Empire State Building what is inside. Empire State Building - a skyscraper with history and unique characteristics

15.05.2020

Empire State Building (USA) - description, history, location. The exact address, phone, website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.

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Climbing higher, to the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building, is not worth it - the observatory located on it does not provide a proper all-round view, and the entrance ticket is much more expensive. True, on the 102nd floor of the building and its roof you can still see unique mooring masts for airships, although the skyscraper itself has never received a single aircraft. When visiting the Empire State Building, you do not need to use the services of guides, because it is absolutely pointless to comment on the beauty of the view from a bird's eye view. In addition, on a special scheme, which is located on the observation deck, all the sights are prudently marked. It is best to climb the Empire State Building on a weekday at eight in the morning - at such a time the influx of tourists is much lower, and you do not have to stand at the ticket office for hours.

If your physical form allows you, and you are confident in your abilities, then you can try to participate in the annual race on the stairs to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building, overcoming more than one and a half thousand steps along the way.

Fun Empire State Building Facts

In the early years of its operation, the Empire State Building was equated with the eighth wonder of the world. And even if there are more ingenious buildings today, but the special seven panels located in the hall of the building depict the seven wonders of the world. The eighth panel, majestically completing the cycle, depicts the Empire State Building.

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Empire State Building

Prices on the page are for October 2018.

Empire State-The building is one of the most famous skyscrapers, known not only in but throughout the world. It is on a par with such famous buildings as the pyramid of Cheops and. This building was and remains a symbol of the brilliant New York. Forty years ago, the Empire State was the tallest building in the world, but it still impresses with its size. On the wall of a huge marble hall Empire skyscraper The State Building is presented as the eighth wonder of the world.

Features Empire State Building

The 102-story Empire State Building is located on Fifth Avenue. It was built in 1931 and is the tallest skyscraper in New York.

Despite its large size, the skyscraper looks quite elegant: the proportions of the Empire State Building are simple and refined. The upper floors are built somewhat deeper in relation to the general line of the facade. The building was built in a modest but elegant Art Deco style. Strips of stainless steel stretch upward along the gray stone façade, and the upper floors are arranged in three ledges.

Standing on the sidewalk in front of a 102-story skyscraper, it is very difficult to see the whole building as a whole - it is so big. The dimensions of the building are really amazing: the height without the tower is 381 meters, and together with the television tower built in the 50s, it reaches a total height of 449 meters. The weight of the structure is 331 thousand tons.

Of course, it is best to move around the floors with the help of elevators, but there are eccentrics who prefer to climb the stairs to the very last floor, which has 1,860 steps. Once a year there is a competition for the fastest climb. The winner receives one million dollars.

The rest still prefer to use elevators. Office space can accommodate 15,000 people, and elevators can carry 10,000 passengers in one hour.

The Empire State is not only the center of offices, but also a real entertainment for tourists. Inside the hall, which has a length of 30 meters and a height of three floors, there is a huge panel with images of eight, one of which is the Empire State Building itself. The Guinness Hall of Records contains information about unusual records and record holders. There are observation decks on the 86th and 102nd floors, which can be reached very quickly by elevator. From here you have an amazing view of the city.

History of the Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is located at 350 Fifth Avenue, New York. This part of Manhattan is still considered very prestigious. Skyscrapers, which are enough here, only further emphasize the respectability of this area.

New York and Chicago were the first cities where the construction of high-rise buildings began. There were many reasons for this. Firstly, technical innovations have already been actively applied - lightweight building reinforcement, high-speed elevators, strip foundations, etc. Secondly, with late XIX century, the price of land was quite high, so the construction of multi-storey buildings turned out to be economically viable. But, despite the lower price, office space in a skyscraper was and still is very prestigious. Now, to rent an office in a skyscraper, you have to pay much more than for similar apartments in an ordinary building.

The modern Empire State Building was built on the site where, since 1860, there was a center for the local aristocracy. Then there were two noble houses that belonged to members of the wealthy Astor family. Subsequently, the Waldorf and Astoria hotels were built here. These two hotels functioned in the 90s of the XIX century. Both hotels were demolished in 1929 to clear the site for the Empire State Building.

The building was erected on a two-story foundation (to make the skyscraper more stable) and supported by a steel structure weighing 54,400 tons. Ten million bricks and 700 kilometers of cable were spent on the construction. Construction was led by John Jacob Raskob (founder of General Motors). The project was completed by the architectural firm Shreve, Lam & Harmon.

