Building the Skyline The Birth and Groth of Manhattan's Skylines [Paperback]

The Manhattan skyline is one of the great wonders of the modern world. InBuilding the Skyline, Jason Barr chronicles the history of the Manhattan skyscrapers and provides insights into the economic forces that have created its distinctive and iconic panorama. Bedrock is Manhattan's natural and geological history, which influenced early land use and the development of neighborhoods, including the dense tenement neighborhoods of Five Points and the Lower East Side. Barr sheds light on why skyscrapers emerged downtown and why they appeared three miles to the north in midtown--but not in between the two areas-and debunks myths that geology was the cause. Rather, the patterns of skyscraper construction reflected economic and demographic forces at the time, which in turn influenced subsequent developments. As the first rigorous investigation of innovative ways to accommodate as many people as possible on the same location,Building the Skylineis an important contribution to understanding the growth and life of cities.

PART I: BEFORE THE SKYSCRAPER REVOLUTION

1. Manhattan's Natural History

2. Mannahatta to Manhattan: Settlement to Grid Plan

3. Land Use before the Civil War

4. The Tenements and the Skyline

PART II: THE RISE OF THE SKYLINE

5. The Economics of Skyscraper Height

6. Measuring the Skyline

7. The Bedrock Myth

8. The Birth of Midtown

9. Edifice Complex? The Cause of the 1920s Building Boom

10. What's Manhattan Worth? 150 Years of Land Values

Epilogue: Resilient Skyline?

Architectural Record Recommended 2017 Summer Reading

A deeply informed, literate account of the skyscaper's role in New York City history. Barr is a leading scholar in the economics of skyscrapers, and he turns out to be an outstanding storyteller as well. A towering achievement!

-- Donald Davis, Ragnar Nurkse Professor of Economics, Chairman, Department of EconomiclC#