Editing Skyscraper (section)

==Definition==
[[File:Home Insurance Building.JPG|thumb|By some measures, what came to be known as a "skyscraper" first appeared in [[Chicago]] with the 1885 completion of the world's first largely steel-frame structure, the [[Home Insurance Building]]. It was demolished in 1931.|267x267px]]

The term "skyscraper" was first applied to buildings of steel-framed construction of at least 10 [[storey|stories]] in the late 19th century, a result of public amazement at the tall buildings being built in major American cities like [[New York City]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Boston]], [[Chicago]], [[Detroit]], and [[St. Louis]].<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Skyscraper |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/skyscraper |first=Melissa |last=Petruzzello |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=21 February 2022 |quote=Skyscraper, very tall, multistoried building. The name first came into use during the 1880s, shortly after the first skyscrapers were built, in the United States. The development of skyscrapers came as a result of the coincidence of several technological and social developments. The term skyscraper originally applied to buildings of 10 to 20 stories, but by the late 20th century the term was used to describe high-rise buildings of unusual height, generally greater than 40 or 50 stories.}}</ref><ref name="VisualDictionary">{{cite book |last1=Ambrose|first1=Gavin|last2=Harris|first2=Paul|last3=Stone|first3=Sally |title=The Visual Dictionary of Architecture |year=2008 |publisher=AVA Publishing SA |location=Switzerland |isbn=978-2-940373-54-3|page=233|quote=Skyscraper: A tall, multi-story building. Skyscrapers are different from towers or masts because they are habitable. The term was first applied during the late-nineteenth century, as the public marvelled at the elevated, steel-frame buildings being erected in Chicago and New York, USA. Modern skyscrapers tend to be constructed from reinforced concrete. As a general rule, a building must be at least 150 metres high to qualify as a skyscraper.}}</ref>

The first steel-frame skyscraper was the [[Home Insurance Building]], originally 10 stories with a height of {{convert|42|m|ft|abbr=on|disp=or}}, in Chicago in 1885; two additional stories were added.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://magicalhystorytour.blogspot.com/2010/08/skyscrapers.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629192827/http://magicalhystorytour.blogspot.com/2010/08/skyscrapers.html|url-status=dead|title=Magical Hystory Tour: Skyscrapers|date=15 August 2010|archive-date=29 June 2015|quote="No one is certain which was the first true skyscraper, but Chicago's ten-story Home Insurance Building (1885) is a top contender."}}</ref> Some point to Philadelphia's 10-story [[William L. Johnston|Jayne Building]] (1849–50) as a proto-skyscraper,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Charles E. Peterson |date=October 1950 |title=Ante-Bellum Skyscraper |journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=25–28|doi=10.2307/987464 |jstor=987464 |author-link=Charles E. Peterson | quote=In the annals of the American skyscraper there was, perhaps, nothing more daring than John McArthur, Jr.'s design for the Jayne Granite building, erected on lower Chestnut Street near the Philadelphia riverfront, just a century ago (FIG. 2). More than a generation older than the celebrated works of Louis Sullivan in Chicago and St. Louis. [..] Sullivan was for several months a cub draftsman in Furness and Hewitt's office just across the street. Although he does not seem to have mentioned in his writings Dr. Jayne's "proud and soaring" patent medicine headquarters, we may well wonder if some of the famous skyscraper designs of Chicago and St. Louis do not owe a real debt to Philadelphia.}}</ref> or to New York's seven-floor [[Equitable Life Building (Manhattan)|Equitable Life Building]], built in 1870.  Steel skeleton construction has allowed for today's [[Supertall skyscraper|supertall skyscrapers]] now being built worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://magicalhystorytour.blogspot.com/2010/08/skyscrapers.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629192827/http://magicalhystorytour.blogspot.com/2010/08/skyscrapers.html|url-status=dead|title=Magical Hystory Tour: Skyscrapers|date=15 August 2010|archive-date=29 June 2015|quote="The thirteen-story Tower Building (1889) just down the avenue at 50 Broadway, was the first New York skyscraper to use skeletal steel construction."}}</ref> The nomination of one structure versus another being the first skyscraper, and why, depends on what factors are stressed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_v129/ai_4501450/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708020221/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_v129/ai_4501450/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 July 2012 |title=The first skyscraper – new theory that Home Insurance Building was not the first |date=5 April 1986 |author=Ivars Peterson |publisher=CBS Interactive |quote="In my view, we can no longer argue that the Home Insurance Building was the first skyscraper," says Carl W. Condit, now retired from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and author of several books on Chicago architecture. "The claim rests on an unacceptably narrow idea of what constitutes a high-rise commercial building," he says. "If there is a building in which all these technical factors—structural system, elevator, utilities—converge at the requisite level of maturity," argues Condit, "it's the Equitable Life Assurance Building in New York." Completed in 1870, the building rose 7½ stories, twice the height of its neighbors. |access-date=6 January 2010}}</ref>

The structural definition of the word ''skyscraper'' was refined later by architectural historians, based on engineering developments of the 1880s that had enabled construction of tall multi-story buildings. This definition was based on the steel skeleton—as opposed to constructions of load-bearing [[masonry]], which passed their practical limit in 1891 with Chicago's [[Monadnock Building]].

