Empire State Building - 102-story skyscraper located in New York on the island of Manhattan. Office building. From 1931 to 1972, before the opening of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, it was one of the tallest buildings in the world. In 2001, when the World Trade Center towers collapsed, the skyscraper again became the tallest building in New York. The architecture of the building belongs to the Art Deco style.
In 1986, the Empire State Building was included in the list of US National Historic Landmarks. In 2007, the building was number one on the list of the best American architectural designs according to the American Institute of Architects. The owner and manager of the building is W&H Properties. The tower is located on Fifth Avenue between West 33rd and 34th Streets.
The Empire State Building is currently the second tallest skyscraper in the United States, second only to the Willis Tower in Chicago, and the 15th tallest in the world. The building is currently undergoing a $550 million renovation, $120 million of which is going toward transforming the building into a green, lower-energy structure.
The building was built with the money of John Rockefeller Jr. The hall is 30 meters long and 3 floors high, decorated with marble and decorated with 8 panels depicting the 7 wonders of the world and the eighth is the Empire State Building itself. The Guinness World Records hall contains a unique collection of unusual records. Taking the elevator in a minute, you can get to the observation deck on the 86th or 102nd floor. It offers stunning views of the city, especially at night, when the whole city sparkles with neon storefronts and colorful lights. And a web camera, thanks to which you will have the opportunity to make virtual trip to the skyscraper and see Manhattan in great detail, it is better to take advantage of it in daylight. Building lighting is something we can talk about endlessly. Every day of the week has its own color, holidays and significant dates have special color combinations. A unique spectacle.
HISTORY OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING IN NEW YORK |
The tower got its name from the common name of the American state of New York, which is called the “imperial state.” The name of the tower can also be translated as “House of the Imperial State”, it was designed by the architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, and it was built with the money of John Rockefeller Jr.
The site where the Empire State Building now stands has been a hub for high society since 1860. At that time there stood two aristocratic houses belonging to members richest family Astor. John Jacob Astor III and William Backhouse Astor Jr. built their homes nearby. William Backhouse's wife Astoria, a famous lady, ruled New York society like a queen. Then she quarreled with her nephew William Waldorf Astor. During the quarrel, he demolished his house and built the Waldorf Hotel in its place. William Backhouse Astor's wife moved to another area for this reason. Her son Jacob then demolished his mother’s house and built the Astoria Hotel. Both hotels operated in the 90s of the 19th century and were known as the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. It was the city's most luxurious hotel until 1929, when it was demolished to make way for the Empire State Building.
Excavation work on the site began on January 22, 1930, and construction of the tower itself began on March 17, St. Patrick's Day. 3,400 workers, mostly emigrants from Europe, as well as several hundred builders and installers worked at the construction site steel structures from the Mohawk tribe, many of whom came to the construction site from the Kahnawake reservation near Montreal. According to official data, there were five worker deaths during construction.
The construction of the building became part of a high-rise race taking place in New York at the time. Two other projects in the race, 40 Wall Street and the Chrysler Building, were underway when the Empire State Building was just beginning to be built. Each of the competing projects held the title of tallest building for several months, until the Empire State Building surpassed them all. Construction took only 410 days. Approximately four and a half floors were built per week, and during the most intense period, 14 floors were erected in 10 days. The official opening took place on May 1, 1931, when US President Herbert Hoover turned on the building's lights by pressing a button in Washington. The very next year, the first use of lighting at the top of the building was to celebrate Roosevelt's victory over Hoover in the November 1932 presidential race.
At the building's dedication on May 1, 1931, Governor Smith's children cut the ribbon. When the Empire State Building officially opened on May 1, 1931, the United States was experiencing an era of economic depression. Therefore, not all the premises were delivered, and the building was called the “Empty State Building”. Ten years passed until all the premises were finally delivered. The building did not generate income for the owners until 1950. It was only in 1951, after being sold to Roger Stevens and his partners for $51 million (a record price paid for a single building at that time), that the building ceased to be unprofitable.
At the beginning of the building's operation, its spire was intended to be used as a mooring mast for airships. The 102nd floor was a docking platform with a gangway for boarding the airship. A special elevator running between the 86th and 102nd floors could be used to transport passengers. Registration, as planned, took place on the 86th floor. However, the idea of an air terminal was considered untenable due to safety concerns (strong and unstable air currents at the top of the building made docking very difficult, and after the first attempt it became clear that this idea was utopian). Not a single zeppelin ever moored to the building. In 1952, telecommunications equipment was placed on the site of the terminal. Subsequently, the idea was nevertheless virtually realized in the film “Sky Captain and the World of the Future.”