The building was built simply with unheard of speed. A little more than a year and a half, 38 teams of builders (5 people each) assembled the frame of a skyscraper from a huge number of metal beams, which were delivered to the construction site along a specially built road. The construction was very difficult and risky: every day the workers had to balance on the narrow beams of this frame.

The skyscraper grew literally before our eyes. Approximately four and a half floors were built every week, and in the most intensive period, 14 floors were erected in 10 days. The entire building was built in 1 year and 45 days.

On May 1, 1931, the official Empire opening The State Building, which received the status of the tallest building on our planet, overtaking the previous record holder - the headquarters of the Chrysler automobile corporation.

The opening of the skyscraper coincided with the great economic depression. Not many could afford to rent an office in this building. Then the building was even nicknamed the "Empty State Building" (Empty State Building). It took ten years until all the premises were finally commissioned.

At first, the creators of the skyscraper planned to build a flat roof in order to arrange a platform for airships here. But later this idea was abandoned: and the site - expensive pleasure, and airships came out and fashion. In 1950, it was decided to build on the skyscraper: a small TV tower was installed on the roof, 447 meters high.

The name of the Empire State Building skyscraper comes from the words "building", which in English means "building" or "structure". "Empire State" (translated from English as "empire state") is the unofficial name of the state of New York.

The skyscraper quickly gained notoriety as it turned out to be very attractive for suicides. The first suicide occurred in 1933, only 3 years after the discovery. In the same year, the film "King Kong" was released, and the image of this building was firmly connected in the minds of millions of viewers with a huge monster climbing the walls of a skyscraper. To top it all off, in 1945, due to poor visibility, a plane crashed into the 79th floor. 14 people were killed, and the damage amounted to one million dollars. Then they began to say that the Empire State Building skyscraper was almost a diabolical invention. True, successful businessmen called all this nonsense and continued to fight for the right to rent an office in the most respectable building in Manhattan.

In 1986, the Empire State Building was given National Landmark status. More than 35,000 tourists visit it every year, not counting the fact that more than 50,000 people work in the building itself.

For more than a decade, the Empire State Building has been considered a symbol of New York and the entire American state.

The Empire State Building, which for a long time was the tallest building in the world, repeats its own image on the central panel of a huge (30 meters long) and high (three floors) lobby.

In this seemingly “holy” image, the Empire State Building, painted in gold paint, 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 an economic depression cut the projected cost of construction in half

The "center of the universe" and the eighth wonder of the world, the Empire State Building is frankly proud of having once held the world height record. He took it from him 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 went to 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 outshine the Chrysler building. Raskob asked a very simple and at the same time intimidating question: “How tall can you make it without it falling over?”

Soon 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 that operate 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 of windows, which are constantly washed by a special team.

bold plan

Only two criteria were stated: that the building should look like a pencil, and that it be taller than anything on Earth. Not surprisingly, the size and weight of the project threatened danger. Its location was considered commercially "not very profitable." No prospective tenant has turned up yet. And the stock market began to fall, and then the whole country was in the face of the Great 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, only two stories deep, had to support a tower 102 stories high (380 meters) and weighing about 365 tons.

An architect once said, "Of what we do in peacetime, building skyscrapers is the closest thing to war." For this battle, an army of workers and craftsmen was assembled, 3,000 of them working on the construction site at any time of the day. High-rise fitters were considered heroes among them, many of them

They were Indians from the Mohawk and Iroquois tribes, because Native Americans are known for their fearlessness. These brave guys worked 13 hours a day for only $1.92 an hour, they hung at insane heights and riveted over 50,000 heavy steel beams, each weighing a ton - enough to pave railway between New York and Baltimore. The remarkably smooth beams, with an error of no more than 3 mm, were installed and fastened together in 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 design process, it was built 45 days ahead of the deadline, and another 5 million remained from the budget. An amazing $41 million skyscraper rose above the city in record time (less than 14 months), and so far no one has built such buildings faster. Nowhere does the building deviate 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 the building codes of New York.

