By day the skyscraper looms in the smoke and sun and has a soul.
Prairie and valley, streets of the city, pour people into it and they
Mingle among its twenty floors...
It is the men and women, boys and girls so poured in and out all day
That give the building a soul of dreams and thoughts and memories...
--Carl Sandburg's Chicago's Poems (p. 325)
Sheer
serendipity brought me into the formal facilities planning and
management activities I directed for many years. However, in many ways,
it merged with an instinctual love of the architectural form in all of
its beauty. Thus, for me, Joseph Korom's The American Skyscraper, will
become much more--a "coffee-table" book to be picked up and read again
and again.
In reality, however, it is a complete text on the
history of America's creation and use of Skyscrapers with in-depth
information and over 300 images highlighting buildings across the United
States. It includes over 60 pages for the bibliography, index,
footnotes, and tabular presentations of celebrated skyscrapers! The
author notes, "Between its covers are the stories of 287 American
skyscrapers which were, or still are, located in seventy-one cities and
towns..." (p. 21) Reflections of exterior details or interior shots, as
well as architects' personal pictures, create a significant historical
contribution for the libraries of both students and professionals in the
fields of architectural and engineering, as well as all those who, like
myself, are awed with the majesty and beauty of structures.
Architect
Joseph Korom earned a Master of Architecture degree from the University
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he also served as mentor. He is an
accomplished artist whose paintings are represented in many private
collections and is a freelance writer, architectural critic, and
photographer. He is a member of the Society of Architectural Historians,
the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Art Institute of
Chicago, and the Milwaukee Art Museum. Joseph Korom, who has also
authored Look Up Milwaukee (1979) and Milwaukee Architecture A Guide to
Notable Buildings (1995.
"Very tall buildings, those now known as
"skyscrapers," were invented here-in America.... Humans built tall for
many reasons: to do so was communally satisfying, personally fulfilling
and perhaps most of all it was a celebratory act-for everyone. To build
tall was defiant, it was risky and it was scary but inherent in these
anxieties was the conquering of height itself, to pierce the sky with a
manmade object while still tethered to the ground was simply
irresistible..." (pps. 14-15) Korom thus introduces his impressive text
with a brief historical perspective of the brave men who began to build
high and chronicles "this country's unique contribution to
architecture..." (p. 16).
Presenting Chicago's Sear Tower as his
first picture, he notes that it "is the ultimate expression of
skyscraper technology and is the embodiment of vertical manifest
destiny. It stands 110 floors, 1,454 feet tall, and is North America's
tallest skyscraper." The author includes interesting factual information
such as when he notes, "When the sun sets, pedestrians at the Sears
Tower's base are plunged into shade. But due to the curvature of the
earth, shade covers the tower's floors from bottom moving upward at the
rate of one floor per second. Consequently, those at the building's top
enjoy approximately two more minutes of sunlight..." (p. 21)
When I
explored the buildings on the West Virginia University campus, working
to better manage the utilization of those facilities and then plan what
was needed to meet future needs, it was always the older buildings that I
found more intriguing. Exploring Woodburn Hall all the way up into the
clock tower, or walking through Chitwood and Martin Halls, prior to
their being gutted and renovated, I thrilled at the basic beauty we
wanted to retain, while at the same time, create updated classrooms,
offices, and teaching laboratories that were needed for our School of
Journalism and many departments within our College of Arts and Sciences.
Thus,
as I read through A Celebration of Height, it was not surprising that I
eagerly studied the buildings with the older styles that were used
during the "courageous beginnings" starting in 1850. (p. 22). Zachary
Taylor was president "during the planning and erection of the famed
Jayne Building in Philadelphia. Knowing that "Old Rough and Ready" was
in charge helps place the birth of the American skyscraper in historical
context." (p. 23)
The following buildings included in the
Celebration are just a few of those particularly enjoyed by this former
Facilities professional/reviewer! I am sure others will choose those
more modern.
· The Palmer House Hotel in Chicago; built 1872, by
the "first merchant prince of Chicago, Potter Palmer, at the cost of
$200,000. (pps. 49-50)
· Madison Square Garden Tower, 16 floors, 304 feet, New York. (P. 158)
· Women's Temple, Chicago, 1892, home of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. (p. 166)
· Columbus Memorial Building, topped by a giant bronze status of
Christopher Columbus, built in 1893. "In an utterly wanton act, this
delightful skyscraper was demolished in 1959." (p. 179)
· Trinity Church, New York City. Its steeple once ranked it the tallest structure on Manhattan Island. (p. 190)
· The Carson Pirie Scott Store's main entrance is marked by a most
robust example of foliage This twisting mélange was executed in iron
then painted a forest green. This building, completed in 1904,
immediately was propelled into the annals of architectural immortality.
The Chicago Loop was now home to a large department store, rising twelve
stories, 168 feet. The building featured some of the most compelling
ornamentation anywhere. (pps. 231-232)
· City Investing Building, New York City, 1908, 487 feet, and
containing one-half million square feet, making it the world's largest
office building. "If ever there was a skyscraper that evoked romance,
historicism, capitalism, and the optimism of the early twentieth century
the City Investing Building was it. Here was a tower that drew upon
inspiration from French Baroque sources, and in so doing, cut a
delightful profile on New York's skyline. (p. 271)
· Bromo-Seltzer Tower, Baltimore, 1911, 15 floors, 280 feet tall,
with a facsimile of the original Bromo-Seltzer bottle atop its tower!
(pps. 294-295)
· Peter Cooper first manufactured structural beam for the Cooper
Union Building in New York, thus setting the stage for skeleton
construction and ultimately the skyscraper. (p. 25). Also in New York,
the mid-19th century marked the age of cast iron architecture and is
still concentrated in the "Cast Iron District, as a living museum, near
the Greenwich Village. (p. 28)
· And, of course, the history of the skyscraper must also include
the invention of the elevator. Manhattan's Haughwout Building was the
first commercial building to employ a passenger elevator. "It was
capable of lifting one-half ton at the rate of forty feed per minute and
it was the first of its kind anywhere" when it was installed in 1857.
Any facilities professional will not be surprised to hear that Elisha
Graves Otis who eventually founded the Otis Elevator Company installed
it. (pps. 28-29)
In addition to detailed facilities information, I
also enjoyed the smaller details Korom added for interest, such as
"Probably for the first time unrelated men and women worked side-by-side
for eight or more hours in the same one or two rooms...skyscrapers,
probably from their very inception, were places where 'advantages were
acted upon' or there were rumors of such behavior..." (p. 137) and the
various interior shots of those men and women dressed as they were at
that time. Truly, The American Skyscraper 1850-1940: A Celebration of
Height is a book that is highly recommended to all those interested in
America's history!
By his buildings great in influence and power...
His philosophy where, in "Form Follows function"
Sullivan has earned his place as one of the greatest
Architectural forces in America...
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar