The American Skyscraper
Cultural Histories

Focuses on the various histories that intersect around and within the skyscraper.

Roberta Moudry (Edited by)

9780521624213, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 May 2005

298 pages, 89 b/w illus.
26.7 x 18.6 x 2.8 cm, 0.925 kg

The American Skyscraper creates a systematic review of the meaning, experience, and relation of the skyscraper to the city and its people.' Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians

More than any other phenomenon, the skyscraper has determined the character of the American city, altering its physicality and land use patterns; prompting design, technological, and infrastructure developments; creating internal work environments; and redefining boundaries and expectations of individuals and groups defined by gender, class, and ethnicity. This volume examines the various dimensions of the skyscraper in its American urban context. Focusing on the major skyscraper cities of New York and Chicago between 1870 and 1960, the studies in this volume address many of the major aspects of the skyscraper through a diversity of disciplines, including planning and public policy, art and architectural history, labor and business history, and American studies. The result is a kaleidoscopic view of the skyscraper, a building type whose existence as object and icon is inextricably linked to the city itself.

Part I. Makers and Users: 1. The Beaux-Arts architect and the skyscraper Gail Fenske
2. Law makes order Keith Revell
3. The female 'souls of the skyscraper' Lisa M. Fine
Part II. In the Image of the Client: 4. Type and building type Lee Gray
5. Chicago's fraternity temples Edward Wolner
6. The corporate and the civic Roberta Moudry
7. The Chicago Tribune Tower competition Katerine Solomonson
Part III. Urban Contexts: 8. The heights and depths of urbanism Max Page
9. Built languages of class Sarah Watts
10. The skyscraper ensemble in its urban context Carol Herselle Krinsky
Part IV. Popular Culture: 11. The shadow of the skyscraper Antonello Frongia
12. The skyscraper, gender and mental life Merrill Schleier
13. The sublime and the skyline David Nye.

Subject Areas: Architectural structure & design [AMC]