On July 28, 1945, a US Air Force B-25 Mitchell bomber, piloted in thick fog by Lt. Col. William Smith, crashed into the north façade of the building between the 79th and 80th floors. One of the engines pierced the tower and fell onto a neighboring building, the other fell into the elevator shaft. The fire that arose as a result of the collision was extinguished within 40 minutes. 14 people died in the incident. Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver survived a fall in an elevator from a height of 75 floors - this achievement was included in the Guinness Book of Records. Despite this incident, the building was not closed and work in most offices did not stop the next business day.
During the entire operation of the building, more than 30 suicides were committed here. The first suicide occurred immediately after construction was completed by a recently laid off worker. In 1947, a fence was erected around the observation platform, as there were 5 suicide attempts there in just three weeks. In 1979, Miss Elvita Adams decided to take her own life and jumped from the 86th floor. But strong winds threw Miss Adams to the 85th floor, and she escaped with only a broken hip. One of the last suicides occurred on April 13, 2007, when a lawyer who was experiencing failures in his professional activities jumped from the 69th floor.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ESPIER STATE BUILDING IN NEW YORK |
ARCHITECTURE. The building has 102 floors and its height is 381.3 meters. Together with the television tower, built in the 50s, it reaches a total height of 443 meters. Commercial space occupies the first 85 floors of the building (257,211 m²). The remaining 16 floors are an Art Deco superstructure, with an observation deck located on the 102nd floor. The Empire State Building is the first building in the world to have more than 100 floors. The tower has 6,500 windows and 73 elevators. The building weighs 331,000 tons, is built on a two-story foundation and supported by a steel structure weighing 54,400 tons. It took ten million bricks and 700 kilometers of cable. The total area of the windows is two hectares, and the area of the foundation is more than 8 thousand m². The staircase has 1860 steps, where once a year a competition is held to see who can climb the fastest. The office space can accommodate 15,000 people, and the elevators can transport 10,000 people in one hour. The tower houses approximately 1,000 offices and 21,000 employees, making the Empire State Building the second most employeed building in America after the Pentagon. total length infrastructure pipes reach 113 km, the length of electrical wires is 760 km. Low pressure steam heating. Limestone slabs were used for finishing.
Since the skyscraper is surrounded by various business buildings, it is not completely visible from below. It is designed in a modest but elegant Art Deco style. Unlike most modern skyscrapers, the façade of the tower is made in a classical style. Strips of stainless steel stretch upward along the gray stone façade, and the upper floors are arranged in three terraces. The hall inside is 30 meters long and three floors high. It is decorated with panels depicting the seven wonders of the world, only an eighth has been added to them: the Empire State Building itself. The Guinness World Records Hall contains information about unusual records and record holders.
LIGHTING. In 1964, a floodlighting system was installed on the tower in order to illuminate the top in colors corresponding to any events, memorable dates or holidays (St. Patrick's Day, Christmas, etc.). For example, after the eightieth anniversary and subsequent death of Frank Sinatra, the building was illuminated in blue tones, due to the singer’s nickname “Mr. Blue Eyes.” Following the death of actress Fay Wray on August 8, 2004, the tower's lights were turned off completely for 15 minutes.
Traditionally, in addition to regular lighting, the building is illuminated in the colors of New York sports teams on days when those teams are playing in the city (orange, blue and white for the New York Knicks, red, white and blue for New York City). Rangers, etc.). During the US Open tennis tournament, the lighting is dominated by yellow (the color of the tennis ball). In June 2002, during the celebration of the jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland Elizabeth II, the lighting was purple and gold (the colors of the House of Windsor).
VIEWING PLACES . The observation decks of the Empire State Building are one of the most popular tourist destinations in New York and one of the most visited observation decks in the world. In total, they were visited by more than 110 million people. The site on the 86th floor has a viewing angle of 360 degrees. Another observation deck is open on the 102nd floor. It was closed in 1999, then reopened in 2005. The upper platform is completely closed, its area is much smaller than the area of the lower platform. Because of large quantity visitors, the upper platform is closed on the busiest days. Tourists pay for visiting the observation decks at the ticket office on the 86th floor (there is a separate additional payment for visiting the 102nd floor).
ATTRACTIONS. On the second floor of the building there is an attraction that opened in 1994 for tourists. The attraction is called New York Skyride and is a simulator of air travel around the city. The duration of the attraction is 25 minutes.
From 1994 to 2002, an older version of the attraction operated in which James Doohan, Scotty from Star Trek, as an airplane pilot, humorously tried to maintain control of the plane during a storm. After the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, this attraction was closed. In the new version, the plot remained the same, but the World Trade Center towers were removed from the scenery, and Kevin Bacon became the pilot instead of Doohan. The new version was primarily intended not for entertainment, but for educational and informational purposes. It also included patriotic elements.
SPORT. The Empire State Building is not only the tallest building in the city, the hallmark of Manhattan and a symbol of American architecture, but also a running platform. On February 5, a running competition takes place on the stairs of the Empire State Building. Well-prepared runners manage to climb the building's 1,576 steps - from the 1st to the 86th floor - in a few minutes. In 2003, Paul Craik set a record that has not yet been broken - 9 minutes 33 seconds. In addition, competitions are held among firefighters and police officers, who, unlike ordinary runners, must run in full gear.
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING IN PHOTOS |
The Empire State Building is one of the first and legendary skyscrapers in New York that has become its symbols. It was called the eighth wonder of the world, and until 1972 it proudly bore the title of the tallest building in the world. The history of construction is rich in interesting facts, both amazing and sad.
Building architecture
The development of the project, which took only 2 weeks, was carried out by a group of architects from the firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon. In the design of the building, they successfully combined the mood of the public during the Great Depression and new requirements for urban development.
The skyscraper has stepped shape, tapers upward. This is one of the requirements of the Urban Zoning Act (1916). The narrowing of the upper floors was supposed to provide good street lighting.
The facades are devoid of any decoration and are as simplified as possible, but the building is undoubtedly attributed to the Art Deco style. An important role in this is played by a set of materials - chromed steel, plastic and glass. A new and bold combination for that period of time.
Construction of a New York skyscraper
In January 1930, construction began on the Empire State Building in New York. On preparatory stage They dug a pit, installed utilities and erected a foundation. In March of the same year, construction of the main part began.
All work was based on the conveyor principle. This is especially clearly demonstrated by the fact that the steel frame parts were installed 8 hours after they were manufactured at the factory.
Coal furnaces were installed directly at the construction site, in which rivets for the frame beams were heated. By the way, it was assembled to the 86th floor in six months. In parallel with the assembly of the steel frame, plumbers and electricians worked inside the building, laying utility lines.
Empire State Building - numbers and facts
The famous New York skyscraper amazes not only with its scale, but also with some facts that not everyone knows about.
Empire State Building in numbers
Some figures provided by statistics and historical chronicles make us look at the Empire State Building with different eyes:
- the construction required 10,000,000 bricks, 60,000 tons of steel elements, 6,500 window structures, about 700 km of electrical cables;
- the spire is struck by about 100 lightning strikes per year;
- the height at the end of construction was 381 m, but after the installation of the television tower it increased to 443 m;
- total weight of the building - 365,000 tons;
- about 3,000 people constantly worked at the construction site;
- the construction of the skyscraper took a record 410 days;
- the building has 103 floors, connected by 73 elevators;
- the observation decks of the Empire State Building were visited by 110,000,000 people;
- about 30,000 people work in the offices of the skyscraper;
- the cost of the building at the time of completion was $41,000,000, and in 2014 it was valued at $629,000,000.
There were also some sad statistics. According to official data, 5 people died during construction.
The Empire State Building in New York is memorable not only for its height and architecture, but also for several interesting facts his "biography".
- The name is one of the most famous skyscrapers The USA received due to the unofficial name of New York - Empire State or “Imperial State”.
- It was possible to rent out all the offices of the tower only a decade after construction.
- At the highest point they planned to install a spire for mooring airships. In practice, this turned out to be impracticable due to strong vortex air flows at altitude.
- Every year on February 5, a running competition is held in the skyscraper. The winner is declared the one who achieves the record a short time climbs 1576 steps.
- Since the building contains a huge number of offices, it has your postal code - 10118.
- The main load is borne not by the foundation, but by the steel frame. This allows you to significantly reduce the weight of the structure.
- The Empire State Building has become the hero of several films. The most famous of them is King Kong (1933).
- Co observation deck A magnificent panorama opens up. You can see the surrounding area at a distance of 128 km.
Wide known fact is that for the construction of the high-rise, installers from the Mohawk tribe were attracted, who were not afraid of heights.
New York skyscraper illuminated
Several decades after its construction, the Empire State Building became a symbol of the American dream and gained the special love of US citizens. It aroused a new wave of interest and sympathy in 1964, when the upper part of the building was equipped with floodlights. They illuminated the TV tower and the top floors on holidays or other significant dates. The system still works today.
Each holiday and event corresponds a specific backlight color scheme. So, after the death of F. Sinatra, these were blue lights, on the anniversary of the Queen of Great Britain - purple and gold. After the destruction of the World Trade Center, the tower was illuminated in red, white and blue colors. During the US Open (tennis) tournament, yellow is the dominant color.
In some memorable dates The backlight is turned off completely for a short time.
Interesting fact! In 2012, 10 floodlights were replaced with 1,200 LEDs. They provide a wide range of illumination colors and are fully computer controlled. There are now about 16 million colors available to illuminate the top of a skyscraper.
On the official site Empire Building You can always find out the current color of the backlight, as well as what it was like yesterday and what it will be like on the next significant date.
Incidents at the Empire State Building
In July 1945, an American bomber crashed into the Empire State Building between the 79th and 80th floors. The blow was so strong that he the engine flew right through the building. The skyscraper itself did not receive any particular damage. Most offices opened the next day without any problems. The collision claimed 14 lives.
Empire State Building, former for a long time the tallest building in the world, repeats its own image on the central panel of the huge (30 meters long) and high (three floors) lobby.
In this seemingly “holy” image, the Empire State Building, painted in gold, is surrounded by a halo of divine radiance and medallions illustrating the achievements of mankind on the path to progress.
- An object:
- Location: New York, USA
- Project: Shreve, Lamb and Harmon
- Height: 381 m
- Materials: steel, brick, aluminum and limestone
- Year of construction: 1931
- STYLE: Art Deco
- The onset of the economic depression halved the estimated cost of construction
“The Center of the Universe” and the eighth wonder of the world, the Empire State Building is openly proud of the fact that it once held the world height record. He took it over in 1931 and owned it until 1972, when the construction of the World Trade Center marked the beginning of a new era.
John Jacob Raskob was tormented by envy. The founder of General Motors simply could not live knowing that his rival, Walter Chrysler, had recently built the tallest building in the world. But Raskob had his own ideas. He approached William Lamb, one of the partners in the architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, and shared with him his dream of a skyscraper that would dwarf the Chrysler building. Raskob asked a completely simple and at the same time frightening question: “How high can you make it without it falling?”
Soon after, the old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Fifth Avenue near 34th Street was demolished to make way for the Empire State Building.
It was named so thanks to George Washington: when he sailed along the Hudson River, he noticed that this place would be “symbolic for the new empire.”
After the destruction of the Twin Towers, the Empire State Building reluctantly returned to its role as the main symbol of New York and America. Its easily recognizable image is built on the foundation of statistics, operating with unprecedented figures: 10 million bricks, a total weight of 365,000 tons, 59,800 tons of steel beams, 687 km of electrical wires and 2 million square meters windows, which are constantly cleaned by a special team.
Bold plan
Only two criteria were stated: that the building should look like a pencil, and that it should be taller than anything else on Earth. It is not at all surprising that the size and weight of the project were in danger. Its location was considered commercially “not very profitable.” No prospective renter has yet appeared. And the market valuable papers began to fall, and then the whole country faced the Great Economic Depression.
With such an unstable foundation, the building needed another, stronger one. 210 concrete and steel columns were driven into the granite base of Manhattan Island. This platform, just two stories deep, had to support a tower 102 stories high (380 meters) and weighing about 365 tons.
An architect once said, “Of the things we do in peacetime, building skyscrapers is the closest thing to war.” An army of workers and craftsmen was gathered for this battle, 3,000 of them worked on the construction site at all hours of the day. The heroes among them were considered high-altitude installers, many of
They were Indians from the Mohawk and Iroquois tribes, because Native Americans are known for their fearlessness. These brave guys worked 13 hour days for just $1.92 an hour, hanging from insane heights and riveting over 50,000 heavy steel beams, each weighing a ton - enough to pave railway between New York and Baltimore. The amazingly straight beams, with an error of no more than 3 mm, were installed and fastened together just eight hours after they were produced at the Pittsburgh plant.
Despite the fact that the project was changed 16 times during the development and construction process, it was built 45 days ahead of schedule, with another 5 million left over from the budget. An amazing $41 million skyscraper rose above the city in record time (less than 14 months), and no one has ever built such a building faster. The building never deviates more than 6 mm from the center; it has 10 million bricks and 2 hectares of windows. The sophisticated Art Deco style is emphasized by graceful, gradually converging walls, or “ledges”, which are officially recognized in building codes and New York rules.
