High-rise buildings. Skyscrapers of Moscow and the World

Today, no one is surprised by a multi-storey building, but even a couple of hundred years ago, even the idea of building houses of this height seemed an engineering miracle. Today, countries compete in the number of skyscrapers and their beauty. Buildings continue to build, increasing the number of storeys and complicating calculations.

The history of skyscrapers

Multi-storey buildings are known to mankind for a long time. But the first structure, called a skyscraper, was built relatively recently - only in 1885 in Chicago. It's ridiculous to say, but then the so-called building was named in which there were only 10 floors, two more appeared later. Thus, the total height of the 19th century skyscraper was just over 50 meters.

The development and improvement of construction technologies eventually removed the problem of the massive nature of buildings, because the steel frame allowed to strengthen the walls, while reducing the total weight by one third. And the problem of lifting to such heights has been solved after the invention of elevators with electric drive.

Almost immediately after the appearance of the first high-rise buildings, a serious struggle for the championship developed between the builders. Especially acute was the one in which the skyscrapers of New York competed in the twenties of the 20th century. Less than 30 years after the appearance of the first multi-storey building, a tower with a height of 241 meters was built. For the next 17 years, no one could beat this record, and then the championship was intercepted by the Chrysler Building and its mark of 320 by the spire. But less than a year later (1931), a structure was opened, which later became a symbol of all skyscrapers. It was the Empire State Building, which crossed the 100-story line. It was built in record time, a little more than a year.

For a while the struggle subsided, in order to flare up again in the 70s. The palm tree was intercepted by buildings in different parts of the world, but nobody managed to hold it for long. Today it belongs to the Burj Khalifa building, the first and so far the only structure that has overcome the 150-story mark.

Design Features

The construction of high-rise buildings is associated with certain difficulties. In addition to the fact that architects have to take into account the mass of the building, its seismic resistance and many other parameters, all calculations must be very precise, because otherwise many people can be affected. In the desire to achieve certain ambitions, one must always remember about security and approach the matter wisely. That is why the design of high-rise buildings is a completely separate discipline, requiring a certain attitude towards itself.

However, in pursuit of reliability, one should not forget about beauty. Conventional reinforced concrete boxes have not interested anyone for a long time, people want a certain elegance and ease of form, so the architect's work will not be easy. Maintenance of skyscrapers is also not an easy task, because even with the usual washing of windows without the services of industrial climbers it is impossible to cope. And still need to take into account security issues that have become more relevant than ever after September 11, 2001, when a fire and the collapse of two skyscrapers took a huge number of lives.

Categories

For a long time to decide what exactly is a skyscraper, it was difficult. And now this issue remains relevant, because several different criteria are used at once. Someone measures the height of the roof without taking into account the spire, others take it into account precisely it, ignoring the antennas and other structures, and some estimate the scale from the highest point of the building. In any case, at present skyscrapers are considered to be structures with floors (that is, not towers) that extend upwards by 100 meters or more. From 35 to 100 - just high-rise buildings. Above 300 - ultra-high, and from 600 - carry the prefix "mega". By the way, there are only two in the world.

Records

6 out of 10 of the world's tallest buildings are located in Asia, although the first three places are occupied by structures located in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the United States. So, since 2009 the list so far remains unchanged:

1. Burj Khalifa (United Arab Emirates).
2. Abraj al-Bayt (Saudi Arabia).
3. World Trade Center 1 (USA).
4. Taipei 101 (Taiwan).
5. Shanhai World Trade Center (China).
6. International Commercial Center (Hong Kong).
7. Petronas-1 (Malaysia).
8. Petronas-2 (Malaysia).
9. Nanjing Greenland (China).
10. Willis Tower (USA).

Skyscrapers of Moscow and Russia

For a long time in the cities of the Russian Federation, high-rise construction was restrained from aesthetic and religious considerations. Until the middle of the XX century the highest point of the historical center remained the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great in height of 81 meters. By the way, high-rise buildings in Russia for a long time had its own name, not borrowed from other languages - the Tucheres. The first such project, having a modern scope, was the building of the Palace of Soviets, which was supposed to have a height of 495 meters. Construction began in 1937, but was interrupted by the war, and then abandoned this idea.

Until the last few decades, it was difficult to imagine truly high-rise buildings in Russian cities, it seemed they did not fit into their architectural appearance. Of course, there are a lot of skeptics now, but the Moscow-city district also acquired its fans. In St. Petersburg, also building a skyscraper that promises to become the highest in Europe, but until the end is scheduled only in 2019.

Famous high-rise buildings

Despite the fact that most of them are not on the list of the highest, the skyscrapers of New York are the most famous. It is this city that comes to mind when it comes to high-rise buildings. Heroines of Hollywood films live in penthouses in Manhattan, admiring the panorama in the evenings. Yes, New York can not really be imagined without skyscrapers. Shanghai and Hong Kong also skyrocketed in record time, but already had time to fall in love with everyone in their modern appearance.

By the way, for a long time "Stalin" high-rise buildings in Moscow were considered quite interesting and promising branch of architecture. And today foreign tourists visit them at the first opportunity and look with curiosity.

Prospects

It seems that the architects are not going to stop there, so in a couple of decades the jokes about oxygen cylinders can become a reality. The construction of buildings has already started, the height of which will reach 1 kilometer. There are also projects on which the conquest of man-made objects of marks up to 4000 thousand is only a matter of time. True, while it is unlikely that people will agree to go down from the 800th floor for half an hour. But it is surprising already that from the technical point of view the construction of high-rise buildings of such proportions is generally possible. Although in order to make such projects really promising, you will have to rethink the most basic principles of urban construction.