EMPIRE STATE BUILDING : The Making of a Landmark

Rating:
Summary: American emblem
Review: From the outset, the Empire State Building seemed to have had everything going against it. Although conceived during the 1920s boom years, most of the construction went on during the earliest years of the Depression, thereby putting the idea of high occupancy in the severest doubt. Its location wasn't ideal either. It was three miles north of the Wall Street district and a mile south of the center of the midtown business center. And it was ten blocks south of Grand Central Station and three avenues east of old Pennsylvania Station. The idea of mooring dirigibles was quickly scrapped after failed attempts. And sure enough, although the Empire State Building did get built, the tenants did not come. King Kong did, but he didn't pay rent.

John Tauranac describes all this and more in his exhaustive book, THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING: THE MAKING OF A LANDMARK. Written in an engaging style, Tauranac's book is as elegant and interesting as the subject itself, while his wit is as colorful as the characters surrounding the Empire State Building's creation. The book covers the idea for the building, Raskob's and Smith's supervision, the monumental task of the construction workers, and, most importantly, the survival of the building to become THE emblem of America's cultural and economic reach while become THE identifying symbol of New York City. The generous amount of photographs add to the understanding and enjoyment of the book. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: I Like These New York Stories - Check These Out
Review: This is a nice book and is an easy and interesting read.

If you like this book here are two others that are similar.

My favourite book in this area is (1) a book called "Skyscraper" by Karl Sabbagh about the Worldwide Plaza at 8th Ave and 49th St. I would rate that the best, followed by (2) Empire: A Tale of Obsession, Betrayal, and the Battle for an American Icon by Mitchell Pacelle (Author). Then this present book I would rate (3).

Those are my humble comments fellow skyscraper lovers.

Jack in Toronto, on just the 11th floor.

Rating:
Summary: Great Building, Great Story
Review: This is an excellent work that details the history of the Empire State Building. I was a bit surprised to find how much the author managed to pack into my paperback. Everything from skyscraper height restrictions to land leases and modern restructuring of ownership for tax purposes (and all the "interesting" stuff in between). If you buy this book and you're not from New York, do yourself a favor and get a map of the area. So you can follow along in the early chapters.