United States Buildings
The United States is home to some of the world's tallest skyscrapers; eleven American buildings have held the title of tallest building in the world, and every titleholder from 1890 to 1998 was in the United States. The 10-story Home Insurance Building, built in Chicago in 1885, is regarded as the world's first skyscraper; the building was constructed using a novel steel-loadbearing frame. As of 2011, only 4 of the 25 tallest buildings in the world are in the United States; before 1990, the US had had all of the top ten tallest buildings.
As of 1986, the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) was the tallest skyscraper in The United States and the seventh-tallest freestanding structure in the world to the antenna and the 9th-tallest building in the world to the roof, with a height of 1,451 feet (442 meters). Prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, the twin towers of the World Trade Center occupied the second and third positions on the list below. The North Tower stood at 1,368 feet (417 m), while the South was 1,362 feet (415 m) tall. They are the only buildings that would have qualified for the list but which are no longer standing. Chicago and New York have always been the centers of US skyscraper building. The eight tallest buildings in the US are either in New York City, New York or Chicago, Illinois and of the top twenty-five buildings, eight are in Chicago and seven are in New York City.
The 1,776 foot (541 m) One World Trade Center (previously known as the Freedom Tower), built on the former World Trade Center site, may become the tallest building in the United States in 2013 if the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat decides to include the spire which had changes made to it's design in May of 2012. The Chicago Spire (previously known as the Fordham Spire) which was under construction in Chicago, Illinois has been cancelled; it would have been the tallest building in the United States, rising 2,000 ft into the sky. In July 2011, real estate developer Bill Davies announced a proposal for a massive Old Chicago Main Post Office Redevelopment plan for Downtown Chicago that would include a 120 story twin tower that would also rise 2,000 feet (610 m). Other tall buildings that are either proposed or under construction include the Wilshire Grand Tower I in Los Angeles (1,250 feet (380 m), the Transbay Tower (1,070 feet (326 m)) in San Francisco, and One Bayfront Plaza (1,049 feet (320 m) in Miami, Florida.
Read more about United States Buildings: Tallest Buildings, Tallest Buildings By Pinnacle Height, Tallest Destroyed, Timeline of Tallest Buildings, See Also, Notes
Famous quotes containing the words united states, united and/or states:
“The United States is just now the oldest country in the world, there always is an oldest country and she is it, it is she who is the mother of the twentieth century civilization. She began to feel herself as it just after the Civil War. And so it is a country the right age to have been born in and the wrong age to live in.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“In the United States the whites speak well of the Blacks but think bad about them, whereas the Blacks talk bad and think bad about the whites. Whites fear Blacks, because they have a bad conscience, and Blacks hate whites because they need not have a bad conscience.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“When some one remarked that, with the addition of a chaplain, it would have been a perfect Cromwellian troop, he observed that he would have been glad to add a chaplain to the list, if he could have found one who could fill that office worthily. It is easy enough to find one for the United States Army. I believe that he had prayers in his camp morning and evening, nevertheless.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)