Architectural features of the Empire State Building:
- The architectural power of this building lies in its distribution across volumes. A series of buildings rise from a five-story base, gradually transforming into a central structure that extends like a telescope to a height of 86 floors. Tapering, the structure continues to rise until it becomes an antenna.
- In the movie King Kong (1933), symbolic images of the Empire State Building were used as scenery. Against the background of the tower and antenna of the building, which even then were planned to be used as a berth for airships, an allegorical struggle unfolded between the creation of Nature and artificial civilization.
- Along the entire facade of the skyscraper there are endlessly repeating rows of modular windows, grouped horizontally, but also aligned vertically, which emphasizes the direction of empty and filled spaces.
- During the construction of the Empire State Building, ready-made blocks were used, which significantly reduced the construction time.
- Since the 1940s, the Empire State Building has been one of New York's tourist attractions. About two million tourists climb to its observation deck every year to admire the breathtaking views of the city.
- On major holidays and significant days, the top of the skyscraper sparkled with multi-colored illumination.
The entire dynamic bulk of the evil symbol of power and authority of the 1930s is distributed across volumes, uncontrollably rushing upward under the attentive gaze of the audience. From a five-story, 0.65-hectare base rises a series of buildings that gradually taper before the corner sections merge into a central structure that extends like a telescope to a height of 86 floors. The structure continues to rise, imperceptibly turning into an antenna.
The sense of plasticity emanating from this gigantic object, firmly rooted in the ground and at the same time directed towards the sky, is enhanced by the repeating rows of modular windows, grouped horizontally, but also aligned vertically, which emphasizes the direction of empty and filled spaces and creates a recognizable ornamental motif.
The forms of the Empire State Building, closely associated with Art Deco, are revealed from a completely unexpected side and from completely unexpected angles. First of all, one can see the triumphal, but partly threatening image of the Tower of Babel; then cinematic images of the era, like the fantastic structures from Fritz Lang's film Metropolis, and images from comic books: and finally, fantastic images of the city of the future, drawn by Hugh Ferriss.
It is important to emphasize that the extreme vertical orientation of the Empire State Building was the result of changes in the rules governing urban development in Manhattan. In order to equalize the rights of individual citizens who built houses on their own land with the rights of those who agreed with the need to build high-rise buildings, two types of structures were developed, depending on the location of construction.
The first was a kind of ziggurat, when the building was built with ledges, but up to a certain height, while the second, with a clearly defined central section, could, theoretically, rise to any height - these were skyscrapers with a central tower, or “bell tower,” which replaced the old ones. “vertically oriented” high-rise buildings.
The Empire State Building, along with the Seagram Building, is a landmark in Midtown New York, just as the Twin Towers were a landmark business center, – from the observation decks of these skyscrapers, breathtaking views of the city and its surrounding landscape opened up.
The Empire State owed its success at the beginning of its “career” to the latter circumstance. Its owners had difficulty finding companies willing to rent office space. Fortunately, the observation decks, which became a place of pilgrimage for tourists, saved the building from imminent bankruptcy. Considering that the construction of the building and its commissioning occurred during the years of the banking collapse and the subsequent Great Depression, from which America recovered only after World War II, achieving prosperity for the Empire State Building was far from easy.
The symbol of the city
After the skyscraper was built, there were so few tenants in the 186,000 m2 of total space that it was nicknamed the “Empty State Building.” But now more than 15,000 employees work in offices there and receive countless visitors. If you climb to the observation deck in one minute, you can look around at the surroundings at a distance of up to 128 kilometers.
Until 1972, the building remained the tallest in the world, then the infamous World Trade Center towers were built.
Even if it was not an ideal investment from a financial point of view, it was a huge success as a symbol of America. Hollywood eagerly began to exploit it - interiors, viewing terraces and views from them appear in all their splendor in films such as “King Kong” (filmed in 1933, when construction had just closed), “On the Town” (1949) , Empire (directed by Andy Warhol in 1964) and Manhattan (directed by Woody Allen in 1979). His role in these films was the main one: a gymnastic platform for the exercises of a giant gorilla, a backdrop against which a love story unfolds, a stage for an experimental theater of the absurd.
