You will surely become one of the millions of tourists crowding in huge queues in order to get into Empire State Building. This is not surprising, because King Kong himself sought to get to the top of the building. Everywhere in New York you will find souvenirs, postcards, flyers and T-shirts with the image of the Empire State Building.
Empire State Building officially opened on May 1, 1931, and became the tallest building of that time. Its height is 1250 feet (381 m). This skyscraper has become not only an icon of New York, it has become a symbol of the human desire to achieve the impossible.
Built in 1889, the 984-foot (300 m) Eiffel Tower spurred American architects to build something taller. This may have been the reason for the start of the skyscraper race in the twentieth century. So, in 1909, the fifty-story MetLife Tower (Metropolitan Life Tower) was built, whose height is 700 feet (214 m). 4 years later, in 1913. the 57-story Woolworth Building was built, 792 feet (241 m) high. And in 1929, the tallest in New York was the 71-story Bank of Manhattan Building - 927 feet (283 m).
When former General Motors vice president John Jakob Raskob decided to join the skyscraper race, Walter Chrysler (founder of the Chrysler Corporation) was already building the Chrysler Building. Chrysler kept the height of his building a strict secret, so when he started construction, Raskob did not know whose building would be higher, his or Chrysler's.
In 1929, Raskob bought a site for his skyscraper at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue. The glamorous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was located on this site. The land on which the hotel was located has grown in value, so the owners of the hotel decided to sell it and build a new hotel in another place. Raskobu cost this plot of land (together with the hotel) about $16 million.
Raskob hired Shreve, Lamb & Harmon to design the skyscraper.
Discussing the design of the building with the architect William Lamb, Raskob took a long pencil, put it on the table and asked: - "Bill, how high can you build the building so that it does not fall?". Thus began the saga of the construction of one of the most famous buildings in the world.
Raskob needed the best builders to implement the project. By inviting contractors from Starrett Bros. & Eken”, Raskob asked – do they have the necessary construction equipment? To which Poll Starrett, the foreman of the company, replied that they did not even have a pick and a shovel. Raskob, of course, was surprised by this answer, since other construction companies, with whose representatives he spoke, had all the necessary equipment, and rented the missing. However, Starrett convinced him that a building of this magnitude needed a special approach and conventional construction equipment would not help here. For the construction of the skyscraper, Starrett offered to buy new equipment on credit and sell it after the work was completed. Largely due to his honesty and openness, Starret received an eighteen-month contract to build Empire State Building.
The first item on Starrett's schedule was the demolition of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. After people learned about the demolition of the hotel, Raskob received thousands of requests for mementos in the form of parts of the building. An Iowa resident asked for a piece of a metal railing to be sent to him, several people asked for the keys to the room they occupied during their honeymoon. They also asked to send a flagpole, stained-glass windows, fireplaces, lamps, bricks, etc. And for some especially demanded positions, an auction was held.
The rest of the building materials were sold for reuse. The main part of the debris was taken to the dock, loaded onto barges, towed fifteen miles from the coast and dumped into the Atlantic Ocean.
Even before the complete demolition of the hotel, the builders had already begun excavating a foundation pit for a new building. Two shifts of 300 men worked day and night, digging into the hard rocky ground.
The steel frame of the building was completed on March 17, 1930. Two hundred and ten steel columns formed a vertical frame. Twelve of them ran the full height of the building, the other parts were six to eight stories high.
Passers-by often stopped and, raising their heads, looked with admiration at the workers. Harold Butcher, a correspondent for the London Daily Herald, described the builders as "carelessly strolling, crawling, climbing, arm-waving men, hovering on gigantic steel frames."
But the most interesting thing was to watch the rivet riveters. They worked in groups of four: the warmer, the catcher, the thrower, and the riveter. The heater placed about ten rivets in the fiery forge, when they were red hot, he pulled them out with huge tongs and handed them to the thrower, who in turn threw them at a distance of 50 to 75 feet - at the catcher. The catcher caught the rivets with a tin can, they fell into the can while still in a hot state. With the other hand, he pulled the rivet out of the can with tongs, blew the ashes off it, and then inserted it into the hole. The riveter had only to beat it with a hammer. These people walked all the way from the 1st to the 102nd floor in this way. The last rivet was solemnly hammered in the presence of a large number people - this rivet was poured out of pure gold.
Construction frame Empire State Building was a model of efficiency. All work was aimed at saving time, money and human resources. For the prompt delivery of materials at the construction site, a Railway. Instead of unloading ten million bricks at the construction site, as they usually did, Starrett's workers unloaded them into a special chute that led to a bunker located in the basement. The chute narrowed at the bottom to control the release of its contents. If necessary, the bricks were poured from the bunker directly into carts, which were then lifted to the desired floor. This process eliminated the need to block off streets to store bricks, and also eliminated the need to manually load bricks from piles into carts.
