1. Skyscrapers J. Wunderlich PhD
B.S. Architectural Engineering (U. Texas)
M.Eng. Engineering Science (Penn State)
Ph.D. Electrical & Computer Engineering (U. Delaware)
Plus 2 years of Urban Design (U. California, San Diego)
And one year as a Physics Grad at San Francisco State
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2. AGENDA Worlds Tallest Building -- Burj Khalifa
Engineering Innovations leading to skyscrapers
Selected Skyscrapers
Course Text Pages (“Skyscrapers”)
Course Text Pages pages relevant to skyscrapers in readings about these selected Modern and Postmodern architects:
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Frank Lloyd Wright
Not a major contributor to skyscrapers, but America's greatest architect with one notable high-rise
Le Corbusia
Phillip Johnson
Worlds Tallest Building -- Burj Khalifa
Vertical City – Shanghai Tower
Course Text is “Buildings Across Time” by M Fazio, et al. 2014

3. History
Prior to 1800’s, most buildings not very tall, and mostly made of unreinforced masonry or wood
Early 1800’s:
First cast-iron frames and building fronts
(often painted to look like stone or other materials)
1865+
Industrial revolution – mass production

4. Engineering innovations that led to skyscrapers

5. - Romans used it extensively from 300BC to 475AD
CONCRETE
A mix of AGGREGATE (rocks) and a cementations binding material (CEMENT)
- Romans used it extensively from 300BC to 475AD
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6. A COMPOSITE MATERIAL of: Concrete (High Compression strength)
REINFORCED Concrete
A COMPOSITE MATERIAL of:
Concrete
(High Compression strength)
Steel Reinforcing-Bars (“Re-Bar”)
(High tensile strength)
A Wunderlich family project included reinforced concrete ……

7. Tall buildings were a result of rising urban real estate values, and the desire of businesses to remain in the center of activity
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8. REINFORCED concrete allows taller structures than unreinforced concrete or masonry
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9. REINFORCED concrete
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10. “SLIP FORMS” allows taller buildings
REINFORCED Concrete
“SLIP FORMS” allows taller buildings
But steel frames needed for really tall buildings ……………………………
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11. we want it strong, but Ductile (flexible)
STEEL
an ALLOY of IRON and other elements including chromium, cobalt, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, zirconium, and CARBON (most common)
we want it strong, but Ductile (flexible)
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12. STEEL FRAME STRUCTURES
can melt, so fire safety coatings developed (in Chicago after great fire of 1874)
handle large LATERAL LOADS
wind
seismic (earthquake) forces
in one of two ways:
“BRACED-FRAME” Diagonal braces OR “MOMENT CONNECTION”
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13. BRACED-FRAME Cheaper MOMENT CONNECTION (“MOMENT” = “TORQUE”)
Un-obstructed views out windows
Simpler interiors
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14. BRACED-FRAME MOMENT CONNECTION
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15. “Wide-Flange” steel beam or column (sometimes called an “I beam”) helped allow taller buildings
Great:
Flexural Strength
Compression Strength
Shear Strength
Tensile Strength
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16. Glass CURTAIN WALL common in modern commercial buildings
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17. Glass CURTAIN WALL
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18. High-speed elevators for skyscrapers -- use cables and electric motors
Hydraulic elevators for short buildings
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19. Elevator SAFETY-SYSTEMS allowed taller buildings
Braking system stops elevator from free-fall if cable snaps or melts
Also, hydraulic buffers are at bottoms of shafts to dampen a falling elevator
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20. Typical High-rise
Structural Load carried by core and columns Glass curtain wall doesn’t carry load This allows a SHELL to be built, followed by TENANT IMPROVEMENTS in interior Tenants given a fixed $ per square foot, and they use a different architect (“SPACE PLANNER”)
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21. Selected Skyscrapers

22. 1884 Home Insurance Building Chicago
First “Steel Skeleton”
– but also much cast iron, and first floor had masonry load-bearing walls
Source:

