The skyscraper and modern city lecture

The Skyscraper and the Modern City lecturer Joanna Merwood posits a view of early skyscrapers as products of their designers and the city in which they were designed. Some evidence that supports her view of skyscrapers as products of their designers is that she views skyscrapers as a typology. The product of skyscrapers as a typology shows that their designers classify the skyscrapers with a symbol or specific classification. She presents four famous buildings in Chicago on State and Washington streets. The historian she mentions describes them as grand-style urban photography that captures the buildings as iconic sculptural objects as the way artworks are addressed. They are three dimensional sculptures that follow a certain type- the view is a 1/3 way up to the building and the background has been masked out so it looks as though it is an isolated building. This evidence of skyscrapers as products of their designers is demonstrated through this specific type in the photos. The designers in the next slide portray the buildings in their original setting which it has a smokey look to it.

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