{{Blockquote|What is the chief characteristic of the tall office building? It is lofty. It must be tall. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and pride of exaltation must be in it. It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line.}}
:::—&nbsp;[[Louis Sullivan]]'s ''The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered'' (1896)

Some [[structural engineer]]s define a high-rise as any vertical construction for which wind is a more significant [[Structural load|load factor]] than [[earthquake]] or weight. Note that this criterion fits not only high-rises but some other tall structures, such as [[tower]]s.

Different organizations from the United States and Europe define skyscrapers as buildings at least {{convert|150|m|ft|abbr=on}} in height or taller,<ref name="skyscrapernews.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=1244 |title=Huge New Rogers Skyscraper Proposed |quote=...their eleventh proper skyscraper, that is by definition buildings above 150&nbsp;metres |publisher=skyscrapernews.com |date=3 December 2007 |access-date=3 December 2007 |archive-date=4 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004141145/http://www.skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=1244 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="VisualDictionary"/><ref name="emporis.com">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150511222640/http://www.emporis.com/building/standard/75/skyscraper Data Standards: skyscraper (ESN 24419)]}}, [[Emporis Standards]], accessed on line July 2020. "A skyscraper is defined on Emporis as a multi-story building whose architectural height is at least 100 meters. This definition falls midway between many common definitions worldwide, and is intended as a metric compromise which can be applied across the board worldwide"</ref> with "[[supertall]]" skyscrapers for buildings higher than {{convert|300|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} and "[[List of megatall skyscrapers|megatall]]" skyscrapers for those taller than {{convert|600|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="CTBUH">{{cite web|url=https://www.ctbuh.org/resource/height|title=CTBUH Height Criteria: Tall, Supertall, and Megatall Buildings|date=20 March 2009 |publisher=[[CTBUH]] |access-date=10 July 2020}}</ref>

The tallest structure in ancient times was the {{convert|146|m|ft|abbr =on}} [[Great Pyramid of Giza]] in [[ancient Egypt]], built in the 26th century BC. It was not surpassed in height for thousands of years, the {{convert|160|m|ft|abbr =on}} [[Lincoln Cathedral]] having exceeded it in 1311–1549, before its central spire collapsed.<ref>{{cite web |author=A.F.K. |url=http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/PG/BellsLincoln/BellsLincoln.htm |title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Cathedral Church of Lincoln, by A.F. Kendric, B.A |publisher=Gwydir.demon.co.uk |access-date=5 June 2011 |archive-date=4 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204224341/http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/PG/BellsLincoln/BellsLincoln.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The latter in turn was not surpassed until the {{convert|555|ft|m|sp=us|adj=on}} [[Washington Monument]] in 1884. However, being uninhabited, none of these structures actually comply with the modern definition of a skyscraper.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

High-rise apartments flourished in [[classical antiquity]]. [[Ancient Rome|Ancient Roman]] [[Insula (building)|insulae]] in [[Roman Empire|imperial]] cities reached 10 and more stories.<ref name="Gregory S. Aldrete">{{cite book|first =Gregory S. |last =Aldrete|title =Daily Life in the Roman City: Rome, Pompeii and Ostia|date = 2004|isbn = 978-0-313-33174-9|page=79f|publisher =Bloomsbury Academic|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=40AjSfdJXaAC&pg=PA79}}</ref> Beginning with [[Augustus]] (r. 30&nbsp;BC-14&nbsp;AD), several [[Roman emperor|emperors]] attempted to establish limits of {{cvt|20|-|25|m}} for multi-stories buildings, but were met with only limited success.<ref>[[Strabo]], 5.3.7</ref><ref>Alexander G. McKay: Römische Häuser, Villen und Paläste, [[Feldmeilen]] 1984, {{ISBN|3-7611-0585-1}} p. 231</ref> Lower floors were typically occupied by shops or wealthy families, with the upper rented to the lower classes.<ref name="Gregory S. Aldrete"/> Surviving [[Oxyrhynchus Papyri]] indicate that seven-stories buildings existed in [[Roman province|provincial]] towns such as in 3rd century AD [[Hermopolis]] in [[History of Roman Egypt|Roman Egypt]].<ref>Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2719, in: Katja Lembke, Cäcilia Fluck, Günter Vittmann: ''Ägyptens späte Blüte. Die Römer am Nil'', Mainz 2004, {{ISBN| 3-8053-3276-9}}, p.29</ref>

