Building the Empire State - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393730301 ISBN 13: 9780393730302

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998

Synopsis

A rediscovered 1930s notebook charts the construction of the Empire State Building.

Constructed in eleven months, the 1250-foot Empire State Building, the world's tallest skyscraper from 1931 to 1971, was a marvel of modern engineering. The frame rose more than a story a day; no comparable building since has matched that rate of ascent. The construction of the Empire State Building was orchestrated by general contractors Starrett Brothers and Eken, premier "skyline builders" of the 1920s. They scheduled the delivery of materials and the construction and recorded daily the number of workers by trade. Compiled from these records, an in-house notebook documented the construction process. Meticulously typed on graph paper and illustrated with construction photographs, this unique document combines a professional specificity of detail with a charming rhapsody to the firm's crowning achievement.

About this title

About the Author:

Carol Willis, an architectural historian and founder of The Skyscraper Museum.

Review:

“These notes combine the dry facts with sensitive observations....[A] welcome contribution to the history of high-rise building technology.”
- Anat Geva, Ph.D., APT Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation Technology

“[A] remarkable document.”
- Nicholas Adams, Casabella

“[F]illed with marvelous arcana....[b]ut it also concerns itself with serious controversies...”
- New York Times

“[P]ackaged in a handsome volume, annotated intelligently and accompanied by two excellent essays and original site photographs...[I]nstructive, interesting...”
- Karl Sabbagh, Times Higher Education Supplement

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0393730301
• ISBN 13: 9780393730302
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192
• Editor: Willis Carol