The legendary skyscraper Empire State Building - its history and interesting facts. Empire State Building - a skyscraper with history and unique characteristics Main observation deck

The most famous skyscraper in New York City is located in Midtown Manhattan at the intersection of 34th Street and 34th Street.

The Empire State Building is made in the Art Deco style, has 102 floors, the height of the building including the spire is 443.2 meters. The building takes its name from the old colloquial name for New York State (The Empire State). The building was built in 1931 and for 40 years was the tallest building in the world (until New York City builders completed the North Tower of the World War II in 1972). Shopping Center(North Tower of World Trade Center).

The Empire State Building is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and represents the strength of the American economy and the spirit of the American Nation.

The building was designed by a group of architects led by the American architect William Lamb. Construction of the building began in March 1930, with 3,400 workers simultaneously employed on the construction site every day. The work was completely completed on May 1, 1931, meaning the building was completed in less than 14 months or 410 days.

The initial cost of the Empire State Building was estimated at 43 million dollars (642 million in 2012 prices), however, due to the economic crisis that broke out - the Great Depression, at the start of construction and during the year when the building was erected, engineers were constantly looking for ways to reduce its cost, the final cost of the building at the end of construction was slightly more than half of the initially expected costs - $25 million.

During the first year of operation of the Empire State Building, its observation deck brought the owners an income of $2 million, which was comparable to the funds received from renting out the building's space.

However, for several years, the owners of the Empire State Building were unable to fill the building with tenants by more than 60%, which was explained by the ongoing Great Depression. Due to this, the building was popularly nicknamed the EMPTY State Building. Thus, the building paid off for investors only after 19 years in 1950.

The Empire State Building is the first building in the world to have more than 100 floors. The building has 6,500 windows and 73 elevators. Today, the building houses more than 1,000 tenant companies and more than 21,000 office workers visit the building every weekday, making it the second largest commercial building in America after the Pentagon.

Interesting Facts

After the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 (9/11) and the collapse of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building again became the tallest building in the world;

The building is currently owned by more than 2,800 investment funds through Empire State Building Associates L.L.C;

Over the years of the Empire State Building's existence, more than 30 people have committed suicide by jumping from its observation deck located on the 86th floor;

On December 2, 1979, Evita Adams jumped from the observation deck of a building but was thrown by a gust of wind to the floor below where she was found with a broken hip;

On July 28, 1945, at 9:40 a.m., an American pilot flying a B-25 Mitchell bomber crashed into north side Empire State Building between the 79th and 80th floors. As a result of the incident, 13 office workers and the pilot himself were killed;

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The feeling of being at the foot of the Empire State Building is breathtaking. What amazes the most is the fact that this giant was built in 410 calendar days! It's crazy... By the way, during my life in Moscow, I worked for 3 years in one fairly well-known development company; our company was engaged in the construction of one of the Moscow City high-rise buildings. So, for example, the construction of that high-rise has been going on since 2003, it’s now 2013 - and the building is not a quarter completed.

The view from the observation deck cannot be described, it is amazing. It is better to visit the building in the evening, when New York is completely immersed in illumination. Long queues of tourists can spoil the impression somewhat, but after going to the observation deck, you will completely forget about it! You can get acquainted with the Empire State Building at one of my individual ones.

There are two observation decks - at the 86th floor level and at the 102nd floor level. There are so-called “express” tickets (bypassing most of the queues), so by overpaying $22 per person, you can save an hour and a half of your own time. Access to the landing on the 102nd floor is paid separately (+ $17) - this is where you can definitely save money; the landing at the top is cramped; the view from it is practically indistinguishable from the view from the 86th floor.

The Empire State Building is, first of all, a huge office center, and also one of the most attractive tourist sites in the city. The skyscraper is considered the second largest office building in the country, second only to the US military department - the Pentagon. 85 floors of the Empire State Building are occupied by offices, where 21 thousand employees work daily, and observation decks are located on two of its floors.

The designers planned to use the long spire of the skyscraper as a mooring mast for mooring airships. But later this idea was abandoned because strong winds almost always blow at the level of the spire. In addition, the architects had little idea of the peculiarities of aeronautics on airships. The drawings depicted passengers emerging onto the Empire State Building spire from the nose of the aircraft, when in reality the loading and unloading would take place in a gondola located under the airship. So the designers’ idea could not be realized in principle.

Back in December 1931, just six months after construction was completed, an antenna was installed on the spire of the building, with the help of which NBC conducted the first transmission of a television signal as an experiment. And 10 years later, the era of commercial television broadcasting began. These days, the Empire State Building houses transmitters for almost all the city's TV channels and radio stations.