Architectural features of the Empire State Building:

The architectural power of this building lies in its volume distribution. A series of buildings rises from the five-story base, gradually turning into a central structure that extends like a telescope to a height of 86 floors. Tapering, the structure continues to rise until it passes into the antenna.
The movie King Kong (1933) used symbolic images of the Empire State Building as scenery. Against the backdrop of the tower and antenna of the building, which was already planned to be used as a pier for airships, an allegorical struggle was unfolding between the creation of Nature and artificial civilization.
Throughout the facade of the skyscraper, endlessly repeating rows of modular windows stretch, 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 time of its construction.
Since the 1940s, the Empire State Building has been one of New York's tourist attractions. About two million tourists annually climbed its observation deck to admire the breathtaking views of the city from there.
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 power of the 1930s is distributed over volumes, uncontrollably striving upwards under the attentive gaze of the audience. From a five-story base with an area of 0.65 hectares, a series of buildings rises, which gradually narrow, after which the corner sections pass into a central structure that extends like a telescope to a height of 86 floors. The structure continues to rise, imperceptibly passing into the antenna.

The sense of plasticity emanating from this giant object, firmly rooted in the ground and at the same time aspiring to the sky, is enhanced by repeating rows of modular windows, grouped horizontally, but also aligned vertically, which emphasizes the orientation 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, there is a triumphant, but somewhat threatening image Tower of Babel; then the cinematic imagery of that era, like the fantastic buildings in Fritz Lang's film Metropolis, and images from the comics; and finally, the 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 skyscrapers, two types of structures were developed, depending on the place of construction.

The first represented a kind of ziggurat, when the building was built in 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" skyscrapers.

The Empire State Building, along with the Seagram Building, is a landmark of midtown New York, just as the twin towers were a landmark of downtown - from the observation decks of these skyscrapers, breathtaking views of the city and the surrounding landscape opened up.

The Empire State owed its success at the beginning of the “career” to the last circumstance. Its owners had difficulty finding companies willing to rent office space. Fortunately, the viewing platforms, which have become a place of pilgrimage for tourists, saved the building from imminent bankruptcy. Considering that the construction of the building and its commissioning fell on the years of the banking collapse and the Great Depression that followed it, from which America recovered only after World War II, making the Empire State Building prosperous 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 there are more than 15,000 employees in the offices, and countless visitors come to them. If you climb to the observation deck in one minute, you can take a look at the surroundings at a distance of up to 128 kilometers.

Until 1972, the building remained the tallest in the world, then the infamous towers of the World Trade Center were built.

Even if from a financial point of view it was not an ideal investment, as a symbol of America it was a huge success. Hollywood was ready to exploit it - interiors, observation decks and views from them appear in all their splendor in films such as "King Kong" (filmed in 1933, when construction had just closed), "In the City" (1949) , Empire (filmed by Andy Warhol in 1964) and Manhattan (filmed by Woody Allen in 1979). His role in these films was the main one: the gymnastic platform for the exercises of a giant gorilla, the background against which the love story unfolds, the stage for the experimental theater of the absurd.

The Empire State is so popular that it almost humanizes in the imagination of many New Yorkers and some fringe artists. In his paintings, M. Vriesendorp exaggerates many features of skyscrapers and endows them with human qualities. Here is the plot of the most famous of them: Rockefeller Center opens the doors of the bedroom and to its amazement finds in the same bed the masculine Empire State Building and the feminine-elegant Chrysler Building. The bed cover is painted in the form of the city plan of Manhattan. The Statue of Liberty plays the role of a night lamp, and other skyscrapers look in with curiosity through the bedroom window.

Built for purely promotional purposes rather than out of any practical necessity, the Empire State Building, more than any other skyscraper of its generation, succeeded as the standard-bearer and symbol of the American dream. His image was replicated in countless advertising projects, and along with the images of the Chrysler Building, the Rockefeller Center and the Statue of Liberty, he rose - on a planetary scale - to the level of an icon.

The appearance in the relatively young city of Las Vegas of skyscrapers cut in the New York pattern 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.

V largest city There are over 5,000 skyscrapers in the United States. Only in New York could an office building become a historical landmark. The guise of the American metropolis is giant skyscrapers, and this building does its job well. The Empire State Building is the unshakable symbol of the Big Apple and one of the most recognizable skyscrapers in the world. If you like to travel and explore unusual architectural heritage, then this building will find something to surprise you with.

Today, the Empire State Building (ESB) is a national monument and a must-see in New York City. More than 130 million people have already visited the observation decks of this building, and this is commensurate with the population of an average country.

Where is the Empire State Building located?

The famous skyscraper adorns Manhattan Island, and its 102 floors are visible for several kilometers. The building is located on Fifth Avenue between West 33rd and 34th streets, 1 km from Times Square. From 1931-1972, the Empire State Building held the title of the tallest building on the planet until the North Tower of the World Trade Center was built. After the terrorist attack in 2001, the skyscraper again ascended the pedestal, but already as the tallest building in New York.

