Empire State Building in the heart of Manhattan, New York City, United States is named after the nickname of New York, the Empire State. It holds the title of the most iconic skyscraper in the world. Art Deco is the Design style of Empire State Building Architecture which makes it distinctive. This cultural icon falls under pre-World War ll Architecture in New York, completed in 1931.

Empire State Building stands among the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

DESIGN:

Architects had a simple plan in their mind for the tallest structure of the World.

In the center, a compact space was planned which would cater to vertical circulations, toilets, mail chutes, shafts, and corridors. The offices were planned to encircle this central space, the idea behind was to have well lit rentable spaces. The skyscraper features 2.1 million square feet of rentable office spaces. As the height of the building increases, the sizes of the floors diminishes and the number of elevators decreases.

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RACE TO CROSS THE LIMITS:

The 1454 feet high office building and the observation deck is the result of the race of who wins the title of “World’s tallest building”. At that time, many people were trying to make World’s tallest building. It was a tough competition between the famous Chrysler Building and the Empire State. Initially, the idea for this free-standing tower was to extend 80 stories high, 1000 foot tall building. However, the building plans were revised when the Chrysler Building reached up to 1046 feet. Another 6 stories were added to the Empire State Building to make it the World’s tallest building with a height of 1050 feet.

To get rid of the fear that the height of Chrysler Building can be modified, the plan of The Empire State Building was again revised and 16 stories, 200-foot high metal “crown” and a 222-foot high antenna was added which made the height of Empire State Building to reach 1454 feet.

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This 102- story high skyscraper had the record of World’s tallest building for 40 years. The Construction of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan overtook its title in 1970. After the attack on September 11, 2001, it again became the tallest building in New York City due to the collapse of the World Trade Center. It remained the tallest building for another 11 years until the new World Trade Center was built in 2012.

There is a secret floor in the building that is not open to the public and this makes this building a 103 story tall.

The time takes to construct this gigantic beauty was only one year and 45 days. The total cost for construction of the building came out to be around $50 million.

SECRET TO REDUCE THE TIME IN ELEVATORS:

Spending too much time in elevators is a struggle for all of us. To tackle this problem Architects of The Empire State, Shreve, Lamb and Harmon came with a solution. They divided the elevators into seven banks, with each servicing only a portion of the floors. For example, Bank 1 would serve third to the seventh floor, Bank 2 from eighth to the eighteenth floor. So, if you want to reach the 65th floor, you could take the elevator that would serve from 55th to 67th floors and you won’t have to make a stop at all 64 floors to reach your destination.

The speed of the elevator was another concern. The Otis elevator was installed with a capacity of 58 passengers with a speed of 1200 feet per minute. But the building code restricted the speed to only 700 feet per minute. A chance was taken and the faster elevator was installed with a hope that building code would change. A month after the inauguration of The Empire State, the building code for elevators was changed to 1200 feet per minute.

EXTERIORS AND INTERIORS:

• The exteriors of the building are constructed in stainless steel and glass. The steel frame is designed to handle gravitational stress and wind loads.
• The amount of material used in this building is what makes it a stiff structure as compared to other Skyscrapers.
• The Empire State Building was the first building to cross 100 floors with 57,000 tons of steel columns and beams and 62,000 yards of concrete
• The total number of steps in this city landmark is 1872 from street level to 103rd level.
• This “reaching the sky” building weighs 365,000 tons and has over 6,514 windows in total. With five entrances from three streets this huge office space has 73 elevators and eight high-speed escalators.

FIGHT AGAINST THE FOG:

The Empire State building height became a problem when a military plane crashed into it in 1945. The accident was caused due to heavy fog. Two floors of the Empire State were damaged.

Also, it became a problem for the birds during the spring and autumn migration season. Therefore, the tower lights are turned off on foggy nights, so the lights do not confuse the birds and cause them to enter the building.

The Empire State Building Height is what differentiated it from other buildings for a long time after it was constructed. There is no doubt left about all the hype received for this extravagant structure.