History of construction

The first half of the last century took place in New York under the motto “Who will be able to build the tallest skyscraper?” Since 1913, the palm belonged to the Woolvault Building for 27 years. This building had 57 floors and reached a height of 241 m. Then the 70-story Trump Building, located at 40 Wall Street, became the leader. It rose into the sky at 282.5 m. This record did not last long - only two months. The next favorite was the Chrysler Building. The height of this skyscraper with a long spire already reached 320 m.

Stages of construction of the Empire State Building

The designers of the new high-rise building faced a difficult task. They needed to create more than just a new champion. They wanted to erect a building that would become a real legend.

The design work was led by architect William Lamb, who at that time already had experience in designing the Reynolds Building and the Carew Tower. The famous financier and businessman John Raskob, as well as Pierre DuPont, who was simultaneously one of the leaders of the largest chemical concert in America, DuPont, and the automotive giant General Motors, undertook to invest in large-scale construction.

The location for the new record-breaking skyscraper was chosen at the intersection of West 34th Street and Fifth Avenue. At that time, there was an old Waldorf-Astoria hotel there. It consisted of two buildings, which were connected by a wide hall. Both buildings were erected in the 90s of the 19th century according to the design of New York architect Henry J. Hardenberg. And this hotel was owned by Esther's family.

When the decision was made to build a huge skyscraper, construction began on a new building for the hotel on Fifth Avenue. At the end of autumn 1929, the old hotel began to be demolished, and more than 16 thousand truckloads of broken bricks and stone fragments were removed from here.

Famous footage from the construction of the Empire State Building

Skyscraper in September 1930

The main construction began on March 17, 1930, St. Patrick's Day, and began with excavation work and the laying of a huge foundation. Then, in record time - from the beginning of April to the end of November - a frame was erected from steel beams. The skyscraper was recognized as the tallest building in the world back in September 1930, when builders completed the installation of the 85th floor of the frame.

The construction was huge - 3,439 people took part in it, most of whom were emigrants who had recently arrived on American soil. Mohawk Indians were used in high-altitude work, since these natural climbers were considered excellent installers and were not at all afraid of heights.

This feature has been explained in different ways. Some believed that the Mohawks had a vestibular apparatus developed from birth, because their women constantly carried babies with them, swaddling their children in special cradles. Others argued that when hunting, the Indians were accustomed to placing their feet one after the other on narrow trails, and it was easier for them to stay on narrow metal structures. Another version said that Mohawk warriors perceived heights as a challenge and courageously dealt with the difficulties that arose to achieve victory. In any case, the fact remains that members of this Indian tribe took part in all high-rise construction projects in Canada and the United States and coped with complex high-rise work better than other workers.

During the week, the Empire State Building grew by an average of 4.5 floors. Once a record was set: workers built 14.5 floors in just 10 days. To ensure that construction workers did not stray far from their jobs during lunch breaks, food for them (hot lunches, sandwiches, drinks and ice cream) was served on five levels of the building at once.

View of New York City on the opening day of the Empire State Building (1931)

An unsuccessful attempt to dock an airship with the spire of the Empire State Building in 1952

In addition, quick construction was made possible thanks to the simplicity of the design, the components of which were convenient to deliver and lift to the top. Pittsburgh became the supplier of steel structures for this skyscraper. And the logistics were so streamlined that often the frame was anchored with beams that the steel plant had produced just three days earlier.

However, such a large-scale construction, unfortunately, was not without casualties. According to official statistics, five workers died during the construction of the skyscraper. The duration of construction work and the costs for it broke all records. The high-rise building was built in just one year and 45 days - until May 1, 1931. It cost 24.7 million dollars instead of the planned 43. Such a low cost was due to the fall in prices during the Great Depression.

On the day of the official opening of the Empire State Building, President Herbert Hoover solemnly turned on the lights in the new skyscraper and did it right from the White House. And all the architects who participated in the design were awarded various honorary awards.

However, the Great Depression was still ongoing, and it was only possible to return the funds spent on the construction of a new skyscraper by 1948. All this time, an important source of income was the observation deck on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building, which was visited annually by up to 3.5 million people. Most of the office space remained unoccupied for a long time, so the townspeople initially called the new skyscraper Empty.

View of the tower from the street of New York

Architectural features

In the early 30s of the last century, the Empire State Building, built, became not only the tallest building in the world, but also the first skyscraper with over 100 floors. Its wide base is 60 m by 124.5 m. With free ledges, this 102-story building rises to a height of 381 m. And the spire, framed by wing-shaped ribs, increases it to 443 meters.