Literally simultaneously with the construction of the frame, electricians and plumbers installed the internal communications of the building.
Having rebuilt 80 floors, Raskob realized that this was not enough, as the Chrysler Building was getting even higher. Having completed 5 more floors, the Empire State Building was only four feet taller than its competitor. Raskob was worried about the idea that Walter Chrysler was hiding a rod in the building's spire, thanks to which, at the last moment, he could make the skyscraper even higher.
The skyscraper race became more and more dramatic. After studying the model of the building, Raskob came up with the idea to build a pier for airships on top of the skyscraper. New project The Empire State Building, which included a landing pier for airships, made the building 1,250 feet (381 m) tall.
Have you ever waited for an elevator in a six or nine story building that seemed to take forever? Or have you ever taken an elevator that stopped at every floor to pick up or drop off a passenger? The Empire State Building had 102 floors, with the capacity to accommodate 15,000 people. How to get all people to the right floor without waiting for hours for the elevator and without climbing the stairs?
To solve this problem, the architects developed seven categories of elevators, each serving a specific floor. For example, group A serves from the third to the seventh floor, group B serves from the 7th to the 18th floor. So, if you need to get to the 65th floor, for example, you could take the group F elevator, which stops from the 55th to the 67th floor, and not from the 1st to the 102nd.
The Otis Elevator Company installed 58 passenger and 8 freight elevators in the Empire State Building. Although these elevators could travel up to 1,200 feet (365 m) per minute, their speed was limited. building codes up to 700 feet (213 m) per minute. A month after the opening of the Empire State Building, this restriction was lifted, and the elevators accelerated their movement to 1200 feet per minute.
Empire State Building was built within the scheduled time frame of 1 year and 45 days, which was an amazing achievement. The construction of the building did not go over budget due to the onset of the Great Depression, during which labor costs were reduced. Full cost construction works amounted to $40,948,900 instead of the planned $50 million.
The Empire State Building was opened on May 1, 1931. The ribbon was cut by New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker, and President Herbert Hoover lit the skyscraper with thousands of lights with a symbolic push of a button from Washington.
Empire State Building received the status of the tallest building in the world and held this bar until the construction of the first tower of the World shopping center in 1972.
Empire State Building. The history of a skyscraper. June 1st, 2013
The Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper located in New York on Manhattan Island. From 1931 to 1972, before the opening of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, it was the tallest building in the world. In 2001, when the towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, the skyscraper again became the tallest building in New York. The architecture of the building belongs to the Art Deco style.
In 1986, the Empire State Building became a national historical monuments USA. In 2007, the building at number one was included in the list of the best American architectural solutions according to American Institute architects. The building is owned and operated by W&H Properties. The tower is located on Fifth Avenue between West 33rd and 34th streets.
AT late XVIII century on the site where the ESB is now located, was John Thompson's farm. At that time, there was a stream here that flowed into the Sunfish Pond, which is now a block from the skyscraper. In the late 19th century, the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was located here, where the social elite of New York lived.
The ESB was designed by Gregory Johnson and his architectural firm, Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, who completed the blueprints for the skyscraper in just two weeks, using her previous work, the Carew Tower, in Cincinnati, as a basis. Ohio. The building was designed from top to bottom. The main contractors were the Starrett Brothers and Eken, and the project was funded by John J. Raskob.
Construction was led by Alfred E. Smith, a former New York City superintendent.
Preparations for construction began on January 22, 1930, and the construction of the skyscraper itself, thanks to the influence of Alfred Smith as president of Empire State, Inc., began on March 17, St. Patrick's Day. The project employed 3,400 workers, mostly European immigrants, as well as hundreds of Mohawk foundry Indians, mostly from the Kahnawake Reservation near Montreal.
However, initially no one could have imagined that the Empire State Building would become such a famous skyscraper. Thus, the architectural historian Carol Willis notes in one of her books that main task during the construction of a skyscraper, it was necessary to meet the specified amount, therefore appearance buildings received the least attention.
This construction was part of an intense competition for the title of the tallest building in the world. The other two buildings competing for the title, 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building, were still under construction when work began on the ESB. Each of them held the title less than a year, the Empire State Building beat them in this competition just 410 days after construction began. The official opening of the ESB on May 1, 1931 was very pompous: President Herbert Hoover turned on the lights in the building by pressing a button in Washington. Ironically, the first time the lamps were used on top of the skyscraper was to commemorate Franklin Roosevelt's victory over Hoover in the November 1932 presidential election.
