Last modified on August 9, 2022, at 08:13

Skyscraper

The Empire State Building is an example of a skyscraper, with its rival Chrysler Building in the background.

Skyscrapers, also known as "high rises", are very tall buildings with small footprints, typically found in cities. They enable creating vastly more square footage of usable space, and thus higher density, on a given area of land.

Skyscrapers are so-called because they seem to "scrape the sky" as clouds pass.

Skyscrapers have their roots in the Tower of Babel, built by the descendants of the Great Flood survivors as described in Genesis 11:1-9 - "whose top may reach unto heaven."

Famous Skyscrapers

Mile-High Skyscraper

A skyscraper to be more than a mile tall was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and explained in his book A Testament (1957), published 2 years before Wright died. It is called The Illinois but was never built.

References