Omaha daily bee., 1899-05-28
MODERN HIGH BUILDINGS
How the Idea Was Evolved and How il
Spread Throughout the Country.
TOWERING HIVES OF BUSTLlNG HUMANITY
History of the First sky-scrnper In
Chicago - Interesting Facts
About the TaIIcst Build
ing in the World.

claim the method as his own 1t grew out
OF local necessities and circumstances more
surely than from the brain OF one enthu-
siastlc experimenter Its practicabiity,
however, was first demonstrated in the
thirtecn-story Tacoma building in Chicago,
completed by Iolabird g. Roche in April,
1889.
More than to anything else, perhaps Chi
cago construction owes its existence to the
topography OF the downtown district Of Chi
cagO The lake on the north and east had
a natural tendency to hamper this district.
That the north, south and west side trans
portation companies simply touched this dis
trict from three sides without passing
through 1t forced the already natural con-
gestion. When realty had reached a figure
that would not justify investments in ordi-
nary Office buildings the skyscraper became
a necessity.
other architects had been trying to fore
stall this inevitable situation. Their work
had been along the line of tightening and
simplifying construction. The first serious
graphing of the office space problem, how
ever, was when the owner Of a lot twenty
five feet wide on LaSalle street and 101 feet
on Madison street came to us in the fall OF
1887 asking for designs for building that
should be as high as we thought 1t might
be safe to make 1t.
After several studies on conventional lines
had been abandoned IL was ueSlusu " USE
steel "I' columns in oil stories, carrying the
outside walls without any interior columns,
the entire structure to be riveted firmly
together and wind braced with steel con-
struction A full set of drawings was made
for this building, ready for making con-
tracts.
lust then, however, the owner OF the lot
acquired an additional ffty-fve feet on La
Sale street. and the design was abandoned
clratn nhna
for a new building that should be thirteen
stories high, with one story OF castiron
columns on the front and masonry enclosing
the walls above. The interior was to be
supported by a north party wall Of masonry
and the remainder on castiron columns.
Evolving the Sky-Scraper Iden.
One day, studying over these plans, the
owner asked why it would not be possible
to put the masonry on the inside and sup
port the exterior on columns alone, Just as
we had planned to do on the twenty -hVe-foot
building. This change would save him many
square feet OF rental space, which was the
most valuable in the building, as IL was
upon the street fronts.
At that time 1t was thought to be neces-
sary to have great walls or solid vaults in
these high buildings, in order to render
them safe in high winds. Drawings were
made. however, in which all metal work,
including columns, was OF steel, with no
solid masonry walls OF any description, the
wind-pressure being cared for by sway brac-
ing. This, however, would have cost more
than the castiron columns and masonry
cross walls, so it was abandoned.
New plans were drawn at once with
columns on the exterior from the founda-
ton to the cornice, and mere racing OF
masonry, entirely independent OF the walls,
ypir anchored
structural iron by wrought iron anchors.
Nv this method OF construction the size
OF the piers and mullions was greatly re-
duced When building permit was applied
for Building Commissioner Edbrooks was
undecided and uneasy. He asked for time
in which to consult the city engineer and
to look over the plans with that official. In
the meantime the Chicago newspapers took
up the question and aired it from all sides.
The permit was granted, however, and work
was begun on May TO- 1888.
Novelty of the Enterprise.
Eyes familiar with the old methods OF
construction were opened wide at the
Tacoma's piers and exterior walls. A thir-
teen story building of any construction was
a novelty, and for such a building, under
the existing circumstances, masonry walls
should have been thirty inches thick from
the second to the fourth stories. In the
skeleton plans these walls from the second
to the thirteenth stories were only eight
inches thick in bay windows, and twelve
inches thick in plain wall surfaces. The
twelve-inch walls had a four-inch pressed
brick facing and lining of four inches of
common brick, furred with three inches or
hollow tile fireproofpg The columns were
encased with brckwork, as were the mul-
lions.
Under such circumstances these the
Tacoma building was carried to completion
in less than one year Experienced men
had said that the time limit was too short,
but 1t was done on April /, 1889 even to
the alterations in partitions to suit tenants
AS an accomplished fact, the steel con-
structien had received an impetus from San
Francisco where it was considered as pos
sible solution of the earthquake problem on
the Pacific slope. Again, in Chicago man
ufacturer of terra Gotta, in order to create a
market for his experimental product, ex-
hibited designs in Steel showing how his
clay manufactures might be tied in as an
exterior wall finish. The Home Insurance
building in Chicago had been an advance
over previous methods, but the scheme in
volved iron columns, housed in piers, and
without doing away with the thick walls
and heavy masonry surrounding these col
umns. Bolts, too, had been used instead
of rivets in uniting the iron framework.
Improvement In SIsy-scrnpers.
In the modern skeleton construction all
castiron has been replaced by steel, and
the clumsy make-shifts of the first efforts
are superseded by well designed steel shapes
unknown in 1883. In brief, the modern
building OF this pattern is steel-frame
skeleton, starting with the foundations and
built upward like a bridge. Surrounding
this framework is skin OF terra Gotta,
brick or stone, which is put over indie
pendently-so much so that workmen might
easily begin at the top and work down to
the street level or, as is often done, work
might be carried on at the same time on
several different stories. The walls have
only their own weight to carry, and each
floor is independent OF any other.
This construction has overturned the old
ideas of builders who worked from heavy
foundations, building old-fashioned, solid
masonry piers, exterior walls and partition
walls together from the bottom up. II has
reduced the size of piers that would have
been necessary for an eighteen story build.
ing from seven feet square to two and one
half feet square and the wall thickness in