Let's take a look at how such skyscrapers were built at that time with the help of a blogger.
The bulk of the material is rudzin
, the owner of the most interesting diary
"Lunchtime atop a Skyscraper" (Lunch on top of a skyscraper) - photograph from the series "Construction Workers Lunching on a Crossbeam - 1932" by Charles C. Ebbets
Such a miracle as a skyscraper would not have been possible without the invention of the steel frame. Assembling the steel frame of a building is the most dangerous and hard part construction. It is the quality and speed of assembly of the frame that determines whether the project will be implemented on time and within budget.
That's why riveters are the most important profession during the construction of a skyscraper.
Riveters are a caste with their own laws: the salary of a riveter for a working day is $ 15, more than any skilled worker at a construction site; they do not go to work in the rain, wind or fog, they are not on the contractor's staff. They are not alone, they work in teams of four, and if one of the team does not go to work, no one comes out. Why, in the midst of the Great Depression, is everyone turning a blind eye to this, from an investor to a foreman?
On a platform of boards, or simply on steel beams, there is a coal stove. In the oven, the rivets are 10 cm long and 3 cm diameter steel cylinders. The "cook" "cooks" the rivets - drives air into the furnace with small bellows to heat them up to the desired temperature. The rivet has warmed up (not too much - it will turn in the hole and have to be drilled; and not too weak - it will not rivet), now you need to transfer the rivet to where it will fasten the beams. It is only known in advance which beam will be fastened when, and it is impossible to move a hot furnace during the working day. Therefore, often the attachment point is located 30 (thirty) meters from the "cook", sometimes higher, sometimes lower by 2-3 floors.
You can transfer the rivet the only way- quit.
The “cook” turns to the “goalkeeper” and silently, making sure that the goalkeeper is ready to receive, throws a red-hot 600-gram blank with tongs in his direction. Sometimes there are already welded beams on the trajectory, you need to throw it once, accurately and strongly.
The “goalkeeper” stands on a narrow platform or simply on a bare beam next to the riveting site. His goal is to catch a flying piece of iron with an ordinary tin can. He cannot move without falling. But he must catch the rivet, otherwise it will fall like a small bomb on the city.
"Shooter" and "emphasis" are waiting. The "goalkeeper", having caught the rivet, drives it into the hole. "Upor" with outside buildings, hanging over the abyss, a steel rod and its own weight holds the rivet head. The "shooter" with a 15-kilogram pneumatic hammer rivets it from the other side within a minute.
The best team does this trick over 500 times a day, the average - about 250.
In the photographs - the best brigade in 1930, from left to right: “cook”, “goalkeeper”, “emphasis”, and shooter.
The danger of this work can be illustrated by the following fact: masons at a construction site are insured at a rate of 6% of their salary, carpenters - 4%. The riveter's rate is 25-30%.
One person died at the Chrysler building.
Four people died on Wall Street 40.
Empire State has five.
The frame of the skyscraper consists of hundreds of steel profiles several meters long and weighing several tons, the so-called beams. There is nowhere to store them during the construction of a skyscraper - no one will allow organizing a warehouse in the city center, in conditions of dense development, on municipal land. Moreover, all structural elements are different, each can be used in one the only place, therefore, an attempt to organize even a temporary warehouse, for example, on one of the last floors built, can lead to great confusion and disruption of construction deadlines.
That is why, when I wrote that the work of riveters is the most important and most difficult, I did not mention that it is also the most dangerous and difficult. The work is harder and more dangerous than theirs - the work of the crane crew.
The order for the beams was agreed with the metallurgists a few weeks ago, trucks bring them to the construction site to the minute, regardless of the weather, they need to be unloaded immediately.
The Derrick Crane is a hinged boom, located on the last floor built, the installers are on the floor above. The winch operator can be located on any floor of an already constructed building, because no one is going to stop lifting and distract other cranes to lift a heavy mechanism several floors higher for the convenience of installers. Therefore, when lifting a multi-ton channel, the operator does not see either the beam itself, or the car that brought it, or his comrades.
The only guideline for control is the strike of the bell, given by the apprentice at the signal of the foreman, who, together with the entire brigade, is dozens of floors above. Blow - turns on the winch motor, blow - turns it off. Several crews of riveters are working nearby with their hammers (have you ever heard the noise jackhammer?), other crane operators raise other channels at the commands of their bells. It is impossible to make a mistake and not hear the blow - the channel will either ram the crane boom, or throw the installers preparing to fix it from the installed vertical beam.