The Empire State Building's record stood for more than 30 years. It was not until 1972, when the World Trade Center was built in the city, that the Fifth Avenue high-rise took second place. But when the twin towers were destroyed after the terrorist attack in September 2001, the old skyscraper again received the status of the tallest building in the city.

The area of the Empire State Building exceeds 250,000 square meters. m. On the longitudinally striped facades of the skyscraper there are 6.4 thousand windows, and total area The glazed surface is approaching two hectares.

Like many high-rise buildings of that time, the skyscraper was built in the Art Deco style. This eclectic style, which absorbed the features of neoclassicism and modernism, was born in the 20s of the last century. It was very popular all over the world in the 1930s and 1940s and was reflected not only in architecture, but also in painting, fashion, car design, household items and interiors.

The exterior of the Empire State Building's brick walls are lined with Salem limestone, which was supplied from Indiana. It is good for its monotony and texture resembles the surface of bread. And the recesses in the interfloor spaces were lined with darker-colored finishing stone. The peculiarity of the finishing was that the stone was fixed without additional corners or supports, directly to the beams of the steel frame. And the joints between the stone slabs and the windows were skillfully covered with chrome-plated steel strips.

Interior of the Empire State Building

Entrance lobby to the Empire State Building

The high-rise building's entrance lobby is decorated in rich purple and gray Germanic marble. The large panel installed here features a bas-relief made of aluminum, where you can see the shining sun and the silhouette of the Empire State Building.

Corridor on the 80th floor

The internal layout was determined more by a fixed budget and short construction time than by any architectural delights, therefore, in the created premises, the installations created in the project were strictly maintained - no more than 8.53 m from windows to corridors. These dimensions were necessary to ensure the required level of lighting in all offices.

To ensure that employees and visitors can climb to any floor of the building, it has 73 high-speed elevators, which can take you to the 80th floor within one minute. Those who want to climb to the top floor on foot will have to climb 1,860 steps.

The location of the elevators and the fixed dimensions of the office spaces determined the entire configuration of the Empire State Building and the arrangement of its ledges. The size of floors decreases with height, and the number of elevators also decreases. Thus, the most high building in the city it turned out to be very functional.

tourist attraction

Observation deck at the top of the Empire State Building

The silhouette of the skyscraper is clearly recognizable. It has become a real “crown” and decoration of New York. The designers of the Empire State Building created a structure that, like the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages, dominates the entire city. From Fifth Avenue, the entrance to the building is “guarded” by sculptures of eagles. This skyscraper is so popular in the USA that numerous souvenirs with its image can be bought everywhere.

On the 86th and 102nd floors of the Empire State Building, two large observation decks are specially equipped for tourists. The upper platform is smaller and does not have a full view.

Observation deck on the 102nd floor

The observation deck on the 86th floor is attractive because it has a full 360° panorama. You can climb it on foot, overcoming a staircase of more than 1.5 thousand steps, or by elevator. From here you can see the city streets and skyscrapers of Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, green islands of parks and the strait. Good view You can see the city from the site both when the sun is shining and at night. Conveniently, all the sights that can be seen from above are marked on a diagram placed on the observation deck.

In addition, on the second floor of the Empire State Building, a special tourist attraction has been created that simulates a flight over the city - “New York Skyride”. This simulator is very popular among visitors to New York and especially those traveling with children. For a 25-minute “flight” you need to pay $52. The entrance to the attraction is located on 33rd Street and is open from 8.00 to 22.00 all year round.

Views from observation decks

In 1964, during the World's Fair, spotlights were installed on the Empire State Building skyscraper, illuminating its upper part with white light. After 12 years, the decorative lighting was made colored. And today, on major holidays and memorable dates, the building is illuminated in different ways: red, orange and yellow on Thanksgiving Day, white and blue on Presidents’ Day, green on St. Patrick’s Day. On Valentine's Day, the top of the skyscraper turns red, pink and white. And about 50 couples annually get married in the high-rise building.

Empire State Building Tickets

1. Before visiting the famous high-rise building in New York, you should take care of tickets in advance. The easiest way to buy them is on the official website of the Empire State Building: www.esbnyc.com. Tickets to the 86th floor observation deck for adults will cost $32, for those over 62 years old - $29, and for children from 6 to 12 years old - $26. Tickets to both observation decks (86th and 102nd floor) for everyone visitors over 6 years old cost $85. You will have to pay extra for the opportunity to skip the lines. It is noteworthy that tickets are valid for a year from the date of purchase, and they are not difficult to print.

