European architectural styles, including the French and British ones, have greatly influenced American architecture. American architecture is pretty diverse depending on the cities and periods of time. At first, most cities were inspired by European architecture, reproducing some of Europe’s typical styles, but adding the «American touch» to it, which meant always making the building bigger, taller and higher, to show the United-States’ increasing power. The US did end up developing its own style, and today, when you think of American architecture, you often think about skyscrapers. These massive buildings symbolize modernity and power, and both of these adjectives perfectly represent what the United-States were looking for in their emerging architectural style.
The building, considered to be the first-ever skyscraper, is located on the corner of Adams and LaSalle Streets in Chicago, and is called the «Home Insurance Building». It was built around the 1880s, by the architect William Le Baron Jenney, and opened in 1885. Most of the early skyscrapers were located in Chicago and New York, however, in 1892, Chicago decided to prohibit the construction of any buildings / skyscrapers taller than 46 meters (or 150 feet) mainly for esthetic reasons (skyscrapers were more and more criticized) leaving New York as the main city building skyscrapers.
However, skyscrapers can be considered a scientific feat, as due to their height, they must not only undergo the vertical force of gravity, but also the horizontal force of the wind. To keep these buildings from swaying heavily and prevent the occupants from feeling it, engineers must build especially strong cores through their center.
Today, many renowned skyscrapers are located in the US, such as the Empire State building, the Chrysler building, the One World Trade Center… but also in foreign countries, showing the influence American architecture had and still has on foreign states (Burj Khalifa in Dubai, highest skyscraper ever, Taipei 101 in Taiwan, The Shard in London…).
We hope you enjoyed reading this article! If you wish to learn more about skyscrapers, here is a video explaining how America, which once dominated the skyscraper race, ended up falling behind:
Written by Léa Carrière - 2021