The foreman, controlling the derrick through two operators, one of whom he does not see, achieves the coincidence of the holes for riveting on the installed vertical beams with the holes on the raised channel with an accuracy of 2-3 millimeters. Only after that can a couple of installers fix the swaying, often wet channel with huge bolts and nuts.
In New York on 6th Avenue there are monuments to these guys, installed in 2001. The most famous photo became the model, she is the first in the preview here. So, at first they made a monument exactly like in the photo, i.e. 11 dudes are sitting on a beam. And then the most extreme on the right was removed under the root. And only because of the fact that he has a bottle of whiskey in his hands!!! I understand if this was done in our country during Gorbachev's time, but they had it in 2001!! Apparently they did not want to destroy the legend about the brave guys. Now these are 10 quite decent guys sitting on a steel beam. Fine. But somehow it's embarrassing.
Photography by Samuel H. Gottscho, 1932
In New York on 6th Avenue there are monuments to these guys, installed in 2001. The most famous photo became the model, she is the first in the preview here. So, at first they made a monument exactly like in the photo, i.e. 11 dudes are sitting on a beam. And then the most extreme on the right was removed under the root. And just because he has a bottle of whiskey in his hands!!! I understand if this had been done here in Gorbachev's time, but they had it in 2001!! Apparently they did not want to destroy the legend about the brave guys. Now these are 10 quite decent guys sitting on a steel beam. Fine. But somehow it's embarrassing.
The opening of the ESB coincided with the Great Depression in the United States, so at first most of the office space was empty. In the first year of operation, the construction of the observation deck cost the owners of the building approximately $ 2 million, they received the same amount from renting out the premises. Due to the lack of tenants, New Yorkers began to call the skyscraper the "Empty State Building". The building did not turn a profit until 1950. In 1951, ESB was sold to Roger L. Stevens and his associates for a record $51 million, brokered by the well-known upper Manhattan real estate firm Charles F. Noyes & Company. Then it was the most high price for one building in the history of real estate.
The spire of the skyscraper, made in Art Deco style, was originally designed as a mooring mast and parking place for airships. The 102nd floor was originally a landing platform, with a special ladder located on it. A separate elevator between the 86th and 102nd floors was supposed to take passengers upstairs after they checked in on the observation deck on the 86th floor. However, after several attempts to bring the airship to the skyscraper, it turned out to be difficult and dangerous due to the strong ascending air currents arising from the huge height of the building. In 1952, a large television tower was attached to the spire of the skyscraper.
Over the years of its existence, the Empire State Building has proven itself to be an extremely durable structure. So on July 28, 1945, a B-25 bomber literally crashed into a skyscraper. Several people died and dozens were injured varying degrees gravity. The bomber engine flew through the entire building, but the damage to the skyscraper was limited to the destruction of the outer walls and a fire in some rooms.
On 28 July 1945, a US Air Force B-25 "Mitchell" bomber piloted in heavy fog by Lieutenant Colonel William Smith crashed into the building's north facade between the 79th × 80th floors. One of the engines broke through the tower and fell on a neighboring building, the other fell into the elevator shaft. The fire that arose as a result of the collision was extinguished after 40 minutes. 14 people died in the incident, and elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver survived after falling in an elevator from a height of 75 floors - this achievement was included in the Guinness Book of Records. Despite the incident, the building was not closed, and work in most offices did not stop the next business day.
damage to the Empire State Building skyscraper after a collision with a plane
Over the entire period of operation of the building, more than 30 suicides were committed here. The first suicide occurred just after the construction was completed by a recently fired worker. In 1947, a fence was erected around the observation site, as in just three weeks there were 5 suicide attempts here. In 1979, Miss Elvita Adams decided to take her own life and jumped from the 86th floor. But a strong wind threw Miss Adams to the 85th floor, and she escaped with only a broken hip. One of the latest suicides occurred on April 13, 2007, when a lawyer jumped from the 69th floor.
Clickable, panorama
The ESB rises 1250 feet (381m) above the street on the 102nd floor, and if you count the spire at 203 feet (62m), the total height of the skyscraper is 1453 feet and eight inches (443m). The building has 85 floors of retail and office space (2,158,000 square feet/200,000m2) and an observation deck, both open and closed, on the 86th floor. the remaining 16 floors are an Art Deco tower ending in an observatory on the 102nd floor. At the top of the tower is a spire 203 feet high (62m.), most of which is covered with television antennas, with a luminous rod at the very top.
