New York City is the world’s undisputed capital of the skyscraper and is synonymous with this archetypal American form of architecture. Yet New York’s exceptional standing is not only due to the sheer number of skyscrapers; it is also the juxtaposition of so many high-rise buildings from different stylistic periods that gives the New York skyline its particular dynamism. This stunning and definitive guide presents the most prominent and significant skyscrapers in the world’s most vertical city. Managing to obtain access, often exclusive, to over 60 rooftops and viewpoints throughout Manhattan, Dirk Stichweh and Jörg Machirus photographed the incredible views afforded them from these heights, from Wall Street to uptown. Featuring over 80 high-rises from the Empire State Building to the recently erected One World Trade Center, this volume shares the stories behind their construction and discusses their influence on New York’s cityscape and international architectural history. Designed and written to appeal to anyone who is fascinated by the city, this beautiful book captures New York from a perspective few will ever see in person.

"This new edition of Manhattan Skyscrapers covers 10 new buildings and re-presents 75 historical structures, including such recent renovations as Louis Sullivan's Bayard-Condit Building and Norman Foster's addition to the Hearst Magazine Building. A new introduction by Skyscraper Museum Director Carol Willis adds insight into the city in the 21st century. This book is a must for both the serious student of architecture and the casual collector of all things New York."--BOOK JACKET.

The Manhattan skyline is one of the great wonders of the modern world. But how and why did it form? Much has been written about the city's architecture and its general history, but little work has explored the economic forces that created the skyline. In Building the Skyline, Jason Barr chronicles the economic history of the Manhattan skyline. In the process, he debunks some widely held misconceptions about the city's history. Starting with Manhattan's natural and geological history, Barr moves on to how these formations influenced early land use and the development of neighborhoods, including the dense tenement neighborhoods of Five Points and the Lower East Side, and how these early decisions eventually impacted the location of skyscrapers built during the Skyscraper Revolution at the end of the 19th century. Barr then explores the economic history of skyscrapers and the skyline, investigating the reasons for their heights, frequencies, locations, and shapes. He discusses why skyscrapers emerged downtown and why they appeared three miles to the north in midtown-but not in between the two areas. Contrary to popular belief, this was not due to the depths of Manhattan's bedrock, nor the presence of Grand Central Station. Rather, midtown's emergence was a response to the economic and demographic forces that were taking place north of 14th Street after the Civil War. Building the Skyline also presents the first rigorous investigation of the causes of the building boom during the Roaring Twenties. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the boom was largely a rational response to the economic growth of the nation and city. The last chapter investigates the value of Manhattan Island and the relationship between skyscrapers and land prices. Finally, an Epilogue offers policy recommendations for a resilient and robust future skyline.

The invention of the New York skyscraper is one of the most fascinating developments in the history of architecture. This authoritative book chronicles the history of New York's first skyscrapers, challenging conventional wisdom that it was in Chicago and not New York that the skyscraper was born. 206 illustrations.

In contrast to standard histories that counterpose the design philosophies of the Chicago and New York "schools," Form Follows Finance shows how market formulas produced characteristic forms in each city - "vernaculars of capitalism" - that resulted from local land-use patterns, municipal codes, and zoning. Refuting some common cliches of skyscraper history such as the equation of big buildings with big business and the idea of a "corporate skyline," this book emphasizes the importance of speculative development and the impact of real estate cycles on the forms of buildings.

"Fascinating history, showing how the city has been molded by the edifice complexes of risk-takers. The stuff of grand comedy." -Business Week

This definitive guide to the world's most vertical city charts the history and engineering genius that has made Manhattan synonymous with skyscrapers. New York City is home to more skyscrapers than any other city in the world. Iconic in stature, they tell the story of the city's commercial and architectural history. The buildings pictured here stretch from the sidewalks to the sky, from the East River to the Hudson, from Battery Park to the far reaches of Central Park. Along with structures that are familiar to readers such as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler and Woolworth buildings, there are other less recognizable but nonetheless important structures that have become a part of New Yorkers' daily lives. Each chapter focuses on an area of Manhattan, and opens with numbered maps showing the exact locations of the featured buildings. In a series of two to four page spreads, fullpage photographs of the skyscrapers are accompanied by additional illustrations, historical insights, architectural details, and interesting facts about their construction and evolution. An essay on the collective history of the city's skyscrapers rounds out this compilation of nearly 85 examples of New York City's most magnificent feature--its far-reaching, everchanging skyline. AUTHOR: DIRK STICHWEH is an avid New York fan and has been engaged in the study of skyscrapers for many years. He lives in Bremen, Germany. JÖRG MACHIRUS is a photographer based in Bremen, Germany. SCOTT MURPHY is a photographer based in New York.