23. 1889 Rand McNally Building Chicago
First to use Structural Steel for entire frame
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24. Architects Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan
1890 Wainwright Building St. Louis
Architects Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan
Frank Lloyd Wright
(a protégée of Louis Sullivan ) called building:
"the very first human expression of a tall steel office-building as Architecture”
Building has a base, a middle section, and a top, like a classical column
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25. 1894 Reliance Building Chicago
External skin of terracotta and glass clipped onto internal steel skeleton
Precursor to glass curtain walls of 1960’s and 70’s
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26. 1902 Flatiron Building New York
One of the first very tall buildings
1902 Flatiron Building New York
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27. 1913 Woolworth Building New York
Neo-Gothic
Architectural Style
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28. 1930 Chrysler Building New York
Art Deco
Architectural Style
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29. 1931 Empire State Building New York
Art Deco
Architectural Style
The Word’s tallest building for 40 years
View of Chrysler Building from
Empire State Building
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30. Modern Architect Le Corbusia
International
Architectural Style
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31. Modern Architect Le Corbusia a planned city concept
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32. 1945 Unité d'Habitation Marseille, France
Modern Architect Le Corbusia
1945 Unité d'Habitation Marseille, France
International
Architectural Style
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33. 1952 Price Tower Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Modern Architect Frank Lloyd Wright
1952 Price Tower Bartlesville, Oklahoma
“Wright persuaded Harold Price to build his HQ of 57,000 sq ft on 19 floors instead of 25,000 sq ft on three floors. Wright showed him how the delivery of all basic services, power, climate control, plumbing, and communications, was simpler and more efficient via a central stack”
REFERENCE
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34. Modern Architect Frank Lloyd Wright
“Wright was a different kind of “Modern” architect
Wright was inspired by nature (as was his mentor Lois Sullivan), and by Japanese art & architecture
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35. Modern Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
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36. 1958 Seagram Building New York
Modern Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
1958 Seagram Building New York
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37. 1973 Sears Tower (“Willis Tower”) Chicago
The Word’s tallest building for 25 years
Source:

38. Modern / Postmodern Architect Phillip Johnson “Glass House,” 1949
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39. IDS Center, Modern / Postmodern Architect Phillip Johnson
Minneapolis, 1968
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40. Modern/ Postmodern Architect Phillip Johnson “Sony Tower,” 1984
POSTMODERN style references elements prior to the Modernist movement -- in contrast to the simplicity of Modern movement At it’s top, a pediment analogous to a grandfather clock or a tall 18th century chest-of drawers
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41. At it’s base, reminiscent of Italian renaissance Architecture
Modern/ Postmodern Architect Phillip Johnson “Sony Tower,” 1984
At it’s base, reminiscent of Italian renaissance Architecture
St. Peters Basilica in Rome
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42. At it’s base, reminiscent of Italian renaissance Architecture
Modern/ Postmodern Architect Phillip Johnson “Sony Tower,” 1984
At it’s base, reminiscent of Italian renaissance Architecture
Vatican Museum in Rome
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43. 2010 World’s Tallest Building:
Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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44. Image From: http://upload. wikimedia

45. 2014 World’s Tallest Building
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46. 2014 Shanghai Tower VERTICAL CITY, China
Artist’s rendition
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47. PLANNING
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48. CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
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49. CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
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50. CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
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51. Shanghai Tower VERTICAL CITY, China
Watch this:

52. Double outer walls allows for internal open spaces
Shanghai Tower
VERTICAL CITY, China
Double outer walls allows for internal open spaces
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53. Huge glass curtain walls hung from upper decks
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54. Image From: http://sites. psu
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55. Huge glass curtain walls hung from upper decks
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56. SUSTAINABILITY Shanghai Tower VERTICAL CITY, China
Glass façade reduces wind loads by 24%. This reduces construction materials; 25% less structural steel than a conventional design -- to save US$58 million
Construction practices optimized
Vertical-axis wind turbines located near top of tower generate up to 350,000 kWh of electricity per year
Double-layered insulating glass façade reduces need for indoor air conditioning
Heating &cooling use geothermal energy
Rain water collection
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57. Image From:http://4. bp. blogspot

58. Shanghai Tower VERTICAL CITY, China
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59. Shanghai Tower
VERTICAL CITY, China
Not an all steel structure. It has a concrete core, and also structural steel.
And not the tallest building, but doesn’t aspire to be – it’s something completely new !
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