SkyScraper Day

The birthday of architect Louis H. Sullivan, erector of the first skyscraper and aka "father of skyscrapers" would celebrate his birthday today, September 3rd and so we celebrate today as Skyscraper day. The only definition that is given for skyscraper is a very tall building. Let me tell you that as a young girl from a rural community moving to what seemed like a much larger town (now that I have lived here not so big) saw a 10 story building I was astonished and delighted. I loved going down the road and seeing this tall building. I have been to the big city several times now and the large buildings still have that appeal on me, while I am scared of heights I love looking up at them.

The world's first skyscraper is generally considered to be in my home state of Illinois. In Chicago in fact it is the Home Insurance Building. Standing 10 feet tall, as impressive to them as  it was me. With a frame of metal not the popular stone that was used primarily in the day. In 1890 2 more stories were added to the building.

While visually impressive, Skyscrapers can be very economical in large cities where space is a resource and expensive. By going up skyscrapers create a high ratio of space to actual ground area.

The worlds tallest skyscraper is the burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With 163 floors and at 2,717 feet it is truly the tallest.

Do you live in a city with tall skyscrapers? Have you been to the very top?