Aluminum Buildings - A Brief History Of Skyscrapers

Think 'storage buildings' and think straight away of monolithic skyscrapers ascending through the clouds to the stars. Think only a little longer; steel buildings are available in many forms and sizes to perform selection of functions, from jet hangars to dog crates, from courses to backyard sheds. Having taken a moment to know their humble steel relatives, cast your brain back to skyscrapers because that's where the history is.The street skywards started when Englishman Henry Bessemer (1813-1898) invented a method for removing the toxins out of pig iron employing a blast of air to make steel. This permitted the cheap mass production of steel. Modern steel continues to be made using the Bessemer Process, for which he was knighted in 1879.George Fuller (1851-1900) was an architect from Massachusetts who, against the current wisdom of times, identified the benefits of using steel in making buildings. Until this point, the levels of buildings had been restricted to the load bearing capabilities of the outside surfaces. In 1889, the first ever structure was built by George Fuller using steel crates to carry the weight of the building rather than the surface walls. This is the 13-floor Tacoma Building in Chicago, destroyed in 1929. In some circles, builder Peter Ellis in 1864 who was simply credited with being the first to use inner steel supports since the load bearing structure in the five storey Oriel Chambers Building in Liverpool. William Le Baron Jenney applied Bessemer steel in the ten-storey Home Insurance Building, also in Chicago, that was done in 1885.Steel skeletons themselves were not enough to enable buildings to break through the 10-20 storey glass ceiling and grab the skies. The Otis 'safety' lift was another significant technological development combined with telephone, electrical plumbing pumps and main heating.The 55-storey, 793 foot Woolworth building in New York is certainly the initial true skyscraper. During the opening ceremony in April 1913, American President Woodrow Wilson pushed a key in the White House and concurrently lit up every interior light along wth the floodlights that illuminated the facade. The building was also remarkable for the fact its construction was funded solely in money and never held a until its sale to the Witkoff Group for 67146 155 million in 1998.The Woolworth Building was the tallest building in the entire world and remained so until the Financial Institution of Manhattan toppled its history in 1929 at 927 feet (71 storeys). By now, the battle to construct the next 'highest building on earth ' became a frantic competition the 'Chrysler Team' and the 'Empire State' team. When the Empire State Building opened on Might 31, 1931, with the same Presidential anticipation appreciated by the Woolworth Building, it had 102 storeys and reached 1,250 feet in the air. The Chrysler Building, finished the previous year, had 77 storeys and was 'only' 1,046 feet high. Until the beginning of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in 1972.Minoru Yamasaki was the main designer for the World Trade Center the record was held by the Empire State Building. He especially made the windows of the building unusually slender, reflecting his concern with heights, a function which was finally criticized by the building's final residents. Structurally, the 2 towers implemented a new 'pipe body structural system', allowing for a more open floor plan than conventional designs.On completion, the towers were 1,368 feet tall and included 417 storeys. Both towers were ruined by terrorists on September 11, 2001, a date that is now indelibly imprinted into history. To know more about steel buildings, get quote for Future Steel Buildings.