Red illumination of a skyscraper

In addition, you can purchase a City Pass from travel agencies. This is a tour of New York with access to six of the city's main attractions. In this case, a visit to the Empire State Building is possible at a reduced price.

On the Internet you can find many companies offering to visit the famous skyscraper. However, they do not sell tickets, but vouchers. And you will have to spend time to then exchange these vouchers for real tickets.

Empire State Building Observation Deck

2. No need to take anything extra with you. There are no lockers at the entrance to the Empire State Building. And during a mandatory check, security will not allow bulky bags, suitcases, drinks, water, or even large camera tripods to be brought into the building.

3. It would be a good idea to stock up on a few 50-cent coins in advance. They will be needed to use the binoculars located at the observation decks.

Observation deck on the 86th floor

4. The observation deck on the 86th floor is open to all winds, so you should take care of appropriate clothing and hats.

5. The skyscraper opens to visitors at 8 am and closes at 2 am. In the mornings the queue is much shorter. And on holidays and weekends there are so many people that it’s better not to plan a visit here.

Remains of a bomber on the facade of a skyscraper

Americans often call the state of New York the Empire State, which is why the tallest skyscraper in the city is called the “Imperial State Building.”
The Empire State Building is so huge that the country's postal department assigned it its own zip code - 10118.
55,000 tons of steel, 10 million bricks, 200 thousand cubic meters were spent on the construction of the high-rise building. feet of stone, 2 million feet of electrical wire and 1,17 thousand miles of elevator cables. The marble floor in the Empire State Building covers an area of 30,000 square meters. m. The skyscraper itself weighs about 331,000 tons.
The strength of the Empire State Building was tested as a result tragic events. In late July 1945, a B-25 Mitchell military plane crashed into it between the 79th and 80th floors. This happened because, in conditions of heavy fog and low visibility, the aircraft commander, Lieutenant Colonel William Smith (Jr.), lost control. The impact was so strong that one of the bomber's engines flew right through the entire building. As a result of this tragedy, 14 people died and 26 people were injured in various ways. However, the building itself suffered little damage. The outer walls were damaged and a fire broke out inside, which was extinguished after just 40 minutes. All consequences were eliminated very quickly, and the very next day the offices worked as usual.
The famous high-rise building became famous thanks to the film about King Kong. It was from this Empire State Building that he fell, shot by police helicopters. Many suicides have tried to commit suicide by jumping from a high-rise building, so security guards are now constantly on duty at the observation decks, and a metal canopy has been installed over the sidewalk to protect pedestrians.

King Kong on top of the Empire State Building. Still from the 1933 film

How to get there

The Empire State Building skyscraper stands in the central part of Manhattan. Take the N, Q, P subway lines to the 34th Street/Herald Square station. If you use ground public transport, you can get to the skyscraper by buses M4, M10, M16 and M34.

The Empire State Building is one of the first and legendary skyscrapers in New York that has become its symbols. It was called the eighth wonder of the world, and until 1972 it proudly bore the title of the tallest building in the world. The history of construction is rich in interesting facts, both amazing and sad.

Building architecture

The development of the project, which took only 2 weeks, was carried out by a group of architects from the firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon. In the design of the building, they successfully combined the mood of the public during the Great Depression and new requirements for urban development.

The skyscraper has stepped shape, tapers upward. This is one of the requirements of the Urban Zoning Act (1916). The narrowing of the upper floors was supposed to provide good street lighting.

The facades are devoid of any decoration and are as simplified as possible, but the building is undoubtedly attributed to the Art Deco style. An important role in this is played by a set of materials - chromed steel, plastic and glass. A new and bold combination for that period of time.

Construction of a New York skyscraper

In January 1930, construction began on the Empire State Building in New York. On preparatory stage They dug a pit, installed utilities and built a foundation. In March of the same year, construction of the main part began.

All work was based on the conveyor principle. This is especially clearly demonstrated by the fact that the steel frame parts were installed 8 hours after they were manufactured at the factory.

Coal furnaces were installed directly at the construction site, in which rivets for the frame beams were heated. By the way, it was assembled to the 86th floor in six months. In parallel with the assembly of the steel frame, plumbers and electricians worked inside the building, laying utility lines.

Empire State Building - numbers and facts

The famous New York skyscraper amazes not only with its scale, but also with some facts that not everyone knows about.