The skylines of many important [[Middle Ages|medieval]] cities had large numbers of high-rise urban towers, built by the wealthy for defense and status. The residential [[Towers of Bologna|Towers]] of 12th century [[Bologna]] numbered between 80 and 100 at a time, the tallest of which is the {{convert|97.2|m|ft|abbr =on}} high Asinelli Tower. A [[Florence|Florentine]] law of 1251 decreed that all urban buildings be immediately reduced to less than {{cvt|26|m}}.<ref name="Werner Müller 345">Werner Müller: "dtv-Atlas Baukunst I. Allgemeiner Teil: Baugeschichte von Mesopotamien bis Byzanz", 14th ed., 2005, {{ISBN|978-3-423-03020-5}}, p.345</ref> Even medium-sized towns of the era are known to have proliferations of towers, such as the 72 towers that ranged up to {{cvt|51|m}} height in [[San Gimignano]].<ref name="Werner Müller 345"/>

The [[History of Arab Egypt|medieval Egyptian]] city of [[Fustat]] housed many high-rise residential buildings, which [[Al-Muqaddasi]] in the 10th century described as resembling [[minaret]]s. [[Nasir Khusraw]] in the early 11th century described some of them rising up to 14 stories, with [[roof garden]]s on the top floor complete with ox-drawn [[water wheel]]s for irrigating them.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Islamic Architecture in Cairo|first=Doris|last=Behrens-Abouseif|year=1992|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|isbn=978-90-04-09626-4|page=6}}</ref> [[Cairo]] in the 16th century had high-rise [[apartment building]]s where the two lower floors were for commercial and storage purposes and the multiple stories above them were [[Renting|rented]] out to [[Leasehold estate|tenants]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Traditional Islamic principles of built environment|first=Hisham|last=Mortada|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2003|isbn=978-0-7007-1700-2|page=viii}}</ref> An early example of a city consisting entirely of high-rise housing is the 16th-century city of [[Shibam]] in [[Yemen]]. Shibam was made up of over 500 tower houses,<ref name=UNESCO/> each one rising 5 to 11 stories high,<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Land without shade|first=Hans|last=Helfritz|journal=Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society|volume=24|issue=2|date=April 1937|pages=201–16|doi=10.1080/03068373708730789}}</ref> with each floor being an [[apartment]] occupied by a single family. The city was built in this way in order to protect it from [[Bedouin]] attacks.<ref name=UNESCO>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/192|title=Old Walled City of Shibam|author=UNESCO World Heritage Centre}}</ref> Shibam still has the tallest [[mudbrick]] buildings in the world, with many of them over {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on}} high.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Hadhramaut|first=J. G. T.|last=Shipman|journal=Asian Affairs|volume=15|issue=2|date=June 1984|pages=154–62|doi=10.1080/03068378408730145}}</ref>

An early modern example of high-rise housing was in 17th-century [[Edinburgh]], Scotland, where a defensive city wall defined the boundaries of the city. Due to the restricted land area available for development, the houses increased in height instead. Buildings of 11 stories were common, and there are records of buildings as high as 14 stories. Many of the stone-built structures can still be seen today in the old town of Edinburgh. The oldest iron framed building in the world, although only partially iron framed, is [[Ditherington Flax Mill|The Flaxmill]] in [[Shrewsbury]], England. Built in 1797, it is seen as the "grandfather of skyscrapers", since its fireproof combination of cast iron columns and cast iron beams developed into the modern steel frame that made modern skyscrapers possible. In 2013 funding was confirmed to convert the derelict building into offices.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-23495105 |title=Shrewsbury Flax Mill: Funding for offices and restoration |date=30 July 2013 |work=BBC News |access-date=30 July 2013}}</ref>

===Early skyscrapers===
{{Main|Early skyscrapers}}

[[File:Oriel_Chambers,_Liverpool_2018.jpg|thumb|230x230px|Built in 1864, [[Oriel Chambers]] in [[Liverpool]] is the world's first metal framed glass [[Curtain wall (architecture)|curtain walled]] building. The stone [[mullion]]s are decorative.]]
[[File:Palaciosalvouruguay.jpg|thumb|267x267px|At its completion in 1928, [[Palacio Salvo]] in [[Montevideo]], was the tallest [[reinforced concrete]] structure at 100 m (330 ft) high.]]
{{Multiple image
| image1            = Wainwright Building, 7th Street and Chestnut Street, St. Louis, MO - 53051647915.jpg
| image2            = Edificio Fuller (Flatiron) edit.jpg
| image3            = Royal Liver Building (219398043).jpeg
| total_width       = 400
| header            = Early skyscrapers
| caption1          = [[Wainwright Building]] (1891) in [[St. Louis]]
| caption2          = [[Flatiron Building]] (1902), in [[New York City]]
| caption3          = [[Royal Liver Building]] (1911), in [[Liverpool]]
}}
In 1857, [[Elisha Otis]] introduced the [[safety elevator]] at the [[E. V. Haughwout Building]] in New York City, allowing convenient and safe transport to buildings' upper floors. Otis later introduced the first commercial passenger elevators to the [[Equitable Life Building (Manhattan)|Equitable Life Building]] in 1870, considered by some architectural historians to be the first skyscraper. Another crucial development was the use of a steel frame instead of stone or brick, otherwise the walls on the lower floors on a tall building would be too thick to be practical. An early development in this area was [[Oriel Chambers]] in [[Liverpool]], England, built in 1864. It was only five floors high.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oriel Chambers |publisher=Liverpool Architectural Society |url=http://www.liverpoolarchitecture.com/tours/buildings/building.php?id=25 |access-date=14 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922062904/http://www.liverpoolarchitecture.com/tours/buildings/building.php?id=25 |archive-date=22 September 2008}}</ref><ref>[http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=428&storycode=3155796&channel=783&c=2 Building Design] Architect's website, 8 January 2010</ref> The [[Royal Academy of Arts]] states, "critics at the time were horrified by its 'large agglomerations of protruding plate glass bubbles'. In fact, it was a precursor to Modernist architecture, being the first building in the world to feature a metal-framed glass [[Curtain wall (architecture)|curtain wall]], a design element which creates light, airy interiors and has since been used the world over as a defining feature of skyscrapers".<ref>{{cite news |title=Britain's top 10 maverick buildings |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/britains-greatest-maverick-building |access-date=8 July 2022 |work=Royal Academy}}</ref>

Further developments led to what many individuals and organizations consider the world's first skyscraper, the ten-story [[Home Insurance Building]] in Chicago, built from 1884 to 1885.<ref name="Verbivore's Feast, p289">{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Chrysti M. |title=Verbivore's Feast: Second Course: More Word & Phrase Origins|publisher=Farcountry Press |year=2006 |page=289 |isbn=978-1-56037-402-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d3bov9J_1w0C&pg=PA289|quote=The word ''skyscraper'', in its architectural context, was first applied to the Home Insurance Building, completed in Chicago in 1885.}}</ref> While its original height of 42.1&nbsp;m (138&nbsp;ft) does not qualify as a skyscraper today, it was record setting for the day. The building of tall buildings in the 1880s gave the skyscraper its first architectural movement, broadly termed the [[Chicago school (architecture)|Chicago School]], which developed what has been called the Commercial Style.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/02/worlds-first-skyscraper-chicago-home-insurance-building-history|title=The world's first skyscraper: a history of cities in 50 buildings, day 9|first=Colin|last=Marshall|date=2 April 2015|website=The Guardian}}</ref>

The architect, Major [[William Le Baron Jenney]], created a load-bearing structural frame. In this building, a steel frame supported the entire weight of the walls, instead of load-bearing walls carrying the weight of the building. This was then draped with a stone curtain for aesthetic purposes. This development led to the "Chicago skeleton" form of construction. In addition to the steel frame, the Home Insurance Building also utilized fireproofing, elevators, and electrical wiring, key elements in most skyscrapers today.<ref>{{cite book|last=[[Judith Dupré|Dupré, Judith]] | date= 2013 | title= Skyscrapers: A History of the World's Most Extraordinary Buildings-Revised and Updated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-bXwAEACAAJ | location=New York | publisher= Hachette/Black Dog & Leventhal| page=14 | isbn=978-1-57912-942-2}}</ref>

[[Burnham and Root]]'s {{convert|45|m|abbr=on}} [[Rand McNally Building]] in Chicago, 1889, was the first all-steel framed skyscraper,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/300004.html |title=The Plan Comes Together |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Chicago |access-date=27 July 2013}}</ref> while [[Louis Sullivan]]'s {{convert|41|m|abbr=on}} [[Wainwright Building]] in St. Louis, Missouri, 1891, was the first [[steel-framed building]] with soaring vertical bands to emphasize the height of the building and is therefore considered to be the first early skyscraper. In 1889, the [[Mole Antonelliana]] in [[Italy]] was 197&nbsp;m (549&nbsp;ft) tall.

Most early skyscrapers emerged in the land-strapped areas of New York City and Chicago toward the end of the 19th century. A land boom in [[Melbourne]], Australia between 1888 and 1891 spurred the creation of a significant number of early skyscrapers, though none of these were steel reinforced and few remain today. Height limits and fire restrictions were later introduced. In the late 1800s, [[London]] builders found building heights limited due to issues with existing buildings. High-rise development in London is restricted at certain sites if it would obstruct [[protected view]]s of [[St Paul's Cathedral]] and other historic buildings.<ref>{{cite news |title=Policy 7.7 Location and design of tall and large buildings | url=https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/london-plan/past-versions-and-alterations-london-plan/london-plan-2016/london-plan-chapter-seven-londons-living-spac-12 |access-date=10 July 2022 |work=London City Hall}}</ref> This policy, 'St Paul's Heights', has officially been in operation since 1927.<ref>{{cite news |title=Protected views and tall buildings |url=https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/planning/planning-policy/protected-views-and-tall-buildings |access-date=10 July 2022 |website=CityofLondon.gov.uk |archive-date=1 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101182326/https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/planning/planning-policy/protected-views-and-tall-buildings |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{Multiple image
| image1 = Empire State Building cropped.jpg
| image2 = Boerentoren (cropped).JPG
| image3 = Edificio Kavanagh, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 31st. Dec. 2010 - Flickr - PhillipC (1).jpg
| total_width = 400
| header = Interwar skyscrapers
| caption1 = [[Empire State Building]] (1931), in [[New York City]], global standard of reference for the height and length of other mega-structures
| caption2 = [[Boerentoren]] (1932), in [[Antwerp]]
| caption3 = [[Edificio Kavanagh]] (1934), in [[Buenos Aires]]
}}

