Empire State Building
Manhattan,
the commercial centre of New York, is one of the five boroughs that make up the
entire city, since the borough is an island, the the only direction left for
its expansion is upwards. As a result, Manhattan is now a seat of the world’s largest
skyscrapers.
The 102- storey Empire State Building in Manhattan was the tallest building in the world
from its completion in 1931 to 1970. Designed by the architectural firm of
Shreve, Lamb and Harrison primarily as an office building, the Empire State Building was provided with rarely used docking
facilities for dirigibles which are no longer used. In the 1950s a 70-ton
television tower was added on the top.
Millions of people including presidents
and kings have visited its observation desk on the 86th floor and
the top of the tower on the 102nd floor which is 381 metres above
the street. This building was surpassed in height by the World Trade Centre
(419 metres) , another Manhattan skyscraper, in 1971. Surpassing them
both, the 110-storey Sears Tower (443 metres) was built in Chicago in 1973. The tallest building of the
world now is the Patronage Tower (451.9 metres) which was built in Malaysia in 1996. Despite the construction of
taller edifices, the Empire State Building remains in the popular mind the epitome
of man’s building skill and a vital symbol of New York.
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