The Empire State Building was the first building to have over 100 floors. It has 6,500 windows and 73 elevators, and 1,860 steps lead from the street to the 102nd floor. total area all floors is approximately 2,768,591 square feet (257,000m2); The base of the ESB has an area of approximately 2 acres (0.8 ha). The building houses more than a thousand organizations, it also has its own zip code - 10118. As of 2007, approximately 21,000 employees work in the building every day, which makes the ESB the second largest office complex in the United States, after the Pentagon. The construction of the skyscraper lasted one year and 45 days. It originally had 64 elevators located in the center; on the this moment, ESB has 73 elevators, including service ones. The elevator goes up to the 86th floor, where the observation deck is located, in less than a minute. The total length of the pipes of the skyscraper is 70 miles (113 km.), The length of the electrical wires is 2,500,000 feet (760,000 m.). The skyscraper is heated with low pressure steam; despite its enormous height, a building needs only two or three pounds of steam pressure per square inch to heat the building. The skyscraper weighs approximately 336,000 tons.
In 1964, a searchlight lighting system was installed on the tower in order to illuminate the top in color scheme, corresponding to any events, memorable dates or holidays (St. Patrick's Day, Christmas, etc.). For example, after Frank Sinatra's 80th birthday and the subsequent death of Frank Sinatra, the building was illuminated in blue tones, due to the singer's nickname "Mr. Blue Eyes". Following the death of actress Faye Wray in late 2004, the tower's lights were completely turned off for 15 minutes.
The cost of building the ESB was $40,948,900. Unlike most modern tall buildings, the Empire State Building has a classic façade. Entrances at 33rd and 34th Streets, sheltered by modernist steel canopies, lead to corridors 2 stories high, traversed by steel or glass bridges at second floor level, surrounding the elevators. There are 67 elevators in the central part of the building.
The lobby is three stories high and uses the aluminum parts of the building in place of the antenna, which was not on the spire until 1952. The north corridor contains eight illuminated panels designed by Roy Sparkia and Renee Nemorov in 1963, making the building the eighth wonder of the world, along with the traditional family.
During the finishing of the building, long-term predictions were made about its performance to ensure that the use of the building now does not prevent it from serving future generations. This explains the redesign of the power supply system.
Traditionally, in addition to the usual lighting, the building is lit in the colors of the New York sports teams on the days when these teams play in the city (orange, blue and white for New York Knicks, red, white, and blue for New York Rangers, etc.). During the US Open tennis tournament, the illumination is dominated by yellow (the color of a tennis ball). In June 2002, during the celebration of the anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Elizabeth II, the backlight was purple-gold (the colors of the House of Windsor).
Very often this building is the hero of feature films. Take King Kong for example.
In 1964, floodlights were installed on top of the building to illuminate the building at night, colors chosen to match the seasons and other events such as St. Patrick's Day and Christmas. After the skyscraper's eighteenth birthday and the ensuing death of Frank Sinatra, for example, the building was lit up blue light, which hinted at the singer's nickname - "Ol 'Blue Eyes". After the death of actress Fay Wray (King Kong movie) at the end of 2004, the skyscraper stood in complete darkness for 15 minutes.
Searchlights illuminated the ESB in red, white, and blue flowers within a few months of the destruction of the World Trade Center, after which it returned to its usual routine. Traditionally, in addition to the regular schedule, the skyscraper is lit up in the colors of New York sports teams on their home game days (orange, blue, and white for the New York Knicks; red, white, and blue for the New York Rangers). Rangers), etc.). The building is illuminated by tennis ball yellow during the US Open in late August or early September. Twice the skyscraper was even lit up in bright scarlet for Rutgers University, the first time during football match November 9, 2006 against the University of Louisville, when the brightest win in the history of the university was won, and the second time on April 3, 2007, when the women's basketball team played against Tennessee (Tennessee) during the national championship.
In June 2002, during the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain (Elizabeth II), New York lit up the ESB in red and gold (the colors of the monarchs of the Royal House of Windsor (Royal House of Windsor)). New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it was a token of gratitude to Her Majesty for the fact that after September 11, 2001 at Buckingham Palace ( Buckingham Palace) was played the national anthem of the United States.
In 1995, the skyscraper was lit up in blue, red, green and yellow to celebrate the launch of the Microsoft Windows 95 operating system (Microsoft's Windows 95). It was a breakthrough for home computers and the launch was met with fanfare.
The building was also painted purple and white colors in honor of the graduation of students from New York University (New York University).
When the New York Mets defeated the New York Yankees in the Subway Series in May 2007, the next night the building was lit up in the colors of the winners, orange and blue.
In October 2007, the skyscraper was painted green for three days in honor of the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr (Eid ul-Fitr). Such lighting, first applied in honor of the Muslim holiday, is planned to be used every year.
