Building the Empire State
Carol Willis, Editor
With essays by Carol Willis and Donald Friedman
Praise for Building the Empire State:
"In the last five years, Carol Willis has rewritten the history of the
American skyscraper....[A] remarkable document....To paraphrase Rem Koolhaas,
was this just automatic architecture, the pure product of process, an
architecture without content? Or, thanks to Carol Willis, as we stare into the
guts of construction as exposed in this notebook do we once again appreciate
the remarkable novelty of this iconic building?"
—Casabella
"These notes combine the dry facts with sensitive observations....[A]
welcome contribution to the history of high-rise building technology."
—APT Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation Technology
"[P]ackaged in a handsome volume, annotated intelligently and accompanied by
two excellent essays and original site photographs, it is instructive,
interesting and occasionally entertaining...."
—Times Higher Education Supplement
"[F]illed with marvelous arcana....[b]ut it also concerns itself with
serious controversies..."
—New York Times
Overview
A rediscovered 1930s notebook charts the construction of the Empire State Building.
The construction of the Empire State Building was orchestrated by general contractors Starrett Brothers and Eken, premier "skyline builders" of the 1920s. They scheduled the delivery of materials and the construction and recorded daily the number of workers by trade. Compiled from these records, an in-house notebook documented the construction process. Meticulously typed on graph paper and illustrated with construction photographs, this unique document combines a professional specificity of detail with a charming rhapsody to the firm's crowning achievement.
Constructed in eleven months, the 1250-foot Empire State Building, the world's tallest skyscraper from 1931 to 1971, was a marvel of modern engineering. The frame rose more than a story a day; no comparable building since has matched that rate of ascent.
About the Editors
Carol Willis, an architectural historian and founder of The Skyscraper Museum, and Donald Friedman, a structural engineer, live in New York City.
ISBN 10:
0-393-73231-2
ISBN 13:
978-0-393-73231-3
April 2007
Paperback, 160 pages, Illustrated