Empire State Building in numbers

Some figures provided by statistics and historical chronicles make us look at the Empire State Building with different eyes:

the construction required 10,000,000 bricks, 60,000 tons of steel elements, 6,500 window structures, about 700 km of electrical cables;
the spire is struck by about 100 lightning strikes per year;
the height at the end of construction was 381 m, but after the installation of the television tower it increased to 443 m;
total weight of the building - 365,000 tons;
about 3,000 people constantly worked at the construction site;
the construction of the skyscraper took a record 410 days;
the building has 103 floors, connected by 73 elevators;
the observation decks of the Empire State Building were visited by 110,000,000 people;
about 30,000 people work in the offices of the skyscraper;
the cost of the building at the time of completion was $41,000,000, and in 2014 it was valued at $629,000,000.

There were also some sad statistics. According to official data, 5 people died during construction.

The Empire State Building in New York is memorable not only for its height and architecture, but also for several interesting facts about its “biography”.

One of the most famous skyscrapers in the USA received its name thanks to the unofficial name of New York - Empire State or “Imperial State”.
It was possible to rent out all the offices of the tower only a decade after construction.
IN highest point they planned to install a spire for mooring airships. In practice, this turned out to be impracticable due to strong vortex air flows at altitude.
Every year on February 5, a running competition is held in the skyscraper. The winner is the one who climbs 1,576 steps in record time.
Since the building contains a huge number of offices, it has your postal code - 10118.
The main load is borne not by the foundation, but by the steel frame. This allows you to significantly reduce the weight of the structure.
The Empire State Building has become the hero of several films. The most famous of them is “King Kong” (1933).
A magnificent panorama opens from the observation deck. You can see the surrounding area at a distance of 128 km.

Wide known fact is that for the construction of the high-rise, installers from the Mohawk tribe were attracted, who were not afraid of heights.

New York skyscraper illuminated

Several decades after its construction, the Empire State Building became a symbol of the American dream and gained the special love of US citizens. New wave it aroused interest and sympathy in 1964, when the upper part of the building was equipped with floodlights. They illuminated the TV tower and the top floors on holidays or other significant dates. The system still works today.

Each holiday and event corresponds a specific backlight color scheme. So, after the death of F. Sinatra, these were blue lights, on the anniversary of the Queen of Great Britain - purple and gold. After the destruction of the World Trade Center, the tower was illuminated in red, white and blue colors. During the US Open (tennis) tournament, yellow is the dominant color.

In some memorable dates The backlight is turned off completely for a short time.

Interesting fact! In 2012, 10 floodlights were replaced with 1,200 LEDs. They provide a wide range of illumination colors and are fully computer controlled. There are now about 16 million colors available to illuminate the top of a skyscraper.

On the official website of the Empire Building you can always find out the current color of the lighting, as well as what it was like yesterday and what it will be like on the next significant date.

Incidents at the Empire State Building

In July 1945, an American bomber crashed into the Empire State Building between the 79th and 80th floors. The blow was so strong that he the engine flew right through the building. The skyscraper itself did not receive any particular damage. Most offices opened the next day without any problems. The collision claimed 14 lives.

Empire State Building (ESB) – main symbol New York, US National Historic Landmark and best American architectural achievement of all time.

The skyscraper received its name in honor of the American state of New York, which is often called the “Empire State”.

According to legend, when Henry Hudson sailed down the Hudson River, he was so struck by the beauty and grandeur of the area that he exclaimed: “This is a new empire!”

Empire State Building - 103-story office building located on Manhattan Island in New York, USA. The entrance to the building is located on Fifth Avenue - between West 33rd and 34th streets.

Location on Google maps, the map itself can be enlarged:

Translation into Russian

WITH in English"The Empire State Building" can be translated into Russian as " Imperial State Building"or "House of the Imperial State".

History of the skyscraper: design and construction

Looking into history, we learn that The building was designed by the architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon., whose chief architect was William F. Lamb.

The design used early designs for the Reynolds Building in North Carolina and the Carew Tower in Ohio.

Tower construction started on St. Patrick's Day - March 17, 1930, and ended 1 year and 45 days later In total, the construction of the skyscraper required more than 7 million man-hours.

Above the building construction 3400 workers worked: most of them were emigrants from Europe, as well as several hundred installers who came from the Tomahawk Indian tribe, whose distinctive feature was the absence of fear of heights.

At the time of the start of construction of the ESB, the future symbols of New York - the Trump Building and the Chrysler Building - laid claim to the title of the tallest skyscraper in as soon as possible and were already under construction.

A serious struggle broke out between them, as a result of which the ESB overtook everyone: the building grew four and a half floors per week, the record is fourteen floors in ten days.