The Empire State is so popular that it is almost humanized in the minds of many New Yorkers and some marginalized artists. In his paintings, M. Vriesendorp exaggerates many of the features of skyscrapers and gives them human qualities. Here is the plot of the most famous of them: Rockefeller Center opens the bedroom doors and, to his amazement, finds the masculine Empire State Building and the feminine, elegant Chrysler Building in the same bed. The bedspread is painted with a city plan of Manhattan. The Statue of Liberty plays the role of a night light, and other skyscrapers peer curiously through the bedroom window.
Built for purely advertising purposes rather than out of any practical necessity, the Empire State Building, more than other skyscrapers of its generation, succeeded in its role as a standard-bearer and symbol of the American dream. His image was replicated in countless advertising projects, and, together with images of the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center and the Statue of Liberty, rose - on a planetary scale - to the level of an icon.
The appearance in the relatively young city of Las Vegas of skyscrapers tailored according to the New York model testifies to the wide popularity and triumph of this model, designed to symbolize the imperial state (New York) and continues to this day to represent the paradoxical spiritualism of the financial power of capitalism.
The building was designed by the architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon. The creators of the skyscraper designed it in the Art Deco style. Unlike most modern skyscrapers, the facade of the tower is made in a classical style. The only decorative element of the gray stone facade is vertical strips of stainless steel. The hall inside is 30 meters long and three floors high. It is decorated with panels depicting the seven wonders of the world, and an eighth is added to them - the Empire State Building itself.
The skyscraper was built in a record 410 days, on average 4.5 floors were built per week, and sometimes in 10 days the new building grew by 14 floors. 5,662 cubic meters of limestone and granite were used for the construction of the external walls. In total, the builders used 60 thousand tons of steel structures, 10 million bricks and 700 km of cable. The building has 6,500 windows. Its design is such that the main load is borne by the steel frame, not the walls. It transfers this load directly to the powerful “two-story” foundation. Thanks to the innovation, the weight of the building was significantly reduced and amounted to 365 thousand tons.
By the time construction was completed, the height of the building was 381 m (after the television tower was erected on the roof of the Empire State Building in 1952, its height reached 443 m).
On May 1, 1931, the official opening of the skyscraper took place. The Empire State Building was opened by the then president of the country, Herbert Hoover: with the flick of a switch from Washington, he lit the lights of the tallest man-made structure in the world at that time.
The Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world for more than 40 years. The skyscraper lost this title only after the construction of the “twin” towers of the World Trade Center in 1972. The tragic death of the “twin” towers during the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, returned the Empire State Building to the status of the tallest building in New York, although the skyscraper could no longer lay claim to world leadership.
The Empire State Building occupies about one hectare of land on Manhattan Island, at the intersection of 5th Avenue and 34th Street. The building houses the offices of 640 companies employing about 50 thousand people.
The skyscraper is a landmark of Manhattan and New York. Thousands of tourists visit the famous skyscraper every day. In one minute, using a high-speed elevator, they can go up to the observation deck located on the 86th floor and see the panorama of New York: its streets, squares, parks, bridges and even ships at sea. On the 102nd floor there is a glass-enclosed circular observatory. From a height of 381 m, a panorama of five states opens up.
A landmark of New York is considered not only the skyscraper itself, but also its unique lighting system. The tradition of lighting up the Empire State Building different colors on various holidays it has existed for a long time. So, on US Independence Day, the skyscraper turns blue-red-white, and on St. Patrick's Day - green, on Columbus Day - green-white-red. To do this, plastic disks are changed on 200 floodlights illuminating the 30 upper floors.
Even before a television and radio tower was placed on the roof of the skyscraper, it was planned that the upper part of the Empire State Building would serve not only for the festive lighting of the city. The architects designed the roof structure in such a way that it would serve as a pier for passenger airships, which in the 30s. of the last century were a fashionable vehicle and successfully competed with passenger aircraft that were not yet very reliable. The 102nd floor was a berthing platform with a gangway for boarding the airship. A special elevator running between the 86th and 102nd floors could be used to transport passengers whose check-in had to be done on the 86th floor. In reality, not a single airship has ever docked on top of the Empire State Building. The idea of an air terminal turned out to be unsafe - strong and unstable air currents at the top of the 381-meter building made docking very difficult. And soon airships basically ceased to be used as a means of transport.
On the second floor of the building there is an attraction, opened in 1994 for tourists. The attraction is called New York Skyride and is a simulator of air travel over the city. The duration of the attraction is 25 minutes. From 1994 to 2001, an older version of the attraction operated, featuring actor James Doohan, Scotty from Star Trek, as an airplane pilot, humorously trying to maintain control of the plane during a storm. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, this attraction was closed. In the new version, the plot remained the same, but the World Trade Center towers were removed from the scenery, and actor Kevin Bacon became the pilot instead of Doohan. The new version pursued, first of all, educational and informational purposes rather than entertainment. It also included patriotic elements.