It is interesting. At the beginning of the 21st century, many high-rise buildings appeared in the world, and in America itself, that surpassed the Empire State Building - the Freedom Tower in New York (104 floors), the Royal Clock Tower in Mecca (120 floors), shanghai tower in Shanghai (128 floors), Hong Kong International Commerce Center (118 floors). The tallest building at the moment is the Burj Khalifa, which has 163 floors. The skyscraper opened in 2010.

In 1986, the Empire State Building was included in the list of national treasures of the country, and in 2007 the building became the first in the list, as the best solution architecture. The building is owned and operated by W&H Properties.

How to get there

You can get to the famous skyscraper by public transport. If you take the subway, you need to take the 34th Street / Herald Square station on the N, Q, R lines. You can get there by bus - M4, M10, M16, M34. Nearby are Times Square, New York Museum of Modern Art, Morgan Library and Museum.

History of creation

In the place where the Empire State Building is now located, John Thompson's farm was located until the 18th century. A spring flowed here, flowing into the Golden Perch Pond - a reservoir and today is located in the area from the high-rise. In the 19th century, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, hosting the social elite of New York, stood here.

At the time of its construction, the building became the first in the world, in which there were over 100 floors, or rather 102. Empire height The State Building in New York is 381 m, and with a spire - 443 m. Antennas are installed on the skyscraper, from which television and radio broadcasts are conducted. From the top of the skyscraper, the first experimental television broadcast was conducted on December 22, 1931 - six months after the completion of construction. Today, the spire of the building, as a transmitter, is used by almost all radio and TV channels in the city.

The floodlights that illuminate the Empire State Building with multi-colored lights were recorded back in 1964. The building is painted in honor of holidays and memorable dates - on Presidents' Day the building glows in red-blue-white colors, on Valentine's Day - red-pink-white, and on St. Patrick's Day - green.

Thousands of tourists visit the building every day. The thing is that there are two observation decks on the 86th and 102nd floors. On the first platform you can see the whole of New York, it is more difficult to get to the top floor - the site is smaller and a small number of visitors are allowed there. The skyscraper itself also houses an attraction that simulates flying over the city on the Hudson.

Construction or who became the architect of the Empire State Building

The building was designed by Gregory Johnson and his architectural firm, Shreve, Lamb & Harmon. It was this company that prepared the drawings in a couple of weeks, based on their previous project - the Carew Tower in Cincinnati, Ohio. The plan was created from top to bottom. The main contractors are the Starrett brothers and Eken, and John Raskob financed the construction.

The preparation of materials began on January 22, 1930, and construction began on St. Patrick's Day - March 17 of the same year. 3400 workers participated in the project, most of which was immigrants from Europe, as well as Mohawk foundry Indians from the Canawake Reservation near Montreal. The skyscraper received 102 floors, and the total weight of the structure is 365,000 tons. The construction cost was $41 million.

It is interesting. It is believed that the ESB architects, when they met with investors, heard the question: “How tall can a building be built so that it does not fall?”. The builders understood this hint well - the skyscraper had to be called the tallest skyscraper in America, and at the same time in the world.

The construction of a skyscraper became part of the competition - the winner received the right to be called tallest building. Wall Street and the Chrysler Building fought for the title. These structures held the title for less than a year, as ESB beat the competition on day 410 of construction.

Thanks to the popular nickname of the state of New York, the skyscraper of the Imperial State or the Empire State Building got its name. construction built in 13 months, which is very fast for the first half of the 20th century. For comparison, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were built in seven years.

Opening

The official “going out” of the Empire State Building was solemn: President Herbert Hoover pressed a button in Washington and turned on the lights in the building. Ironically, the lamps on the spire of the skyscraper lit up for the first time on the day of Franklin Roosevelt's victory over Hoover in the November 1932 election.

This time was also marked as the Great Depression. The building became known as the Empty House of the Imperial State, as no one rented office space in the ESB. And the whole point was not only in the crisis, but also in an uncomfortable location - the metal structure occupied almost the entire internal area. The offices were cramped and looked like little closets. After the building was reconstructed, creating modern comfortable rooms in it. The legendary skyscraper penultimate hosts Donald Trump and Hideki Yokoi sold for $57.5 million in 2002. The new owner of the skyscraper is Peter Malkin's real estate company, which manages a couple more historic buildings in New York. Today, the Empire State Building's view of the city of the Big Apple is the most magnificent because of the opportunity to see a circular panorama.