On April 25-27, 2008, the skyscraper was painted "lavender" to celebrate the release of Mariah Carey's new album E=MC2.
The Empire State Building is home to one of the most popular open-air observatories in the world, with over 110 million visitors. The observation deck on the 86th floor provides an impressive all-round view of the city. There is another observation deck open to the public on the 102nd floor. It closed in 1999 but reopened in November 2005. It is fully glazed and much smaller than the first; on busy days it is sometimes closed.
New York - main center mass media U.S.A. since the September 11, 2001 attacks, almost all of the city's commercial broadcast stations (both radio and television) have been transmitted from the top of the ESB, although some FM radio stations are located in the nearby Conde Nast Building. Most New York AM stations are transmitted from New Jersey.
Communication facilities for broadcast stations are at the top of the ESB. Broadcasting from the building began on December 22, 1931, when Broadcasting began at Empire on December 22, 1931, when the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) began broadcasting experimental television broadcasts via a small antenna mounted on a spire. They rented the 85th floor and built a laboratory there, and in 1934 RCA was merged into a dubious venture by Edwin Howard Armstrong to test his FM system with a skyscraper antenna. When Armstrong and RCA left the building in 1935 and his FM equipment was removed, the 85th floor became the site of RCA's television studio, first as experimental W2XBS channel 1, which became commercial station WNBT, channel 1 (now WNBC-TV) on July 1, 1941. channel 4). The National Broadcasting Company station (WEAF-FM, now WQHT) began broadcasting via aerial in 1940.
NBC continued to have sole use of the top of the Empire State Building until 1950, when Federal Commission The United States Communications Commission (FCC) did not change the situation based on requests from viewers to move the seven main channels to ESB so that the antennas would not have to be constantly tuned. The construction of a huge television tower began. Then other television companies joined RCA in the skyscraper, on the 83rd, 82nd and 81st floors, some bringing sister radio stations with them. Mass TV and FM broadcasts began in 1951. In 1965, separate FM antennas were installed around the viewing area on the 102nd floor.
When the World Trade Center was being built, it caused serious problems from television stations, most of which moved to the World Trade Center immediately after its completion. This made it possible to modernize the antenna and improve the broadcast quality of the FM radio stations that remained in the ESB, which were soon joined by other FM radio stations and TV stations that moved from all other places in the city center. The destruction of the World Trade Center necessitated changes in broadcast frequencies and redevelopment of studios to accommodate the stations that were forced to return.
http://piacere-s.livejournal.com
http://rudzin.livejournal.com
http://www.zdanija.ru/forum/topic-291.html , http://piacere-s.livejournal.com/41658.html
The Empire State Building is one of the most famous skyscrapers, known not only in but throughout the world. It is on a par with such famous buildings as the pyramid of Cheops and. This building was and remains a symbol of the brilliant New York. Forty years ago, the Empire State was the tallest building in the world, but it still impresses with its size. On the wall of a huge marble hall Empire skyscraper The State Building is presented as the eighth wonder of the world.
Features Empire State Building
The 102-story Empire State Building is located on Fifth Avenue. It was built in 1931 and is the tallest skyscraper in New York.
Despite its large size, the skyscraper looks quite elegant: the proportions of the Empire State Building are simple and refined. The upper floors are built somewhat deeper in relation to common line facade. The building was built in a modest but elegant Art Deco style. Strips of stainless steel stretch upward along the gray stone façade, and the upper floors are arranged in three ledges.
Standing on the sidewalk in front of a 102-story skyscraper, it is very difficult to see the whole building as a whole - it is so big. The dimensions of the building are really amazing: the height without a tower is 381 meters, and together with television tower, built in the 50s, it reaches a total height of 449 meters. The weight of the structure is 331 thousand tons.
Of course, it is best to move around the floors with the help of elevators, but there are eccentrics who prefer to climb the stairs to the very last floor, which has 1,860 steps. Once a year there is a competition for the fastest climb. The winner receives one million dollars.
The rest still prefer to use elevators. Office space can accommodate 15,000 people, and elevators can carry 10,000 passengers in one hour.
The Empire State is not only the center of offices, but also a real entertainment for tourists. Inside the hall, which has a length of 30 meters and a height of three floors, there is a huge panel with images of eight, one of which is the Empire State Building itself. The Guinness World Records Hall contains information about unusual records and record holders. There are observation decks on the 86th and 102nd floors, which can be reached very quickly by elevator. From here you have an amazing view of the city.
