How do the Chrysler and Empire compare? Describe the massing, materials, and
detailing of each?
Tall buildings had been amazed by people through decades with their massive structure and high elevation from the ground because they mostly were impossible to build. In the 1900s two of the great high-rise buildings were developed marking a new era of skyscrapers the Chrysler building and the Empire State Building, the first of their kind in which at the time were named as the tallest buildings in the world. Both buildings are examples of the Art Deco style in which were built to represent the power and status of the emerging automobile industry.
The Chrysler building structure is one of the tallest buildings in the world with a skeleton frame with an incredible roof design with arches and triangular windows and an antenna at the top of the roof making it look like a glass crown floating on the air at night. The building mass is full of brick, stone, glass and masonry details giving a unique image to the building which in my opinion makes the building stand up again others. How the building is built is interesting because at the bottom is wider and as the building is getting higher the building structure is thinner, likely that each story is on top of Each other to hold the high of the building structure.
The Empire State building was built after the Chrysler building surpassing it’s high and named the world tallest building until the construction of the World Trade Center building. The building count with a unique curtain wall, masonry details, and a structural steel frame. The roof has an antenna but it’s different from the Chrysler building because it doesn’t have arcs or triangular windows but it also looks like the roof is floating at night because the roof is the most illuminated part of the building.
The Chrysler Building and the Empire State building are masterpieces of architecture which started a new generation of classic skylines. their massing is unique in which are examples of great use of materials and exceptional masonry details.
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