In terms of the number of films the Empire State Building has been featured in, the building rivals top movie stars. It all started with King Kong, filmed in 1933, where the final battle of a huge gorilla with American Air Force fighters took place on the roof of this skyscraper. Now the list of films in which the Empire State Building appears, given on the official website of the skyscraper, includes 91 films.
Among other things, the Empire State Building is also the site of some of the most unusual competitions. Every year in early February, skyscraper staircase running competitions are held here. Athletes climb 1,576 steps of the building - from the 1st to the 86th floor - in a few minutes. In 2003, Paul Craik set a record that has not yet been broken - 9 minutes 33 seconds.
Over its almost 80-year history, the Empire State Building has experienced a significant number of different incidents. On July 28, 1945, a USAF B-25 Mitchell bomber, lost in dense fog, crashed into the building between the 79th and 80th floors. One of the engines pierced the skyscraper and fell onto the roof of a neighboring building, the other fell into the elevator shaft. The fire that resulted from the collision was extinguished within 40 minutes. 14 people died in the incident. Elevator Betty Lou Oliver survived a fall from 75 floors in an elevator, an achievement included in the Guinness Book of World Records.
There were fires after that too. So, in August 1988, a fire started on the 86th floor, and the fire reached the very top of the skyscraper. Fortunately, there were no casualties then. In 1990, there was another fire that claimed the lives of 38 people.
There were also incidents of a different kind. In February 1997, 69-year-old Palestinian Ali Hassan Abu Kamal climbed to the observation deck, pulled out a pistol and opened fire on tourists. He killed one person, wounded six, and then shot himself. When the site reopened two days later, visitors were already being probed with magnetometers.
Since its construction, the Empire State Building has attracted people who want to commit suicide. Over the entire period of operation of the building, more than 30 suicides were committed here. The first suicide occurred immediately after construction was completed by a recently laid off worker. As a result, in 1947, a fence had to be erected around the observation site, since in just three weeks there were five suicide attempts there. At the same time, funny things happened: in 1979, Miss Elvita Adams decided to take her own life and jumped from the 86th floor. But a strong wind threw her to the 85th floor, and she escaped with only a broken hip.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
Empire State Building (ESB) – main symbol New York, US National Historic Landmark and best American architectural achievement of all time.
The skyscraper received its name in honor of the American state of New York, which is often called the “Empire State”.
According to legend, when Henry Hudson sailed down the Hudson River, he was so struck by the beauty and grandeur of the area that he exclaimed: “This is a new empire!”
Empire State Building - 103-story office building located on Manhattan Island in New York, USA. The entrance to the building is located on Fifth Avenue - between West 33rd and 34th streets.
Location on Google maps, the map itself can be enlarged:
Translation into Russian
WITH in English"The Empire State Building" can be translated into Russian as " Imperial State Building"or "House of the Imperial State".
History of the skyscraper: design and construction
Looking into history, we learn that The building was designed by the architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon., whose chief architect was William F. Lamb.
The design used early designs for the Reynolds Building in North Carolina and the Carew Tower in Ohio.
Tower construction started on St. Patrick's Day - March 17, 1930, and ended 1 year and 45 days later In total, the construction of the skyscraper required more than 7 million man-hours.
Above the building construction 3400 workers worked: most of- emigrants from Europe, as well as several hundred installers who came from the Tomahawk Indian tribe, distinctive feature who had no fear of heights.
At the time of the start of construction of the ESB, the future symbols of New York - the Trump Building and the Chrysler Building - laid claim to the title of the tallest skyscraper in the shortest possible time and were already in the process of construction.
A serious struggle broke out between them, as a result of which the ESB overtook everyone: the building grew four and a half floors per week, the record is fourteen floors in ten days.
So, after 410 days, 5662 m 3 of building materials, 60 thousand tons of steel structures, 10 million bricks and 700 km of cable, The tallest building in the world at that time appeared on the Manhattan skyline.
Opening of the Empire State Building
Solemn The opening of the building took place on May 1, 1931: The state governor cut the ribbon and President Herbert Hoover lit the tower's floodlights using a switch in Washington.