Architectural style

At the beginning of the 20th century, steel frames began to be used for the construction of multi-storey buildings, which had previously been used for the construction of bridges and railway stations. In 1930, the Chrysler Building, with a height of 319 m, received the palm as the tallest building in the city. The building overtook the Bank of Manhattan, which reached a height of 282 m. However, Empire State Building in 1931 overtook everyone- towering over New York at 381 m. The total mass of the structure is 365 thousand tons, and the steel structure has a mass of 59 thousand tons. There are 10 million bricks in the walls.

Due to the increase in the length of the shafts and the speed of passenger elevators, the maintenance of the high-rise building has been simplified. The Empire State Building has 62 elevators arranged in groups. But according to the laws of zoning the territory of the city high-rise buildings should have tapered upper floors. To better illuminate the streets, architects began to build skyscrapers that were completely different from the Chicago skyscrapers of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The new style of multi-storey buildings combined the motifs of art deco and avant-garde geometricism.

One of the interesting places of the ESB is the spire. The construction has 16 floors, and there is also a dispatcher's hall. The top of the building was going to be used as a pier for airships. The spire received only two airships, and then all were canceled due to the risk of collision. There is also an antenna mast at the top of the structure, which is adorned with illuminations from time to time. Only in the first few years the observation deck on the spire visited by several million people. The annual profit was $ 1 million - a significant amount for the era of the Great Depression.

The width of the Empire State Building depended on ventilation and natural light requirements. Before the installation of powerful air conditioners, the depth of the room from the window to the back wall could not be more than 8.5 m. The building has 6,500 windows connected by vertical steel strips. The outer covering of the walls is made of gray limestone, which is framed with aluminum sheets. The supporting platform has five floors and occupies the entire area of its site. In the center there is a lobby with three floors, and around there are two tiers of shops. Due to the fact that there was no place on the construction site where materials could be folded, they were brought on schedule and immediately lifted up. The construction process was similar to a factory assembly line, which is why it was possible to build a skyscraper in such a short time.

The ESB style is Art Deco created at the International Exhibition of Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris in 1925. The style contains motifs of various historical forms - from culture ancient egypt before the development of the Maya. Art Deco is characterized by the use of new materials - chrome steel, glass and plastic. In their reviews, tourists note that the architecture of the Empire State Building is unusual, since all the most interesting is outside.

Empire State Building inside

But what is inside the famous skyscraper, because the building was not built for tourist purposes? ESB is an ordinary high-rise office building, which during the years of construction was called the Empty State Building (empty - empty). The companies were reluctant to occupy the premises, but this soon changed due to the redesign of the interior. Just 10-15 years ago, small firms were the main tenants of 100 m2 offices. Today, entire floors are occupied by large companies thanks to the colossal reconstruction of the interior halls.

it is more convenient to climb to the upper floors of the Empire State Building by elevator, but some try to master the stairs of 1860 steps. This could very well be a workout, as once a year the building hosts a competition for the fastest climb. The winner is awarded one million dollars. The office space accommodates 15 thousand people, and the elevator transports 10 thousand passengers in one hour;
Empire State is not just an office, but entertainment for tourists. In the lobby, 30 meters long and three stories high, there is a giant panel depicting the eight wonders of the world. Naturally, one of them is the Empire State Building itself. There is a Guinness Hall of Records, where information about unusual achievements and record holders is stored;
On July 28, 1945, the plane crashed into a building. It was a B-25 bomber that flew in between the 79th and 80th floors. The disaster claimed the lives of 11 people;
more than 35 thousand tourists visit the skyscraper every year, and more than 50 thousand people work in the building itself.

Opening hours

The Empire State Building is open to the public from 8 am to 2 am. The last ascent takes place at 1.15 am. There is an observatory on the 86th floor, from where you can see amazing city panoramas from a height of 320 m. On average, they spend about an hour on the observation decks, but the visit time is not limited in any way.

Ticket prices

Since the opening of the observatory in 1931, more than 110 million people have visited the building. Accordingly, there are long lines in front of the entrance. It is recommended to buy tickets in advance to avoid the string of tourists. There is a standard version of the city pass that allows you to visit the observation platform on the 86th floor and an audio guide. The entrance fee to the site on the 86th floor costs $32, and if the express without queues - $55. You can also visit the 102nd floor for $52 and $75 without waiting.

