KnowSoda
Arts & CultureArchitecture & Construction
Skyscrapers: fun facts and quiz
The essentials in 7 ideas, with fun facts, an illustrated story and a quiz to see how much you know.
The essentials
The First Skyscrapers
Chicago’s Home Insurance Building, finished in 1885, is often called the first skyscraper. A steel frame carried its weight, instead of thick walls.
Key fact
It was only about 10 storeys tall.
The Safe Elevator
Tall buildings needed lifts people trusted. In 1854, Elisha Otis showed off his safety brake by having the rope cut while he stood on the platform.
Key fact
Today’s fastest lifts climb at over 70 km/h.
The Empire State Building
New York’s Empire State Building went up in just over a year and opened in 1931. It was the world’s tallest building for nearly 40 years.
Key fact
It has its own postcode (ZIP code).
Swaying Towers
Skyscrapers are designed to sway a little in the wind. Some use giant weights, called tuned mass dampers, to calm the movement.
Key fact
Taipei 101’s damper is a 660-tonne steel ball.
The Tallest Today
Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, at 828 m, has been the tallest building since 2010. Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower is being built to pass 1 km.
Key fact
Most of the world’s tallest buildings are now in Asia and the Middle East.
How They’re Built
Skyscrapers start deep underground, with foundations that reach solid rock or spread the load. Tower cranes then climb up with the building as it rises.
Key fact
The Burj Khalifa’s foundations go about 50 m deep.
Green Towers
New skyscrapers aim to use less energy, with smart glass, natural ventilation and even gardens. Milan’s Bosco Verticale has trees growing on its balconies.
Key fact
Bosco Verticale’s two towers hold about 800 trees.
Fun facts
The word “skyscraper” was first used for a tall sail at the very top of a ship’s mast.
Before lifts, top floors were the cheapest to rent. Lifts turned them into the most expensive.
The Empire State Building’s spire was designed as a mooring mast for airships.
In strong winds, the top of the Burj Khalifa can sway by more than a metre.
At the Burj Khalifa, you can watch the sun set from the ground, then ride up fast enough to see it set again.
Cleaning all the Burj Khalifa’s windows takes a team about three months.
Some new towers use timber frames instead of steel and concrete.
Story: The Photographer in the Sky
The Photographer in the Sky
1930, New York. The Empire State Building rises at up to four storeys a week. Photographer Lewis Hine climbs with the workers.
For the best shots, he swings out over the city in a basket hung from a crane, a quarter of a mile up.
His pictures of the “sky boys” balancing on beams made the builders heroes. The whole tower was finished in about 13 months.
True or false?
Tap your answer to see if you got it, and why.
-
Question 1 of 10
Steel frames made skyscrapers possible.
Show the answer
True. The frame carries the weight.
-
Question 2 of 10
Elisha Otis demonstrated a safety brake for lifts.
Show the answer
True. In New York, in 1854.
-
Question 3 of 10
The Empire State Building was built in about a year.
Show the answer
True. Just over 13 months.
-
Question 4 of 10
Tall buildings are designed to sway slightly.
Show the answer
True. Flexibility stops them cracking.
-
Question 5 of 10
The Burj Khalifa has been the tallest building since 2010.
Show the answer
True. It stands 828 m tall.
-
Question 6 of 10
Tower cranes can climb up as a building rises.
Show the answer
True. They jack themselves up floor by floor.
-
Question 7 of 10
New skyscrapers aim to use less energy.
Show the answer
True. With smart glass and natural ventilation.
-
Question 8 of 10
The first skyscraper was over 100 storeys tall.
Show the answer
False. It had about 10.
-
Question 9 of 10
Skyscrapers were common before safe lifts existed.
Show the answer
False. Safe lifts made tall buildings practical.
-
Question 10 of 10
The Empire State Building is in Chicago.
Show the answer
False. It’s in New York.
Keep going in the app
KnowSoda learns what you know and brings back what you’re about to forget. Skyscrapers has 6 more ideas at the Advanced and Expert levels.
Sources
- Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat — Tallest buildings database
- Otis — History of the safety elevator
- Empire State Building — Official facts
- Taipei 101 — Tuned mass damper
- Stefano Boeri Architetti — Bosco Verticale
- Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat — Tall building data
- BBC News (2013), London skyscraper “melts” car