Concerns about [[aesthetics]] and fire safety had likewise hampered the development of skyscrapers across continental Europe for the first half of the 20th century. By 1940, there were around 100 high-rise buildings in Europe ([[List of early skyscrapers]]). Some examples of these are the {{convert|43|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall 1898 [[Witte Huis]] ''(White House)'' in [[Rotterdam]]; the {{convert|51.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall [[PAST (Poland)|PAST Building]] (1906–1908) in [[Warsaw]]; the [[Royal Liver Building]] in Liverpool, completed in 1911 and {{convert|90|m|ft|abbr=on}} high;<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Royal Liver Building |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/511448/Royal-Liver-Building |access-date=23 June 2011}}</ref> the {{convert|57|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall 1924 [[Wilhelm Marx House|Marx House]] in [[Düsseldorf]], the {{convert|65|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall [[:de:Borsig (Unternehmen)#Borsigturm|Borsigturm]] in [[Berlin]], built in 1924, the {{convert|65|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall [[Hansahochhaus]] in [[Cologne]], Germany, built in 1925; the {{convert|61|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Kungstornen]] ''(Kings' Towers)'' in [[Stockholm]], Sweden, which were built 1924–25;<ref>{{cite book|last=Hultin |first=Olof |author2=Bengt O H Johansson |author3=Johan Mårtelius |author4=Rasmus Wærn |title=The Complete Guide to Architecture in Stockholm |publisher=Arkitektur Förlag |year=1998 |location=Stockholm |page=62 |isbn=978-91-86050-43-6}}</ref> the {{convert|77|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[:de:Ullsteinhaus|Ullsteinhaus]] in Berlin, Germany, built in 1927; the {{convert|89|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Edificio Telefónica]] in [[Madrid]], Spain, built in 1929; the {{convert|87.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Boerentoren]] in Antwerp, Belgium, built in 1932; the {{convert|66|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Prudential, Warsaw|Prudential Building]] in [[Warsaw]], Poland, built in 1934; and the {{convert|108|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Terrazza Martini Tower|Torre Piacentini]] in [[Genoa]], Italy, built in 1940.

After an early competition between New York City and Chicago for the world's tallest building, New York took the lead by 1895 with the completion of the {{convert|103|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall [[American Surety Building]], leaving New York with the title of the world's tallest building for many years. America by far produced the most skyscrapers in this period. 

===Modern skyscrapers===
[[File:Abu Dhabi – Corniche 3 - أبو ظبي - الكورنيش - panoramio.jpg|thumb| Skyscrapers and buildings in  (Abu Dhabi, Middle East)]]
Modern skyscrapers are built with [[steel]] or [[reinforced concrete]] frameworks and [[curtain wall (architecture)|curtain wall]]s of [[glass]] or [[polished stone]]. They use mechanical equipment such as [[water pump]]s and [[elevator]]s. Since the 1960s, according to the CTBUH (Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat) the skyscraper has been reoriented away from a symbol for [[North America]]n corporate power to instead communicate a city or nation's place in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ctbuh2019.com/other-info/50-influential-buildings/ |title=The 50 Most Influential Tall Buildings of the Last 50 Years |publisher=CTBUH |access-date=10 October 2019 |archive-date=10 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010160716/https://ctbuh2019.com/other-info/50-influential-buildings/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{Multiple image
| image1 = Main building of Moscow State University 2009-07 1246853251.jpg
| image2 = Palace of Culture and Science seen, Warsaw, Poland 2019.jpg
| image3 = Hotel International Prague (IMG 0160).jpg
| total_width = 400
| header = Stalinist skyscrapers
| caption1 = [[Main building of Moscow State University]] (1953), in [[Moscow]]
| caption2 = [[Palace of Culture and Science]] (1955), in [[Warsaw]]
| caption3 = [[Grand Hotel International Prague|Grand Hotel International]] (1956), in [[Prague]]
}}

The construction of very tall skyscrapers entered a three-decades-long era of stagnation in 1930 due to the [[Great Depression]] and then [[World War&nbsp;II]]. Shortly after the war ended, Russia began construction on a series of skyscrapers in [[Moscow]]. Seven, dubbed the "[[Seven Sisters (Moscow)|Seven Sisters]]", were built between 1947 and 1953; and one, the [[Main building of Moscow State University]], was the tallest building in Europe for nearly four decades (1953–1990). Other skyscrapers in the style of [[Stalinist architecture|Socialist Classicism]] were erected in East Germany ([[Frankfurter Tor]]), Poland ([[Palace of Culture and Science|PKiN]]), Ukraine ([[Hotel Ukrayina|Hotel Moscow]]), Latvia ([[Latvian Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences]]), and other [[Eastern Bloc]] countries. [[Western Europe]]an countries also began to permit taller skyscrapers during the years immediately following World War II. Early examples include [[Edificio España]] (Spain) and [[Torre Breda]] (Italy).