History of the Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is located at 350 Fifth Avenue, New York. This part of Manhattan is still considered very prestigious. Skyscrapers, which are enough here, only further emphasize the respectability of this area.
New York and Chicago were the first cities where the construction of high-rise buildings began. There were many reasons for this. First, they have already been actively used technical innovations- light building reinforcement, high-speed elevators, strip foundation, etc. Secondly, with late XIX century, the price of land was quite high, so the construction of multi-storey buildings turned out to be economically viable. But despite more low price, the location of the office in a skyscraper was and still is very prestigious. Now, to rent an office in a skyscraper, you have to pay much more than for similar apartments in an ordinary building.
The modern Empire State Building was built on the site where, since 1860, there was a center for the local aristocracy. Then there were two noble houses that belonged to members of the wealthy Astor family. Subsequently, the Waldorf and Astoria hotels were built here. These two hotels functioned in the 90s years XIX century. Both hotels were demolished in 1929 to clear the site for the Empire State Building.
The building was erected on a two-story foundation (to make the skyscraper more stable) and supported by a steel structure weighing 54,400 tons. Ten million bricks and 700 kilometers of cable were spent on the construction. Construction was led by John Jacob Raskob (founder of General Motors). The project was completed by the architectural firm Shreve, Lam & Harmon.
The building was built simply with unheard of speed. A little more than a year and a half, 38 teams of builders (5 people each) assembled the frame of a skyscraper from huge amount metal beams, which were delivered to the construction site along a specially built road. The construction was very difficult and risky: every day the workers had to balance on the narrow beams of this frame.
The skyscraper grew literally before our eyes. Approximately four and a half floors were built every week, and in the most intensive period, 14 floors were erected in 10 days. The entire building was built in 1 year and 45 days.
On May 1, 1931, the official opening of the Empire State Building took place, which received the status of the tallest building on our planet, overtaking the previous record holder - the headquarters of the Chrysler automobile corporation.
The opening of the skyscraper coincided with the great economic depression. Not many could afford to rent an office in this building. Then the building was even nicknamed the "Empty State Building" (Empty State Building). It took ten years until all the premises were finally commissioned.
At first, the creators of the skyscraper planned to build a flat roof in order to arrange a platform for airships here. But later this idea was abandoned: the site was an expensive pleasure, and the airships came out and fashion. In 1950, it was decided to build on the skyscraper: a small TV tower was installed on the roof, 447 meters high.
The name of the Empire State Building skyscraper comes from the words "building", which in English means "building" or "structure". "Empire State" (translated from English as "empire state") is informal name state of New York.
The skyscraper quickly gained notoriety as it turned out to be very attractive for suicides. The first suicide occurred in 1933, only 3 years after the discovery. In the same year, the film "King Kong" was released, and the image of this building was firmly connected in the minds of millions of viewers with a huge monster climbing the walls of a skyscraper. To top it all off, in 1945, due to poor visibility, a plane crashed into the 79th floor. 14 people were killed, and the damage amounted to one million dollars. Then they began to say that the Empire State Building skyscraper was almost a diabolical invention. True, successful businessmen all called it complete nonsense and continued to fight for the right to rent an office in the most respectable building in Manhattan.
In 1986, the Empire State Building was given National Landmark status. More than 35,000 tourists visit it every year, not counting the fact that more than 50,000 people work in the building itself.
For more than a decade, the Empire State Building has been considered a symbol of New York and the entire American state.
A few years ago, the Empire State Building was tallest skyscraper New York, and although buildings have since appeared that surpass it in size, this place has remained one of the significant centers of tourism. Every day, thousands of people go up to the observation deck to take a look at Manhattan from all sides. The history of the city is closely connected with this building, so each resident is able to tell a lot interesting information about a building with a spire.
Stages of construction of the Empire State Building
The project to create a new office building appeared in 1929. The main architectural idea belonged to William Lamb, although similar motifs have already been used in the construction of other structures. In particular, in North Carolina and in Ohio one can find buildings that were actually prototypes for the future large-scale construction of New York. 
In the winter of 1930, workers began cultivating the land at the site of the future high-rise building, and the construction itself began on March 17. In total, about 3.5 thousand people were involved, while the builders for the most part were either emigrants or representatives of the indigenous population. 
The work on the project was carried out during the construction period of the city, so the tension from the pressing deadlines was felt on the site. Simultaneously with the Empire State Building, the Chrysler building and a skyscraper on Wall Street were being built, while each owner wanted his project to be the most advantageous in comparison with competitors. 
As a result, the Empire State Building turned out to be the highest, maintaining its status for another 39 years. This success has been achieved through well-coordinated work at the construction site. According to average estimates, about four floors were erected weekly. There was even a period when the workers managed to lay out fourteen floors in ten days. 