What to see nearby

If visiting the famous skyscraper is not enough, then you can look at the sights nearby. The list below will help you have a good time:

. The city on the Hudson is one of the most famous and largest parks in the world. Central Park is located in Manhattan on an area of 3.4 km2. 25 million people come here every year. Hotels are located opposite the park, so it is convenient to combine a walk and not break away from your planned activities;
. The sports complex, which is located on Eighth Avenue. This is a multifunctional building, which is used for more than 300 days a year for various events. It hosts New York Knicks basketball games and New York Rangers hockey tournaments, concerts and performances. During hockey games the hall accommodates 18,200 people, and during concerts - 2,000 visitors;
. The pride of America, which rises above New York on Liberty Island near Manhattan. For more than 100 years, the symbol of democracy has been meeting and seeing off hundreds of ships in the harbor of the Big Apple. It is an interesting attraction for tourists and a beacon of freedom for Americans;
. One of the oldest hanging structures in the country, which was the longest in the world until 1903. For the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, steel slings were used for the first time. The main span over the East River is 487 m long, and the total length is almost 2 km.

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 project, which took only 2 weeks, was developed by a group of architects from Shreve, Lam and Harmon. In the design of the building, they successfully combined the mood of the public during the Great Depression and the new requirements for urban development.

skyscraper has stepped shape, narrows at the top. This is one of the requirements of the Urban Zoning Act (1916). The narrowing of the upper floors was to provide good street lighting.

The facades are devoid of any decor and are maximally simplified, however, the object is undoubtedly attributed to the Art Deco style. Not the last role in this is played by a set of materials - chrome steel, plastic and glass. A new and bold combination for that period of time.

New York skyscraper construction

In January 1930, construction began on the Empire State Building in New York. On the preparatory stage dug a ditch, summed up engineering communications and erected a foundation. In March of the same year, construction of the main part began.

All works were based on the conveyor principle. This is especially clearly demonstrated by the fact that the steel frame parts were mounted 8 hours after they were manufactured at the factory.

Directly at the construction site, coal furnaces were installed, in which rivets for the frame beams were heated. By the way, it was assembled up to the 86th floor in six months. In parallel with the assembly of the steel frame, plumbers and electricians worked inside the building, laying engineering communications.

Empire State Building - facts and figures

The famous New York skyscraper impresses not only with its scale, but also with some facts that not everyone knows about.

Empire State Building in numbers

Some of the figures given by statistics and historical chronicle make us look at the Empire State Building with different eyes:

the construction took 10,000,000 bricks, 60,000 tons of steel elements, 6,500 window structures, about 700 km of electrical cables;
about 100 lightning bolts a year strike the spire;
the height by 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, the connection between which is provided by 73 elevators;
the observation decks of the Empire State Building were visited by 110,000,000 people;
the offices of the skyscraper employ about 30,000 people;
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 some sad statistics. According to official figures, 5 people died during the construction.

The Empire State Building in New York is remembered not only for its height, architecture, but also for several interesting facts his "biography".

The name of one of the most famous skyscrapers in the United States was 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.
V highest point planned the installation of a spire for mooring airships. In practice, this turned out to be impracticable due to the strong eddy currents of air at altitude.
Every year on February 5, running competitions are held in the skyscraper. The winner is the one who overcomes 1576 steps in a record short time.
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 been the subject of several films. The most famous of them is "King Kong" (1933).
A magnificent panorama opens from the observation deck. You can view the surroundings 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

Decades after the construction of the Empire State Building, the Empire State Building has become a symbol of the American dream and won special love from US citizens. He caused a new wave of interest and sympathy in 1964, when the upper part of the building was equipped with searchlights. They illuminated the TV tower and the last floors on holidays or any significant dates. The system still works today.

Each holiday and event corresponds certain colors of illumination. So, after the death of F. Sinatra, these were blue lights, on the anniversary of the Queen of Great Britain - purple-gold. After the destruction of the world shopping center the tower was illuminated in red, white and blue colors. During the US Open tournament (tennis), yellow dominates.

Some memorable dates the backlight is turned off for a short time completely.

Interesting fact! In 2012, 10 floodlights were replaced with 1,200 LEDs. They provide a wide range of backlight colors and are fully computer controlled. Currently, about 16 million colors are available to illuminate the top of the skyscraper.

On the official site Empire Building you can always find out the actual color of the backlight, as well as what it was like yesterday, 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 impact was so strong that the engine flew right through the building. The skyscraper itself received no particular damage. Most of the offices opened the next day without any problems. The collision claimed 14 lives.