From the 1930s onward, skyscrapers began to appear in various cities in [[East Asia|East]] and [[Southeast Asia]] as well as in [[Latin America]]. Finally, they also began to be constructed in cities in [[Africa]], the [[Middle East]], [[South Asia]], and [[Oceania]] from the late 1950s.

Skyscraper projects after World War II typically rejected the classical designs of the [[early skyscrapers]], instead embracing the uniform [[International Style (architecture)|international style]]; many older skyscrapers were redesigned to suit contemporary tastes or even demolished—such as New York's [[Singer Building]], once the world's tallest skyscraper.

German-American architect [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]] became one of the world's most renowned architects in the second half of the 20th century. He conceived the glass façade skyscraper<ref>{{cite book|year=2006|title=A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofarch00curl_0|url-access=registration|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofarch00curl_0/page/880 880]|isbn=978-0-19-860678-9}}</ref> and, along with Norwegian [[Fred Severud]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Seven Structural Engineers: The Felix Candela Lectures |publisher=Museum of Modern Art |author=Nordenson, Guy |year=2008 |location=New York City |page=21 |isbn=978-0870707032}}</ref> designed the [[Seagram Building]] in 1958, a skyscraper that is often regarded as the pinnacle of modernist high-rise architecture.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Mies van der Rohe Dies at 83; Leader of Modern Architecture |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0327.html |quote=Mies van der Rohe, one of the great figures of 20th-century architecture. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=17 August 1969 |access-date=21 July 2007}}</ref>

{{Multiple image
| image1 = UNO New York.JPG
| image2 = Seagram Building (35098307116) (cropped).jpg
| image3 = Biurowiec Chałubińskiego 8 w Warszawie 2020 (cropped).jpg
| total_width = 400
| header = Postwar modernist skyscrapers
| caption1 = [[UN Secretariat Building]] (1952), in New York City
| caption2 = [[Seagram Building]] (1958), in New York City
| caption3 = [[Chałubińskiego 8]] (1978), in [[Warsaw]]
}}

Skyscraper construction surged throughout the 1960s. The impetus behind the upswing was a series of transformative innovations<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|author=Lynn Beadle|title=Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z5yfoPpVhmUC&pg=PA482|date=2001|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-203-46754-1|page=482}}</ref> which made it possible for people to live and work in "cities in the sky".<ref name =lehigh>{{cite web|url=https://www1.lehigh.edu/news/designing-cities-sky |title=Designing cities in the sky |publisher=lehigh.edu |date=14 March 2007 }}</ref>

[[File:FR_khan_sculputure_at_Sears_tower.jpg|right|thumb|Sculpture honoring [[Fazlur Rahman Khan]] at the [[Willis Tower]] in Chicago. Khan made important advancements in skyscraper engineering.<ref>{{cite web |title=15 Genius Skyscraper Engineers You've Probably Never Heard Of |url=https://interestingengineering.com/culture/15-genius-skyscraper-engineers-youve-probably-never-heard-of |website=amp.interestingengineering.com|date=27 January 2018 }}</ref>]]