So, after 410 days, 5662 m 3 of building materials, 60 thousand tons of steel structures, 10 million bricks and 700 km of cable, The tallest building in the world at that time appeared on the Manhattan skyline.

Opening of the Empire State Building

Solemn The opening of the building took place on May 1, 1931: The state governor cut the ribbon and President Herbert Hoover lit the tower's floodlights using a switch in Washington.

For your information! At that time, the Great Depression was in full swing in the United States, and not everyone could afford to rent space in a skyscraper, which is why the building was empty for a long time: offices occupied approximately 20% of the total area. The tower was completely rented out only after a whole decade.

Height and other technical characteristics of the building

At the time of the official opening of the skyscraper its height was 381 m, and after the construction of a television tower on the roof of a skyscraper in 1952, height reached 443.2 m. After which the top of the tower began to be used for the location of equipment.

How many floors?

The building has 103 floors: commercial premises occupy the first 85 floors buildings, their total area is more than 257 thousand m².

The remaining 16 floors are a superstructure in the Art Deco style, which is a combination of modernism and neoclassicism.

There are observation platforms on the 86th and 102nd floors of the skyscraper.

The width of the tower at the base is about 140 m: the building occupies about one hectare of land. In total, the building has 6,500 windows, 1,860 steps and 73 elevators, which are capable of transporting up to 10 thousand people per hour.

Observation platforms

Main observation deck

The highest observation deck operates on the 86th floor of the skyscraper outdoors in New York. Dozens of movie scenes were filmed here and millions of unforgettable moments were experienced.

For reference! The site is located around the spire of the building, presenting visitors with a panorama of New York and its environs. It offers breathtaking views of Central Park, the Hudson River, the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, the Statue of Liberty and much more.

You can also use observation binoculars with multiple magnification and view objects in great detail.

Upper observation deck

Sixteen floors higher - on the 102nd floor of the building - there is another observation deck, significantly smaller in area than the main one, and also completely closed.

Lighting

The tradition of ceremonial lighting of the tower in different colors in honor of major events, holidays and celebrations are preserved for many decades.

Previously, the top 30 floors were illuminated by 200 floodlights: on Independence Day, the building turned white, red and blue, and on St. Patrick's Day, green.

To achieve this effect, the filters on the spotlights were manually changed: the process took several hours.

In 2012, dramatic changes took place in the tower's illumination system: A dynamic LED lighting system was installed. If previously the change in architectural lighting occurred within 10 colors, today New Yorkers see a palette of 16 million shades.

The new illumination system allows you to control the light remotely, adjust its direction and create various effects.

No holiday in New York is complete without a light show on the tower, which is often synchronized with the musical accompaniment.

Interior: what's inside?

Building interior – one of the few recognized as a landmark Committee for the Preservation of the Architectural Heritage of New York. In 2009, 18 months were spent restoring the aesthetics of the original 1930 interior design (recall that the entire building took only 13 months to construct).

Inside there is a thirty-meter-high hall that stretches over three floors. It is decorated with panels of the Seven Wonders of the World, and on the wall above the reception desk in the lobby is one of the most famous in New York - an image of the building itself, emitting light.

Useful information for tourists

The skyscraper is open all year round from 8 am to 2 am, and a huge number of people visit it every day.

The least number of visitors occurs at 8 am and 3 pm, as well as late in the evening.

To avoid wasting time in line in front of the cash register, you can purchase a ticket on the official website. This ticket is valid for a year, meaning you can schedule a visit at any convenient time. However, you still have to stand in line (security check, elevator). Only visitors with VIP tickets can skip these lines.

Prices. The cost of visiting the open observation deck on the 86th floor is from $37 for an adult and from $31 for a child. VIP tickets are $65 for everyone. A visit to the upper observation deck on the 102nd floor is paid separately (plus $20 for all ticket categories).

The New York Pass allows you to visit more than 90 Big Apple attractions, including the Empire State Building, with a single ticket.

The cost of such a ticket depends on its validity period - from one to ten days: from $124 to $420 for an adult and from $94 to $279 for a child.

Exhibition "Sustainability"

On the second floor of the skyscraper there is an exhibition “Sustainability”. The building is currently being renovated: about $120 million is being spent to reduce energy consumption.

The exhibition "Sustainability" demonstrates Newest technologies and processes, tells the story of the building's renovation through digital displays, sculptures and real building materials.

Exhibition "Don't be afraid to dream"

On the 80th floor there is an exhibition “Dare to Dream”. History of Empire State Building - The Story of the American Dream: An exhibit that chronicles the building's history, design, and construction. It includes original documents: photographs, architectural sketches, construction notes and daily accounting documents.

