Modern skyscraper

Modern skyscraper

A skyscraper refers to a high-rise building that houses forty floors or more and is more than one hundred and fifty meters in height (Honoree et al. 2018). Historically, any building that had more than twenty floors would get referred to as a skyscraper, but it has changed with time. The reason behind the change is the increase in knowledge of the building and construction profession. The world’s technology is always improving each day that passes, necessitating the building of tall buildings. The skyscrapers can host offices, retail rooms and even be residential units. There are two forms of towers, depending on height. Megatall skyscrapers are taller than 600m, while supertall skyscrapers have a height of more than 300m.

The primary characteristic of a skyscraper is the steel framework that can support the weight of all columns and walls. The walls may be load-bearing, and they call for concrete reinforcement. The other feature of the modern skyscraper is the large window surface areas with frames made of steel. It is a well-known fact that steel has high tensile strength, a property that works well for the modern skyscraper.

Details of the modern skyscraper

Its construction involves many calculations, and strict engineering works to avoid any collapse. There are various factors to consider in the design. They include the weight of the structure, its design life, materials to be used, shape and place site characteristics. The modern ones are usually constructed in a tabular structure to bring in a hollowness feature similar to that of a cylinder to resist wind loads and lateral loads. The tabular structure also enables the skyscrapers to resist seismic forces (Belowstosky et al. 2019). The more the slender they look, the more they lessen the wind load because a minimal surface is exposed to wind. The cylindrical design also helps in the transmission of daylight to all the floors.

The type of equipment used in the construction include elevators and water pumps.

Tracing its origin, it came in place because of the significant depression era and World War II. After the end of this war, there was the construction of various skyscrapers in Moscow by the Soviet Union. The Seven Sisters construction took place in 1947-1953. Other countries that made early attempts to construct skyscrapers in the early 1950s include Germany, Poland and Latvia. The advent of technology increased the confidence and creativity of the architectures as they became more accurate than the past. Technology is widely celebrated for the innovativeness that gave rise to the mushrooming of skyscrapers across different parts of the world.

The central engineering brain behind the construction of the skyscrapers is Fazlur Rahman (Sarkisian, 2016). The world views him as the father of tabular structures for the tall buildings. He discovered that rigid steel frame structures were never a one way for tall buildings constructions. His discovery paved the way for the construction of multiple structural systems. The acquired knowledge proved instrumental in going forward. He innovated the tube structure in skyscraper construction. His knowledge is the basis of the tall and slender modern skyscrapers, capable of withstanding external shocks.

Further, the design ensures that the constructed tall buildings occupy limited spaces and surface areas while at the same time housing many rooms. There is an efficiency improvement in terms of the economy in their construction. The reason behind the economic efficiency is the various shapes that the modern skyscrapers take, eradicating the solid-state of rectangular shapes. There is an expectation that the next phase of the skyscrapers shall put into consideration environmental performance, such as the minimized use of natural resources and better construction practices.

There is a study of vanity height by the current generation engineers. Vanity height refers to the difference in distance between the architectural top of a skyscraper and the highest floor. Modern skyscraper construction has a focus on the aspect of sustainability, the natural environment, built environment, energy use, among others. The energy in most of them is green energy, which saves the environment from negative factors like pollution. Some of the examples of the modern skyscrapers in existence include Petronas towers, Wells Fargo Center, Burj Khalifa and Parkview towers (Al-Kodmany, 2018).

Despite the height aspect that most architects and engineers consider in these constructions, safety must always take priority. It is always good to think of the safety of the people both in and around the building. Safety hazards increase with The reason why there is an Occupational, Health and Safety group in every team is to ensure the adherence to this issue.

Conclusion

There are factors which are to balance in the construction of the skyscrapers. They include engineering, economics and construction. Once they get achieved, the construction process goes on well with fewer interruptions. It is worth noting that the modern skyscraper concept is an industrialized age product motivated by enhanced energy production and availability of raw materials such as concrete, steel, brick, wood, among others. In all aspects, the labor costs should get an excellent outline to ensure the maximum efficiency of the workers on site. The movement of people and goods in the skyscrapers is through elevators. The elevators ease the movement of both people and materials. Elevators move up and down and stop at every floor according to the input instructions. Many architectures emphasize the height and width of the skyscrapers. That is because the height and width form the basis of the construction of the skyscrapers. The increased height and the reduction in the width of the buildings are desirable. That is the primary principle behind the construction of modern skyscrapers. The insights in this essay may not be extensive. Therefore, there is room for more research to get done for a better understanding of the subject.

References

Belostosky, A. M., Akimov, P. A., Dmitriev, D. S., & Nagibovich, A. I. (2019, December). Computational analysis of the stress-strain state, strength and stability of the tallest skyscraper of the Moscow international business center with allowance for static and wind loads and possible local damage. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 698, No. 2, p. 022066). IOP Publishing.

Honorée, A. L., Morgan, Y. C. T. & Krenn, M. (2018). Heights of privilege: economic and cultural determinants of skyscraper height across the world. International Journal of Construction Management, 1-14.

Sarkisian, M. P. (2016). Fazlur Khan’s legacy: towers of the future. Structure and Infrastructure Engineering, 12(7), 802-821.

Appendix

Burj Khalifa in Dubai

Flatiron building in New York

Empire state in New York