Skyscrapers | Teen Ink

Skyscrapers

February 13, 2014
By RaluOnyiuke SILVER, Palmdale, California
RaluOnyiuke SILVER, Palmdale, California
6 articles 0 photos 0 comments

A skyscraper is a continuously habitable building of many stories and its presences can overwhelm you and take your breath away just by glancing at it, Even though it is not certain who invented the Skyscraper, a man known as William Le Baron Jenney, the father of skyscrapers created the first ever load-bearing structural frame for the home insurance building within the city of Chicago Illinois in 1885. The ten story building was the very first skyscraper in the world. The second man known to be the first to invent the skyscraper is George Fuller he worked on solving the problems of the load bearing capacities of tall buildings. The first structure ever built where the outside walls did not carrying the weight of the building. Using Bessemer steel beams, Fuller created steel cages that supported all the weight in tall buildings or skyscrapers.

American architects Louis Sullivan and Dank Mar Adler designed the Wainwright building in Saint Louis, Missouri. It was also a ten story building many considered it the true skyscraper rather than the home insurance building because it was constructed with steel frame which helped emphasized the building’s height, Fire restrictions and height limits were then introduced in the 1895 after the early skyscrapers were built, the American safety building was complete in New York. It was the tallest building during the time then, in 1931 the Empire State building, which was comprised of 102 floors, was completed in 1932. Following that, in 1932, the Chrysler building was completed in New York City Modern skyscrapers started to emerge, particularly in Asian regions like Bangkok in Thailand, Jakarta in Indonesia as well as Manila in the Philippines. Henry Bessemer had a big part in this too because he invented the first process for mass production of steel in expensively. Modern steel is made using technology based on Henry Bessemer’s process. As skyscrapers started to become more and more popular lucky, no jobs were replace in the process. It just made way of living better by expanding the living space for people. Innovation such as steel structures, elevators, escalators, Central heating, electrical plumbing pump and the telephone where made by numerous amount of people to better the system of the skyscrapers.

Skyscraper’s bettered the life of people in the metropolis when the population increased in 1920 and 1950s, because of the lack of space skyscraper where then created and are now known as the modern answer for lack of space. Some skyscrapers attract tourist because of its unique architectural features. These features often made the skyscrapers the icon of their city and attract millions of tourists each year, which brings profits to local businesses. Broadcasting Convenience Radio, television, and cell phones require signal receivers from broadcasters. By placing an antenna at the highest point in a city, broadcasters can send a powerful signal for many miles away. Skyscrapers provide excellent site for antenna and other equipment. Skyscrapers gave American and other countries that could afford steel much living space for people of that country.

Skyscraper’s created new jobs for people who can maintain the buildings and for plumbing, electrical and construction businesses. Skyscrapers also helped the economy by creating new jobs and creating soon to be new landmarks. The cons of skyscraper were, it created Safety problems Calamities like fires, and even natural disasters that require evacuations, but so far there is no one efficient way to safely evacuate people. For instance, if it takes about ten minutes to fully evacuate Council Rock North, then it must take way longer to evacuate a skyscraper. Structural problems like wind force and construction problems like safety equipment are also concerns Skyscrapers. Skyscraper are also energy inefficient, Skyscrapers are often more expensive than lower structures. Skyscrapers require energy for technological device, ventilation systems, plumbing, security systems and more. For example, the Empire State Building alone consumes enough energy in an hour to keep an average light bulb burning for over 100 years. Skyscraper may cause earthquakes because Geologists believe that the mass of skyscrapers could actually cause earthquakes in some regions. For example the earth quake Taipei 101 in Taiwan, Taipei 101 is thought to have triggered two recent earthquakes because of the stress that it exerts on the ground beneath it. Skyscrapers have definitely benefited us a lot it may have some bad sides, but it is something that we can fix with the technology and equipment we have today.


The author's comments:
Skyscrapers are huge and majestic.

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