Get more detailed information about the building, its place and role in modern world thanks to the interactive multimedia tour, which is included in the ticket price. To do this, you need to download the corresponding application from the AppStore or Google Play, which can be done on site using the free wireless Internet.

In addition, in our VKontakte group you can find more photographs in good quality, in a separate album dedicated to the skyscraper.

The Empire State Building, long the tallest building in the world, repeats its own image on the central panel of the huge (30 meters long) and high (three floors) lobby.

In this seemingly “holy” image, the Empire State Building, painted in gold, is surrounded by a halo of divine radiance and medallions illustrating the achievements of mankind on the path to progress.

An object:
Location: New York, USA
Project: Shreve, Lamb and Harmon
Height: 381 m
Materials: steel, brick, aluminum and limestone
Year of construction: 1931
STYLE: Art Deco
The onset of the economic depression halved the estimated cost of construction

“The Center of the Universe” and the eighth wonder of the world, the Empire State Building is openly proud of the fact that it once held the world height record. He took it over in 1931 and owned it until 1972, when the construction of the World Trade Center marked the beginning of a new era.

John Jacob Raskob was tormented by envy. The founder of General Motors simply could not live knowing that his rival, Walter Chrysler, had recently built the tallest building in the world. But Raskob had his own ideas. He approached William Lamb, one of the partners in the architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, and shared with him his dream of a skyscraper that would dwarf the Chrysler building. Raskob asked a completely simple and at the same time frightening question: “How high can you make it without it falling?”

Soon after, the old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Fifth Avenue near 34th Street was demolished to make way for the Empire State Building.

It was named so thanks to George Washington: when he sailed along the Hudson River, he noticed that this place would be “symbolic for the new empire.”

After the destruction of the Twin Towers, the Empire State Building reluctantly returned to its role as the main symbol of New York and America. Its easily recognizable image is built on the foundation of statistics, operating with unprecedented figures: 10 million bricks, a total weight of 365,000 tons, 59,800 tons of steel beams, 687 km of electrical wires and 2 million square meters windows, which are constantly cleaned by a special team.

Bold plan

Only two criteria were stated: that the building should look like a pencil, and that it should be taller than anything else on Earth. It is not at all surprising that the size and weight of the project were in danger. Its location was considered commercially “not very profitable.” No prospective renter has yet appeared. And the stock market began to fall, and then the whole country found itself facing the Great Economic Depression.

With such an unstable foundation, the building needed another, stronger one. 210 concrete and steel columns were driven into the granite base of Manhattan Island. This platform, just two stories deep, had to support a tower 102 stories high (380 meters) and weighing about 365 tons.

An architect once said, “Of the things we do in peacetime, building skyscrapers is the closest thing to war.” An army of workers and craftsmen was gathered for this battle, 3,000 of them worked on the construction site at all hours of the day. The heroes among them were considered high-altitude installers, many of

They were Indians from the Mohawk and Iroquois tribes, because Native Americans are known for their fearlessness. These brave guys worked 13 hour days for just $1.92 an hour, hanging from insane heights and riveting over 50,000 heavy steel beams, each weighing a ton - enough to pave railway between New York and Baltimore. The amazingly straight beams, with an error of no more than 3 mm, were installed and fastened together just eight hours after they were produced at the Pittsburgh plant.

Despite the fact that the project was changed 16 times during the development and construction process, it was built 45 days ahead of schedule, with another 5 million left over from the budget. An amazing $41 million skyscraper rose above the city in record time (less than 14 months), and no one has ever built such a building faster. The building never deviates more than 6 mm from the center; it has 10 million bricks and 2 hectares of windows. The sophisticated Art Deco style is emphasized by graceful, gradually converging walls, or “ledges”, which are officially recognized in building codes and New York rules.

Architectural features of the Empire State Building:

The architectural power of this building lies in its distribution across volumes. A series of buildings rise from a five-story base, gradually transforming into a central structure that extends like a telescope to a height of 86 floors. Tapering, the structure continues to rise until it becomes an antenna.
In the movie King Kong (1933), symbolic images of the Empire State Building were used as scenery. Against the background of the tower and antenna of the building, which even then were planned to be used as a berth for airships, an allegorical struggle unfolded between the creation of Nature and artificial civilization.
Along the entire facade of the skyscraper there are endlessly repeating rows of modular windows, grouped horizontally, but also aligned vertically, which emphasizes the direction of empty and filled spaces.
During the construction of the Empire State Building, ready-made blocks were used, which significantly reduced the construction time.
Since the 1940s, the Empire State Building has been one of New York's tourist attractions. About two million tourists climb to its observation deck every year to admire the breathtaking views of the city.
On major holidays and significant days The top of the skyscraper sparkled with multi-colored illumination.

