Tag Archives: skyscrapers

The desire to build big is nothing new. Big buildings have been used to show off power and wealth; to honor leaders or religious beliefs; to stretch the limits of what’s possible; and even as simple competition among owners, families, architects, and builders. Some of the most dramatic buildings of the past include the pyramids in Egypt, the skinny towers ...

China Is Set to Build This Smog-Eating ‘Forest City’ Filled With Tree-Covered Skyscrapers The eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, like many of the country’s urban areas, suffers from intense smog. The Air Quality Index, which uses a scale from 0 to 500 (with higher numbers indicating worse pollution), rates Nanjing’s air quality as 132 – a level considered unhealthy for the public, especially ...

Two developments in the 19th century paved the way for a whole new type of building: the skyscraper. The first was the development of a safe elevator. Primitive elevators of various designs had been used for centuries, and starting in the mid 19th century, steam-operated elevators were used to move materials in factories, mines, and warehouses. But these elevators were ...