For your information! At that time, the Great Depression was in full swing in the United States, and not everyone could afford to rent space in a skyscraper, which is why the building was empty for a long time: offices occupied approximately 20% of the total area. The tower was completely rented out only after a whole decade.
Height and other technical characteristics of the building
At the time of the official opening of the skyscraper its height was 381 m, and after the construction of a television tower on the roof of a skyscraper in 1952, height reached 443.2 m. After which the top of the tower began to be used for the location of equipment.
How many floors?
The building has 103 floors: commercial premises occupy the first 85 floors buildings, their total area is more than 257 thousand m².
The remaining 16 floors are a superstructure in the Art Deco style, which is a combination of modernism and neoclassicism.
There are observation platforms on the 86th and 102nd floors of the skyscraper.
The width of the tower at the base is about 140 m: the building occupies about one hectare of land. In total, the building has 6,500 windows, 1,860 steps and 73 elevators, which are capable of transporting up to 10 thousand people per hour.
Observation platforms
Main observation deck
The highest observation deck operates on the 86th floor of the skyscraper outdoors in New York. Dozens of movie scenes were filmed here and millions of unforgettable moments were experienced.
For reference! The site is located around the spire of the building, presenting visitors with a panorama of New York and its environs. It offers breathtaking views of Central Park, the Hudson River, the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, the Statue of Liberty and much more.
You can also use observation binoculars with multiple magnification and view objects in great detail.
Upper observation deck
Sixteen floors higher - on the 102nd floor of the building - there is another observation deck, significantly smaller in area than the main one, and also completely closed.
Lighting
The tradition of ceremonial lighting of the tower in different colors in honor of major events, holidays and celebrations are preserved for many decades.
Previously, the top 30 floors were illuminated by 200 floodlights: on Independence Day, the building turned white, red and blue, and on St. Patrick's Day, green.
To achieve this effect, the filters on the spotlights were manually changed: the process took several hours.
In 2012, dramatic changes took place in the tower's illumination system: A dynamic LED lighting system was installed. If previously the change in architectural lighting occurred within 10 colors, today New Yorkers see a palette of 16 million shades.
The new illumination system allows you to control the light remotely, adjust its direction and create various effects.
No holiday in New York is complete without light show on the tower, which is often synchronized with the musical accompaniment.
Interior: what's inside?
Building interior – one of the few recognized as a landmark Committee for the Preservation of the Architectural Heritage of New York. In 2009, 18 months were spent restoring the aesthetics of the original 1930 interior design (recall that the entire building took only 13 months to construct).
Inside there is a thirty-meter-high hall that stretches over three floors. It is decorated with panels of the Seven Wonders of the World, and on the wall above the reception desk in the lobby is one of the most famous in New York - an image of the building itself, emitting light.
Useful information for tourists
The skyscraper is open all year round from 8 am to 2 am, and a huge number of people visit it every day.
The least number of visitors occurs at 8 am and 3 pm, as well as late in the evening.
To avoid wasting time in line in front of the cash register, you can purchase a ticket on the official website. This ticket is valid for a year, meaning you can schedule a visit at any convenient time. However, you still have to stand in line (security check, elevator). Only visitors with VIP tickets can skip these lines.
Prices. The cost of visiting the open observation deck on the 86th floor is from $37 for an adult and from $31 for a child. VIP tickets are $65 for everyone. A visit to the upper observation deck on the 102nd floor is paid separately (plus $20 for all ticket categories).
The New York Pass allows you to visit more than 90 Big Apple attractions, including the Empire State Building, with a single ticket.
The cost of such a ticket depends on its validity period - from one to ten days: from $124 to $420 for an adult and from $94 to $279 for a child.
Exhibition "Sustainability"
On the second floor of the skyscraper there is an exhibition “Sustainability”. The building is currently being renovated: about $120 million is being spent to reduce energy consumption.
The Sustainability exhibition showcases the latest technologies and processes and tells the story of the building's renovation through digital displays, sculptures and real building materials.
Exhibition "Don't be afraid to dream"
On the 80th floor there is an exhibition “Dare to Dream”. The History of the Empire State Building - The Story of the American Dream: An exhibit that chronicles the building's history, design, and construction. It includes original documents: photographs, architectural sketches, construction notes and daily accounting documents.
Get more detailed information about the building, its location and role in modern world thanks to the interactive multimedia tour, which is included in the ticket price. To do this, you need to download the corresponding application from the AppStore or Google Play, which can be done on site using the free wireless Internet.
In addition, in our VKontakte group you can find more photographs in good quality, in a separate album dedicated to the skyscraper.