The entire dynamic bulk of the evil symbol of power and authority of the 1930s is distributed across volumes, uncontrollably rushing upward under the attentive gaze of the audience. From a five-story, 0.65-hectare base rises a series of buildings that gradually taper before the corner sections merge into a central structure that extends like a telescope to a height of 86 floors. The structure continues to rise, imperceptibly turning into an antenna.

The sense of plasticity emanating from this gigantic object, firmly rooted in the ground and at the same time directed towards the sky, is enhanced by the repeating rows of modular windows, grouped horizontally, but also aligned vertically, which emphasizes the direction of empty and filled spaces and creates a recognizable ornamental motif.

The forms of the Empire State Building, closely associated with Art Deco, are revealed from a completely unexpected side and from completely unexpected angles. First of all, one can see the triumphal, but partly threatening image of the Tower of Babel; then cinematic images of the era, like the fantastic structures from Fritz Lang's film Metropolis, and images from comic books: and finally, fantastic images of the city of the future, drawn by Hugh Ferriss.

It is important to emphasize that the extreme vertical orientation of the Empire State Building was the result of changes in the rules governing urban development in Manhattan. In order to equalize the rights of individual citizens who built houses on their own land with the rights of those who agreed with the need to build high-rise buildings, two types of structures were developed, depending on the location of construction.

The first was a kind of ziggurat, when the building was built with ledges, but up to a certain height, while the second, with a clearly defined central section, could, theoretically, rise to any height - these were skyscrapers with a central tower, or “bell tower,” which replaced the old ones. “vertically oriented” high-rise buildings.

The Empire State Building, along with the Seagram Building, is a landmark of midtown New York, just as the Twin Towers were a landmark of downtown, providing breathtaking views of the city and its surrounding landscape from their observation decks.

The Empire State owed its success at the beginning of its “career” to the latter circumstance. Its owners had difficulty finding companies willing to rent office space. Fortunately, the observation decks, which became a place of pilgrimage for tourists, saved the building from imminent bankruptcy. Considering that the construction of the building and its commissioning occurred during the years of the banking collapse and the subsequent Great Depression, from which America recovered only after World War II, achieving prosperity for the Empire State Building was far from easy.

The symbol of the city

After the skyscraper was built, there were so few tenants in the 186,000 m2 of total space that it was nicknamed the “Empty State Building.” But now more than 15,000 employees work in offices there and receive countless visitors. If you climb to the observation deck in one minute, you can look around at the surroundings at a distance of up to 128 kilometers.

Until 1972, the building remained the tallest in the world, then the infamous World Trade Center towers were built.

Even if it was not an ideal investment from a financial point of view, it was a huge success as a symbol of America. Hollywood eagerly began to exploit it - interiors, viewing terraces and views from them appear in all their splendor in films such as “King Kong” (filmed in 1933, when construction had just closed), “On the Town” (1949) , Empire (directed by Andy Warhol in 1964) and Manhattan (directed by Woody Allen in 1979). His role in these films was the main one: a gymnastic platform for the exercises of a giant gorilla, a backdrop against which a love story unfolds, a stage for an experimental theater of the absurd.

The Empire State is so popular that it is almost humanized in the minds of many New Yorkers and some marginalized artists. In his paintings, M. Vriesendorp exaggerates many of the features of skyscrapers and endows them with human qualities. Here is the plot of the most famous of them: Rockefeller Center opens the bedroom doors and, to his amazement, finds the masculine Empire State Building and the feminine, elegant Chrysler Building in the same bed. The bedspread is painted with a city plan of Manhattan. The Statue of Liberty plays the role of a night light, and other skyscrapers peer curiously through the bedroom window.

Built for purely advertising purposes rather than out of any practical necessity, the Empire State Building, more than other skyscrapers of its generation, succeeded in its role as a standard-bearer and symbol of the American dream. His image was replicated in countless advertising projects, and, together with images of the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center and the Statue of Liberty, rose - on a planetary scale - to the level of an icon.

The appearance in the relatively young city of Las Vegas of skyscrapers tailored according to the New York model testifies to the wide popularity and triumph of this model, designed to symbolize the imperial state (New York) and continues to this day to represent the paradoxical spiritualism of the financial power of capitalism.