Introduction
Two men had a dream to build the tallest building in the world in New York City. They were John J. Raskob and Alfred E. Smith. The building's name came from one of the New York's nicknames as the "Empire State." Raskob had worked as a bookkeeper who eventually worked his way up to be the vice-president of General Motors. Smith was a former governor who proved to be an unsuccesssful canditdate during the elections. They met and discussed the idea to building the "Empire State Building." First they had to find a place to build such a building. They found that the best site would have to be on the old and closed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Fifth Avenue, betwwen 33rd and 34th streets This site was close to Manhattan 's southern tip because to support heavy and tall buildings, they needed bedrock underneath them. This much bedrock could only be found in Manhattan. Bedrock is an enormous, strong, deep rock that is enough to hold enormous pressure and weight. The two partners also wanted the building located where business was good. Raskob had paid around $20 million for the closed hotel, which was then torn down to begin this new project.
For many centuries, buildings were built in a way so that the wallshad to support the building. So the taller the building, the thicker the walls had to be. This was a problem for architects who wanted to build tall buildings. So by the 1930s, two ways of building buildings began to be popular. the elecvator was a box that can be pulled up or down by ropes or cables. At first the invention wasn't safe because if a cable broke the elevator would drop down. They were so unsafe that they were only used for freight and supplies.
The other problem with building taller buildings was that if they didn't hold together, they would fall apart. Iron became very useful as architects designed a skeleton to support the building. Since iron skeletions became a popular way to support a building, buildings had begun to grow taller and taller. During the 20th century, buildings that were 20, 30, and even 50 stories tall were built in cities around the world. Sitll they were not tall enough becasue cites with a large population required living and working space. So buildings that were even taller were in demand. So engineers started replacing iron with lighter but stronger steel. Soon the buildings werer rocketing sky-high. Architects at Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon were given the task of designing the Empire State Building. Raskob wanted them to build the skyscraper as high as the much budget allowed them to.
It took sixteen different versions of the design of the Empire State Building before they finally gained approval from Raskob, Smith, and the others that were involved in the project. When the designs were approved, construction took place at the site. There was going to be a grand entrance that would use most of the five-story base. The entrance would be four stories high and the main lobby on the inside would be three stories high. After the 80th floor, the tower narrows until it reaches 1,250 feet above Fifth Avenue. the observation decks would be built on teh 85th and 102nd floors. At the top there would be a TV antenna, which would make the "Empire State Building" to a total of 1,454 feet tall. The best part; about the designs were that the Empire State Building could be built both quickly and easitly. The materials were brought in, in the order that they were needed to quicken the process. The delivery of the parts followed a schedule so that the workers could build the Empire State Building as if it wer a toy. Before the construction started, a model of the building made out of plaster had to be made. The model of the Empire Sttae Building was 7 feet tall and weighed 525 pounds. It looked so realistic that the Fox Film Company used it for the movie, Skyline,instead of the real building.
Before the foundation of bedrock could be placed, they had to tear down the old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. That meant that around 2,000 tons of iron, 13,000 tons of steel, and tons of other material that had to bbe removed and taken apart. Some of the materials were sold as scrap, some of pthe parts of the hotel were auctioned off. what couldn't be sold or saved was dumped out into the ocean about 15 miles from Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Most of the demolition; was done by special workers, who were also called "the morticians of the building trade." Workers, who worked with crowbars, were called "barmen." Barmen are workers who, tore apart the hotel by hand, this was dangerous because it required the knowing how structures were put together in the first place. A careless barman could sometimes have a section of the wall fall on him or have the floor give out. The hotel was completely demolished on the January of 1930. The whole demolition cost around $900,000. By March 1930, 28,529 truckloads of debris had been removed from the demolition of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
The Empire State Building was completed in New York in 1931. It was the tallest building in the world. It held that title for more than forty years, until the first of the World Trade Center's towers were built. Even though the Empire State Building is no longer the tallest building in the world, it still holds the title as the best-known architectural landmarks. Around the Great Depression days in the 1930s, the Empire State Building was almost completed. Although, there were many hardships around the Great Depression, the Empire State Building was completed with skill and honor. It still remains as one of the best, out of all those in the world.
History
Inventions
Importance of Iron and Steel
Building the Empire State Building
Demolishing the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel