Can you have a metropolis without a skyscraper?
These towers have become the defining feature of the city skyline, functioning not only as a way to accommodate dense populations and booming business districts, but also as a symbol of urbanity itself. Their awe-inspiring heights signify wealth, power, and sophistication, and give us the thrill of sublime when we gaze up at—or peer down from—their massive, glittering forms.
Of course, tall buildings have always been used to communicate riches and might and progress—from the Great Pyramid of Giza (which held the record for the highest man-made structure for 3,800 years), to the high-rise apartments of Ancient Rome, to the medieval skylines of Bologna or Florence.
But it wasn't until 1857 that the urban skyscraper as we know it actually became a viable option. That was the year in which the inventor Elisha Otis installed the first safety elevator in a NYC department store, an act which—in tandem with the mass production of steel—would change city skies forever.
The five-story E.V. Haughwout Building, in New York City, was the first to have a passenger elevator. Photo: Beyond My Ken
It's easy to forget that the first skyscrapers were actually (to our contemporary eyes) quite modest; Chicago's 1885 Home Insurance Building (the first to garner the "skyscraper" monicker) only reached 10 stories. But a "skyscraper" can be anything that drastically alters or soars above the existing skyline, whether that's a 10-story red-brick box (St. Louis' 1891 Wainwright Building) or the 2,722 ft Burj Khalifa in Dubai (2010). While its scale and shape may have changed throughout the years, the 'scraper's unique functions have remained largely the same: to awe, to intimidate, to challenge, to assert a city's dominance, and, oh yeah, to house businesses and people.
The top of SOM's Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Photo: Joe McNally
Perhaps no one distilled the skyscraper's singular force and beauty quite like Louis Sullivan, who said:
"What is the chief characteristic of the tall office building? It is lofty. It must be tall. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and pride of exaltation must be in it. It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line."
In celebration of Sullivan, who would have turned 160 this week, we've compiled a brief illustrated history showing the evolution of the skyscraper.
The Great Pyramid of Giza, 26th century B.C.
Though not technically a skyscraper, the Great Pyramid of Giza held the record for the tallest man-man structure for 3,800 years.
Photo: Nina Aldin Thune
The Two Towers Of Bologna, 1109 - 1119
In the late 12th century, Bologna had at least 100 high-rise towers, built by wealthy families to convey status and serve as military defense. Now, only about 20 of these towers remain, including these most famous ones, immortalized in Dante's "Inferno."
Dithering Flax Mill, 1797
Called the "grandfather of skyscrapers," this Shrewsbury, England, mill is the oldest iron-frame building in the world—and a precursor to the steel-framed construction of the skyscraper.
E.V. Haughwout Building, 1857
John P. Gaynor
New York City
This five-story Manhattan building, originally a department store, was the first to have a passenger elevator, making even higher constructions possible and dramatically changing the city sky forever. Photo: Beyond My Ken
Home Insurance Building, 1885
William Le Baron Jenney
Dubbed the first skyscraper, this Chicago building is only 10 stories high, but was the first to use steel in its frame. It was demolished in 1931.
Wainwright Building, 1891
Dankmar Adler & Louis Sullivan
St. Louis, Missouri
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, one of Sullivan's proteges, called the Wainwright Building "the very first human expression of a tall steel office-building as Architecture." That's largely thanks to its use of vertical steel bands that accentuated the tower's then-soaring height, making its 10 stories seem vastly more impressive. Though William Le Baron Jenney has him beat by a few years, Sullivan is often referred to as the "father of skyscrapers."
Witte Huis, 1898
Because of strict building laws and regulations, skyscrapers didn't take off in Europe quite like in the US (at least until after World War II). But this white, ornate tower, inspired by American office buildings, was an early exception. At the time it was built it was the tallest structure in Europe, and unlike its proto-Modern American cousins, indulged in decorative Art Nouveau flourishes. Photo via
Empire State Building, 1931
Shreve, Lamb and Harmon
New York City
An art deco icon, the Empire State still remains the quintessential skyscraper—as well as the ultimite symbol for the Big Apple—despite having its height surpassed in 1972 by the World Trade Center (and many more times since). Photo: Daniel Schwen
Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower), 1973
Famous for surpassing the World Trade Center as the tallest building in the world (a record it would hold till 1998), the Sears Tower is also notable for its bundled-tube form, which allowed skyscrapers to take other, more imaginative forms, than the box. Photo via
Petronas Towers, 1994
Why have one tall building when you can have two? The Petronas Towers join the World Trade Center and Sweden's Kungstornen (1925) as famous skyscraper pairs. It also beats out the Sears Tower as the tallest structure in the world (but not for too long).
Burj Khalifa, 2010
The undisputed king of the sky, standing at 2,722 feet. But China's Sky City One and other planned proposals are nipping at its heels.