In total, the construction of one of the most famous skyscrapers in the world took 410 days. The right to start lighting the new office center was transferred to the then president, who declared the Empire State Building open on May 1, 1931. 
American skyscraper architecture
The height of the building, together with the spire, is 443.2 meters, and its width is 140 meters. The main style, as conceived by the architect, was Art Deco, but the facade has classical elements in the design. In total, the Empire State Building has 103 floors, while the top 16 are a superstructure with two observation decks. The area of the premises exceeds 208 thousand square meters. Many are interested in how many bricks it took to build such a structure, and although no one individually counted their number, it is known that it took about 10 million building units. 
The roof is made in the form of a spire, as planned, it was supposed to be a stopping point for airships. When the highest skyscraper at that time was built, they decided to check the possibility of using the top for its intended purpose, but due to strong winds, it was not possible to achieve the desired. As a result, in the middle of the 20th century, the airship terminal was converted into a television tower. 
Inside, you should pay attention to the decoration of the main foyer. Its width is 30 meters, and its height is commensurate with three floors. Marble slabs add stateliness to the room, and pictures with the seven wonders of the world are bright decor elements. The eighth image is a sketch of the Empire State Building itself, which is also identified with world-famous buildings. 
Of particular interest is the illumination of the tower, which is constantly changing. There is a special set of colors applied to different days of the week, as well as their combination for national holidays. Each significant event for a city, country or world is colored in symbolic shades. So, for example, the day of Frank Sinatra's death was indicated in blue tones because of the popular nickname in honor of the color of his eyes, and on the anniversary of the birth of the British Queen, the scale from the heraldry of the Windsors was used. 
Historical events associated with the tower
Despite the importance of the office center, it did not immediately become popular. From the moment the Empire State Building was built, the United States has been dominated by an unstable economic situation, so occupying all office space was beyond the means of most companies in the country. For about a decade, the building was considered unprofitable. It was only with the change of ownership in 1951 that the office center began to make a profit. 
There are mourning dates in the history of the skyscraper, in particular, during the war years, a bomber flew into the building. 1945 July 28 was devastating as the plane crashed between the 79th and 80th floors. The blow broke through the building, one of the elevators fell from a great height, while Betty Lou Oliver, who was in it, remained alive and was among the world record holders for this. 14 people died as a result of this incident, but the work of the offices did not stop there. 
Because of its fame and huge height, the Empire State Building is quite popular with those who want to end their lives. It is for this reason that the construction of observation platforms was additionally reinforced with fences. Since the opening of the tower, there have been more than thirty suicides. True, sometimes misfortunes can be prevented, and sometimes chance decides to do its bit. This happened to Elvita Adams, who jumped from the 86th floor, but thanks to strong wind was abandoned on the 85th floor, escaping with only a fracture. 
Tower in culture and sports
Residents of the United States of America love the Empire State Building, so often episodes with a skyscraper appear in box office films. The most famous stage for the world community is King Kong hanging from the spire and waving off the planes hovering around. The rest of the pictures can be found on the official website, where there is a list of films with unforgettable views of the New York Tower. 
The building is a platform for unusual competitions in which everyone is allowed to participate. It is necessary to overcome all the steps to the 86th floor for a while. The most successful winner completed the task in 9 minutes 33 seconds, and in fact for this he had to climb 1576 steps. It also conducts tests for firefighters and police officers, but they fulfill the conditions in full gear. 
Many do not know why the tower received such an unusual name, which has "imperial" roots. In fact, the reason lies in the use of this epithet in relation to the state of New York. In fact, the name means "Building of the Imperial State", which in translation sounds ordinary for the inhabitants of this area. 
An interesting play on words that appeared during the Great Depression. Then, instead of Empire, the word Empty was more often used, which was close in sound, but meant that the building was empty. In those years, office space was very difficult to rent out, so the owners of the skyscraper suffered significant losses. 
Useful information for tourists
Tourists in New York certainly think about how to get to the Empire State Building. Skyscraper address: Manhattan, Fifth Avenue, 350. Visitors will have to stand in a long line, as many people want to climb the observation decks. 
It is allowed to look at the view of the city from a height of 86 and 102 floors. Elevators rise to both levels, but the price of this changes slightly. It is forbidden to shoot video in the lobby, but on the observation deck you can beautiful photos with a view of Manhattan. 
Also on the second floor there is an attraction with a video tour where you can learn more about the surroundings of the city. If you are lucky, you will meet King Kong at the entrance to the observation deck, which is rightfully considered a symbol of this place.
