World Heritage Skyscrapers

[Klippenstein]

Great news for any future hope that US sites will be granted UNESCO World Heritage status.

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/12/11816...ership-funding

The U.S. says it wants to rejoin UNESCO after exiting during the Trump administration

UNESCO — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — said in a press release Monday that the State Department had sent the Paris-based organization a letter announcing its decision to rejoin the educational and cultural body, which is widely known for its list of World Heritage Sites.

"This is a strong act of confidence, in UNESCO and in multilateralism," UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay said in a statement. "Not only in the centrality of the Organization's mandate — culture, education, science, information — but also in the way this mandate is being implemented today."

Congress agreed last year that the U.S. could make financial contributions to UNESCO, and the group said in December that the country could return as a member, though the proposed plan must be approved by member states.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by edale

My initial reaction was "what's so special about Chicago's collection of pre-war skyscrapers?" because lots of other cities have historic skyscrapers that are even more notable than the ones listed here. Detroit comes to mind, specifically. However, when digging in a little further, it's pretty remarkable that all these buildings are from before 1900. That's significantly older than Detroit's famous skyscrapers, and ones that come to mind for Cincinnati, SF, Pittsburgh.

If we can expand just a couple years after 1900, I'd nominate Cincinnati's Ingalls building. It opened in 1903 and is the first reinforced concrete skyscraper in the world.

Yeah the Ingalls building was the first concrete hi-rise...ever. It's a building of profound significance. It was just renovated into a hotel 1-2 years ago.

The Central Trust Tower is similar to the Met Life Building in NYC. It's currently being renovated into apartments.





This thing must have been absolutely shocking when it went up back in 1913.

[SnowFire]

Jeeze the OP list is just my normal walk. You forget to look at the buildings sometimes.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by tech12

It would definitely be cool to see old highrise/skyscraper buildings get listed as UNESCO world heritage sites.

As far as San Francisco goes, most of its 19th century highrises were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire, but there are a few that survived:

The Central Tower/Call Building/Spreckels building, built in 1898 (315', 15 stories):

Salt Lake's First Security Building, built in 1919 (so, not 19th Cenutry), was inspired by the Call Building (just without the dome):

[edale]

Originally Posted by Comrade

Salt Lake's First Security Building, built in 1919 (so, not 19th Cenutry), was inspired by the Call Building (just without the dome)

Was it specifically inspired by the Call Building? Because it looks quite different, especially at the base. Honestly, that SLC building looks like a pretty generic Beaux Arts building-- and that it could be inspired by dozens of other buildings around the US.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by edale

Was it specifically inspired by the Call Building? Because it looks quite different, especially at the base. Honestly, that SLC building looks like a pretty generic Beaux Arts building-- and that it could be inspired by dozens of other buildings around the US.

Yes. The original plans for the building were to make it similar to the Call Building - including the dome. But it was scaled down considerably.

[Matthew]

So much beautiful architecture in this thread! We have a few early-skyscrapers, from 1897-1905, here in Atlanta. I guess the most famous of these is the (1897) English-American Building, better known as the Flatiron Building, today.

http://sites.gsu.edu/historyofourstr...tiron-building

The (1898) W.D. Grant Building is maybe a lesser-known in Atlanta from that time:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._D._Grant_Building

[TempleGuy1000]

Originally Posted by thoughtcriminal

These definitely deserve to be there:

Yeah, I always enjoy seeing this poster which was first printed in 1898, so it does capture the same period of 1880-1900 as the Chicago group. You have to be a real history buff to know off hand which ones still exist and which ones do not. One that isn't on the poster that is worth mentioning due to it's history is the Bellevue-Stratford which was completed in 1904. Every president from Teddy Roosevelt to Ronald Regan spent a night or two in the presidential suite. Chef William King of the hotel kitchen is often credited with the invention of the dish Chicken ala King.
The hotel had seen better days by the 1970s but was still in full use. In 1976, in the midst of the annual 3-day convention for the American Legion at the hotel, many Attendees began to feel sick leading to the discovery of Legionaries disease. It's been renovated multiple times and is currently a mixed-use apartment building, hotel, and restaurants.

Some of my own photos

[edale]

Originally Posted by Comrade

Yes. The original plans for the building were to make it similar to the Call Building - including the dome. But it was scaled down considerably.

Interesting, they don't appear to look very similar, imo. The arched windows at the base, surrounded by the large, pronounced stone work is a pretty defining characteristic of the Call Building, and noticeably absent from the one in SLC. This building in Cincy has a very similar base. Anyways, neat to see an old skyscraper in SLC...that's not a city I would expect to have many historic skyscrapers.

[Rooted Arborial]

[QUOTE=Klippenstein;9896008]\
First, there's a really amazing "Bird's eye view" map of Chicago from 1898 that you can look at in pretty amazing detail here:

https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4104c....,0.247,0.158,0

It gives you a great sense of the scale of the city at the time and the impact of these skyscrapers.

******************************************************************************

This map is fascinating.

No Grant Park existed. Michigan Avenue was beside Lake Michigan. Congress was a short, seemingly insignificant street.

Look at the corner of State and Randolph and the image of the Masonic Temple (the silhouette later inspired the 190 South La Salle building).

It was, for years, the tallest building in the loop, but by the 1930's, it was deemed outdated and would require too much renovation and problematic in

regard to renovations to the El tracks, so it came down.

That is now the location of what is known as the Joffrey building.

It is amazing how quickly Chicago destroyed so many things which had been major projects only a few decades before.

[Klippenstein]

Originally Posted by Rooted Arborial

Look at the corner of State and Randolph and the image of the Masonic Temple (the silhouette later inspired the 190 South La Salle building).

[...]

It is amazing how quickly Chicago destroyed so many things which had been major projects only a few decades before.

I didn't know that about 190 S Lasalle. That's a great factoid. Makes perfect sense and it gives me more appreciation for a building that is a bit brutish at street level.

I used to feel a deep sadness for all the buildings that were torn down, but in some way it's an inevitable part of the growth that made Chicago what it is today. I now have great appreciation for how dynamic the city and architecture is and has been since its founding. I think there's plenty of room for us to continue that trajectory in the future.

[Rooted Arborial]

Others have mentioned their desire for the Reliance building to be included and I agree. I'm puzzled by its initial exclusion because I can't think of any

other early skyscraper which is as visionary and exemplifies what many years later became standard use of glass. I also think it is the most remarkably

lovely building of its time and up to today.

"Lovely" is an extremely rare description of a large building.

Another aspect of this discussion which I think needs to be addressed is the influence of the work of Peter Ellis.

His work - while not "skyscrapers" - preceded at least most (if not all) of what we call skyscrapers and it strongly includes the vision of increased

amounts of glass as a prerequisite for making buildings feel more humane

and that is one of the hardest aspects to achieve in any size of building.

[wallenstein00]

Skyline of the Bund, Shanghai. Some heritage tall buildings over there.

[Klippenstein]

Just randomly was looking at Toledo's downtown and found out about the Spitzer Building c. 1896 hosting "Toledo's First Shopping Mall". This reporting is from Jan 2023:

The Lucas County Land Bank announced Wednesday it has chosen Cincinnati-based The Model Group and Toledo-based ARK Development to redevelop the Spitzer and Nicholas buildings. The developers are proposing a mix of residential and commercial space for both structures at an estimated cost of $179 million.

[...]

The 11-story Spitzer Building was built in the 1890s and closed in 2014 due to safety concerns. It was home to Toledo's legal community for many years.

I hope they're able to move the project forward even though interest rates and inflation seem to be slowing it down.