Nowhere to go but up: A vertical history of the skyscraper

The modern skyscraper has its distant origins in antiquity and the middle ages, with its precursors in the insular apartments of Rome and the mud-brick residential towers of the city of Shibam in Yemen. However, even these buildings were limited by structural integrity as masonry constructions. Indeed, few buildings matched the height of the Great Pyramid in Egypt until well into the industrial age.

The industrial age signaled the true beginning of the skyscraper, which allowed buildings to go up beyond twenty storeys and remain practical. The safety elevator, structural steel frames, and reinforced concrete all led to the construction of the opulent high rises that dominated the major cities of the U.S. at the turn of the 20th Century.

Image source: cnn.com

The skyscraper truly came into its own in the 20th century as the world's powerhouse economies began seeing value in building up. Throughout the world, wealthy cities started to resemble the tower-studded metropolises of New York and Chicago.

Those two cities remained the leaders of the race for height, first led by New York with such structures as the Chrysler, the Empire State, and the former World Trade Center, and Chicago countering with what is now known as Willis Tower. The race for the world's tallest building went to Asia, with the construction of the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, the Taipei 101 Tower in Taiwan, and finally the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates.

Image source: travelingmyself.com

Of course, one secret to the world's tallest buildings is that their height is not based on the number of floors but on the total height of the structure, including spires (antennas don't count). The Chrysler Building even “cheated” its way to the record books through its spire. In their respective tenure as the world's tallest building, the Taipei 101 and Petronas did not have as many floors as the Willis Tower. The title “tallest building” with “most number of usable floors” was once again held by the same building upon the completion of the Burj Khalifa.

There's more to the story of the skyscraper than can be comfortably fit in a single post. Follow me, William B. Lauder, on Twitter for more topics on architectural history.

REPOST: Brisbane's history of modernist architecture on display

Natalie Bochenski of the Brisbane Times reports on a photography exhibit that chronicles the history of Modernist architecture down under through the exciting history of mid-century Brisbane.

Centenary Pool at Spring Hill, designed by architect James Birrell. Image source: brisbanetimes.com.au

The image of Brisbane as a sleepy country town through the 1950s, 60s and 70s is sometimes hard to dispel.

But a new exhibition at the State Library of Queensland aims to reveal the bubbling well of creativity that flourished in the middle of last century.

Hot Modernism: Building Modern Queensland examines architecture and design in the state between 1945 and 1975.

For SLQ co-curator Gavin Bannerman, it was a rich period in the state’s history, with an emphasis on clean lines, minimalist design, new construction materials and methods, colour, and a preoccupation with how people would live in the future.

Sunbakers by the pool in 1958 at Lennons Broadbeach Hotel, designed by architect Karl Langer. Image source: brisbanetimes.com.au

“The architectural community was a hotbed of ideas which continue to resonate with people now,” he said.

“The time was right coming out of the Second World War - there was more money around to realise these ideas, more people were attending university, they had been overseas and were able to push through changes they’d seen implemented elsewhere.”

The exhibition’s key display is a full size replica of Jacobi House, which was built in Indooroopilly in 1957 and is still occupied by offshoots of the same family.
“We wanted a bit of wow factor, a drawcard for people who might not know what modernism is,” Mr Bannerman said.
“You can show photographs or architectural plans, but nothing really beats experiencing it in its full scale.”

Visitors will also be able to sit in a 1960s living room, examine original drawings and historical photographs, and even play with 3D-printed models of Brisbane CBD buildings of the era.

“A lot of the designs feel contemporary because these people were thinking about how people would want to live in the future,” Bannerman said.

“It was kind of utopian. It was looking at how to structure things in a way that met the needs of modern living."
Mr Bannerman said the exhibition showed the influence the European and West Coast American strains of modernism.

“In the 50s there was a strong international modernist feel to a lot of the work in Queensland, which is clean lines, sparser, almost brutal in its minimalism,” he said.

Image source: brisbanetimes.com.au

“Later in the period you have an introduction to climatic concerns about design, so people started doing things that would better suit the Queensland environment such as cross-ventilation, shading and natural cooling.”

Much of Brisbane’s modernist work was done with residential houses and hotels, many of which has been lost to demolition and redevelopment.

One example of the futuristic style is the Centenary Pool at Spring Hill, which was designed by James Birrell for the state’s 100th anniversary in 1959 and is reminiscent of a home from The Jetsons.

“It speaks to a lot of people because it’s whimsical and people love the lines of it,” Mr Bannerman said.

Whereas the work of Robin Gibson, who designed the Social Sciences library and Mayne Hall at the University of Queensland, as well as the Queensland Cultural Centre, was heavier and bolder.

“They are part of Queensland’s built heritage, so they deserve to be considered for preservation as much as a 19th century building,” Mr Bannerman said.

Other examples of modernist structures include the Torbreck apartments at Highgate Hill, the Eisenmenger House at Carina and the Riverside Expressway.

William B. Lauder here. I'm an architect and a fan of photography and minimalism. Follow me on Twitter for more on my two loves.