In the early 1960s [[Bangladeshi-American]] structural engineer [[Fazlur Rahman Khan]], considered the "father of [[Tube (structure)|tubular designs]]" for high-rises,<ref>{{cite book |title=Engineering Legends|first=Richard|last=Weingardt|publisher=[[American Society of Civil Engineers|ASCE Publications]]|year=2005|isbn=978-0-7844-0801-8|page=75}}</ref> discovered that the dominating rigid [[steel frame]] structure was not the only system apt for tall buildings, marking a new era of skyscraper construction in terms of multiple [[structural system]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mir M. Ali|first=Kyoung Sun Moon|title=Structural developments in tall buildings: current trends and future prospects|journal=Architectural Science Review|issue=September 2007|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-32962093_ITM|access-date=10 December 2008}}</ref> His central innovation in [[skyscraper design and construction]] was the concept of the [[Tube (structure)|"tube" structural system]], including the "framed tube", "trussed tube", and "bundled tube".<ref name=Ali>{{cite journal|title=Evolution of Concrete Skyscrapers: from Ingalls to Jin mao|first=Mir M.|last=Ali|journal=Electronic Journal of Structural Engineering|volume=1|issue=1|year=2001|pages=2–14|doi=10.56748/ejse.1111|s2cid=251690475|doi-access=free}}</ref> His "tube concept", using all the exterior wall perimeter structure of a building to simulate a thin-walled tube, revolutionized tall building design.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Engineering Legends|first=Richard|last=Weingardt|publisher=[[American Society of Civil Engineers|ASCE Publications]]|year=2005|isbn=978-0-7844-0801-8|page=76}}</ref> These systems allow greater economic efficiency,<ref name=Britannica>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Alfred Swenson & Pao-Chi Chang|title=Building construction: High-rise construction since 1945|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|year=2008|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/83859/building-construction/60143/High-rise-construction-since-1945#toc60143|access-date=9 December 2008}}</ref> and also allow skyscrapers to take on various shapes, no longer needing to be rectangular and box-shaped.<ref name=Bayley/> The first building to employ the tube structure was the [[Plaza on DeWitt|Chestnut De-Witt]] apartment building,<ref name="books.google.com"/> considered to be a major development in modern architecture.<ref name="books.google.com"/> These new designs opened an economic door for contractors, engineers, architects, and investors, providing vast amounts of real estate space on minimal plots of land.<ref name = lehigh/> Over the next fifteen years, many towers were built by Fazlur Rahman Khan and the "[[Chicago School (architecture)|Second Chicago School]]",<ref name=Billington>{{Cite book|title=The Tower and the Bridge: The New Art of Structural Engineering|first=David P.|last=Billington|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=1985|isbn=978-0-691-02393-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/towerbridgenewar00bill/page/234 234–5]|url=https://archive.org/details/towerbridgenewar00bill/page/234}}</ref> including the hundred-story [[John Hancock Center]] and the massive {{convert|442|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Willis Tower]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/bu/sk/li/?id=101030&bt=9&ht=3&sro=81 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301234410/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/bu/sk/li/?id=101030&bt=9&ht=3&sro=81 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=1 March 2007 |title=List of Tallest skyscrapers in Chicago |publisher=Emporis.com |date=15 June 2009 |access-date=5 June 2011}}</ref> Other pioneers of this field include [[Srinivasa 'Hal' Iyengar|Hal Iyengar]], [[William LeMessurier]], and [[Minoru Yamasaki]], the architect of the [[World Trade Center (1973-2001)|World Trade Center]].

Many buildings designed in the 1970s lacked a particular style and recalled ornamentation from earlier buildings designed before the 1950s. These design plans ignored the environment and loaded structures with decorative elements and extravagant finishes.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CyjMBQAAQBAJ&q=fazlur+khan+legacy+towers+of+the+future&pg=PA3|title=Life-Cycle and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructure Systems: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE'12), Vienna, Austria, October 3-6, 2012|isbn=9780203103364|last1=Strauss|first1=Alfred|last2=Frangopol|first2=Dan|last3=Bergmeister|first3=Konrad|date=18 September 2012|publisher=CRC Press }}</ref> This approach to design was opposed by Fazlur Khan and he considered the designs to be whimsical rather than rational. Moreover, he considered the work to be a waste of precious natural resources.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CyjMBQAAQBAJ&q=Ignored+the+environment+and+loaded&pg=PA3|title=Life-Cycle and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructure Systems: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE'12), Vienna, Austria, October 3-6, 2012|isbn=9780203103364|last1=Strauss|first1=Alfred|last2=Frangopol|first2=Dan|last3=Bergmeister|first3=Konrad|date=18 September 2012|publisher=CRC Press }}</ref> Khan's work promoted [[Structural Art|structures integrated with architecture]] and the least use of material resulting in the smallest impact on the environment.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ialcce2012.boku.ac.at/keynote_details.php?profile=5|title=IALCCE 2012: Keynote Speakers Details|website=ialcce2012.boku.ac.at|access-date=16 June 2012|archive-date=26 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426000301/https://ialcce2012.boku.ac.at/keynote_details.php?profile=5|url-status=dead}}</ref> The next era of skyscrapers will focus on the environment including performance of structures, types of material, construction practices, absolute minimal use of materials/natural resources, embodied energy within the structures, and more importantly, a holistically integrated building systems approach.<ref name="auto"/>

{{Multiple image
| image1 = 01-01-2014 - Messeturm - trade fair tower - Frankfurt- Germany - 01 (cropped).jpg
| image2 = The Twins SE Asia 2019 (49171985716) (cropped) 2.jpg
| image3 = Jin Mao Tower 2007.jpg
| total_width = 400
| header = [[Postmodern architecture|Postmodern]] skyscrapers
| caption1 = [[Messeturm]] (1990), in [[Frankfurt]]
| caption2 = [[Petronas Towers]] (1998), in [[Kuala Lumpur]]
| caption3 = [[Jin Mao Tower]] (1999), in [[Shanghai]]
}}

