example of i
such pioneering. Ipfght • limit' re-!
strictions did not prevent the’ de
velopment of; a structure pf
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able beauty, despite the fact that the ;
decorative top, which rises 140 feet i
above the 260 feet of main building i
is a concession to art only, and can i
egrn' reyenue. Incidentally, the i
winners" of the competition for this i
buildihg-received an award of SIOO,- i
000 for their design. . .
iieigkt Link Legislation
Height limit legislation may pre
vent a duplication of the Woolworth
building, ; Unless the, entire com
plexion of American business
changes, however, the structural
steel skyscraper will continue to
| combine beauty and utility, and will
I ever reach skyward in true symbolic
'fashion. *•’ ■
In a number of cities of the United
! States, city planning commissions ate
i debating this problem pf what to do
with the tall building. In some in- •,
stances the desirability of the sky
scraper is being questioned, but the ]
economic problem of land values in ,
.congested districts cannot be ignored. |
Therefore, the general tendency is ,
toward sane legislation which will !
permit of buildings of sufficient size t
to be profitably operated when the [
value of the site artd the needs of
business iijfe taken into consideration.
Tjje main objections to the skyscraper
in New Vork have been eliminated by
the adpption of “set-back” architec
ture, in which the building recedes
from the sidewalk' line as it goes up.
1 Greater Steel Utility
With the' increasing use of struc
tural steel hai come a corresponding
progress in the usefulness of the
commodity. The work being done
by the American Institute of Steel
Construction, composed of leading
steel fabricators throughout the
United States and Canada, is the
most recent significant'contribution
to the Usefulness of steel.
Since the open hearth furnace
came into general use it has been
generally recognized that structural
steel was capable of doing more
work than was being giyin it in engi
neers’ specifications. Investigating
the possibility for effecting ap
preciable economics in steel con
struction, the Institute determined
that the basic unit stress of 16,000
pounds per square inch, which was
adopted as a working stress by the
mills about 1887, was entirely too
low. It was determined that the
old unit, adopted when ateel was
produced by the Bessemer process,
could easily* and safely be increased
to 18,000 pounds, and that through a
standard specification other apprec
iable economies' could be effected
without sacrificing the smallest de
gree of safety,
Movement Meets Favor |
Such a departure from the estab
lished practice of more than thirty
i- .
PAGE THREE
year* did not present the difficulties
that its promulgators might have
anticipated at the outset. In fact
the saving of at least 12% per cent
on steel construction' which the In
stitute's Standard Specification as
sured, made the launching of the
Specification comparatively easy.
Such cities as Los Angeles, Buffalo,
New Orleans, Boston, Baltimore,
Detroit, St. Louis, Washington, D.
C., and many others were quick to
see in it a logical development in
steel construction, and wrote the
Specification into their building
codes. Some of the largest cities
in the United States are today favor
ably inclined toward the Specifica
tion, and favorable action upon it is
looked for>in many of them during
1925.
What does this accomplishment of
the Institute mean in dollars and
cents? The architect of the Cleve
land Board of. Education hfiS esti
mated that lie «aa save the taxpayers
of that p pn the
single item pi: 4ti;urtpraJjjst«ej:;cost£
for school building's bjf hessori of the
greater Usefulness of i^eel : ksidi>vek
oped by the p(
the Specification‘wilt,meani;*!' spy #
ing of about itifibally off
public and private construction fn
Detroit. It has been estfmatjedi thiji
in New York City, wfeerp abptlt" oiatj
third of the structural,steel'tonnage
of the United States fs used. ;«t£
Standard Specification would, malct
possible a saying of $1,500,000 on ; tlfy
present school building program
alone. ’ • '• • <
Other Economics Forecast
Not content with promulgation of
the Standard Specification, the fabri
cator*, working through their In
stitute have recently adopted the
Code of Standard Practice, which is
expected to, work still further econ
omies by standardizing the manner
in which structural steel is bought
and sold. The Code of Practice is
designed to eliminate a vast amount
of confusion which has existed in
the relations between buyey and sell
er for years—and confusion is ex
pensive in any industry.
Improved methods of fabrication,
stimulation of research into the
physical and chemical properties of
steel, scientific study of the action
of steel members under stress and
many other phases of the industry
are being given encouragement and
consideration by the Institute. In
the final analysis the public, repre
sented by th.e taxpayer and the own
er of the buildings in which struc
tural steel enters, will be the prin
cipal benefactor of this activity. But
everyone who has any contact with
the vast scheme of making, fabri
cating, erecting or paying for struct
tural steel will participate.
Wider Use of Steel ®
Structural steel is not to be cons
sidered as something appertaining
solely to the skyscraper. Nor is it
confined to business and industrial
construction. Those in closest touch
with the trend of building forecast
a very extensive use of steel in res
idences and other small buildings
W'thin a comparatively shsrt time.
This tendency is being hastened by
the increasing price of lumber and
the for stringent forest
conservation policies. Steel joists
are already attaining considerable
popularity for first floors of res
idences and apartments. Metal lath
has won an impregnable position. It
is not at all improbable that the next
step in residential construction may
be steel frame throughout, wood be
ing employed in the decorative por
tions, such as inside trim, floors,
doors, blinds, and outside trim, and
possibly weatherboarding where
brick, concrete or stucco are not
used. This does not mean that the
use of wood is going to decline in
the aggregate. It does point the
way, however, to a means of so con
serving and intelligently using wood
that there will be always a supply
adequate to meet every building
need.
America's skyscrapers are some
thing more than monuments to busi
ness and symbols of progress. They
are prophets—forecasting less spec
tacular use of steel, but uses which
will be directly shared by the farmer
in the remotest homestead, the vil
lage dweller and the owner of the
palatial city or suburban residence.
The new day of steel is dawning.