Modern building practices regarding supertall structures have led to the study of "vanity height".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ctbuh.org/Publications/Journal/InNumbers/TBINVanityHeight/tabid/5837/language/en-US/Default.aspx |title=Tall Buildings in Numbers Vanity Height |publisher=Ctbuh.org |access-date=21 September 2013 |archive-date=17 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131117120309/http://www.ctbuh.org/Publications/Journal/InNumbers/TBINVanityHeight/tabid/5837/language/en-US/Default.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.showbriefdetail&newsid=2061 |title=CTBUH releases list of supertall towers with highest percentages of 'vanity height' |publisher=World Architecture News |access-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> Vanity height, according to the CTBUH, is the distance between the highest floor and its architectural top (excluding antennae, flagpole or other functional extensions). Vanity height first appeared in New York City skyscrapers as early as the 1920s and 1930s but supertall buildings have relied on such uninhabitable extensions for on average 30% of their height, raising potential definitional and sustainability issues.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theatlanticcities.com/design/2013/09/most-worlds-tallest-buildings-game-system-vanity-height/6822/ |title=Most of the World's Tallest Buildings Game the System With 'Vanity Height' – Jenny Xie |work=The Atlantic Cities |date=9 September 2013 |access-date=21 September 2013 |archive-date=25 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425073754/http://www.theatlanticcities.com/design/2013/09/most-worlds-tallest-buildings-game-system-vanity-height/6822/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Lecher |first=Colin |url=http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-09/worlds-tallest-skyscrapers-have-insane-amount-unoccupied-space |title=The World's Tallest Skyscrapers Have A Dirty Little Secret |date=6 September 2013 |publisher=Popsci.com |access-date=21 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/height-uselessness-article-1.1448935 |title=World's tallest {{sic|skyscapers?|nolink==y}} Only if 'useless' needles count |work=NY Daily News |date=7 September 2013 |access-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> The current era of skyscrapers focuses on [[sustainability]], its built and natural environments, including the performance of structures, types of materials, construction practices, absolute minimal use of materials and natural resources, energy within the structure, and a holistically integrated building systems approach. [[Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design|LEED]] is a current [[green building]] standard.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Alfred Strauss|author2=Dan Frangopol|author3=Konrad Bergmeister|title=Life-Cycle and Sustainability of Civil Infrastructure Systems: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE'12), Vienna, Austria, October 3-6, 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CyjMBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA406|year=2012|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-203-10336-4}}</ref>

Architecturally, with the movements of [[Postmodern architecture|Postmodernism]], [[New Urbanism]] and [[New Classical Architecture]], that established since the 1980s, a more classical approach came back to global skyscraper design, that remains popular today.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Adam|first1=Robert|title=How to Build Skyscrapers|url=http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_2_urbanities-how_to_build.html|magazine=City Journal|access-date=20 September 2014|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923222052/http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_2_urbanities-how_to_build.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Examples are the [[Wells Fargo Center (Minneapolis)|Wells Fargo Center]], [[NBC Tower]], [[Parkview Square]], [[30 Park Place]], the [[Messeturm]], the iconic [[Petronas Towers]] and [[Jin Mao Tower]].

{{Multiple image
| image1 = The Shard from the Sky Garden 2015.jpg
| image2 = New York (33224081040).jpg
| image3 = Shanghai Tower 2015.jpg
| total_width = 400
| header = Contemporary skyscrapers
| caption1 = [[The Shard]] (2012), in [[London]]
| caption2 = [[One World Trade Center]] (2013), in New York City
| caption3 = [[Shanghai Tower]] (2014), in Shanghai
}}

Other contemporary styles and movements in skyscraper design include [[Organic architecture|organic]], [[Sustainable architecture|sustainable]], [[Neo-Futurism|neo-futurist]], [[Structuralism (architecture)|structuralist]], [[High-tech architecture|high-tech]], [[Deconstructivism|deconstructivist]], [[Blobitecture|blob]], [[Digital architecture|digital]], [[Streamline Moderne|streamline]], [[Novelty architecture|novelty]], [[Critical regionalism|critical regionalist]], [[Vernacular architecture|vernacular]], [[Art Deco|Neo Art Deco]] and [[neohistorist]], also known as [[Revivalism (architecture)|revivalist]].

3 September is the global commemorative day for skyscrapers, called "Skyscraper Day".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Whitman |first1=Elizabeth |title=Skyscraper Day 2015: 10 Facts, Photos Celebrating Ridiculously Tall Buildings Around The World|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/skyscraper-day-2015-10-facts-photos-celebrating-ridiculously-tall-buildings-around-2080286|work=[[International Business Times]] |date=3 September 2015 |access-date=3 September 2015}}</ref>

New York City developers competed among themselves, with successively taller buildings claiming the title of "world's tallest" in the 1920s and early 1930s, culminating with the completion of the {{convert|318.9|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Chrysler Building]] in 1930 and the {{convert|443.2|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Empire State Building]] in 1931, the world's tallest building for forty years. The first completed {{convert|417|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] tower became the world's tallest building in 1972. However, it was overtaken by the Sears Tower (now [[Willis Tower]]) in Chicago within two years. The {{convert|442|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall Sears Tower stood as the world's tallest building for 24 years, from 1974 until 1998, until it was edged out by {{convert|452|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Petronas Twin Towers]] in Kuala Lumpur, which held the title for six years.