The first skyscraper ever constructed was built in Chicago in the late 19th century. The whole skyscraper movement was "sparked" by the Chicago fire which destroyed the majority of the buildings in downtown because of their wood construction. Iron was fireproof which therefor made skyscrapers a logical answer to fireproofing. The ability to make skyscrapers was a new thing because of advancements in steel making and fireproofing made the creating of skyscrapers structural and safe. William Le Baron Jenney is considered the "Father of Skyscrapers" for being the architect of the first skyscraper in Chicago. He created a steel-framed building that made the building lighter, cheaper, and stronger than the original masonry construction techniques. One feature of the skyscraper was the "curtain walls". Usually made of terracotta or marble, these walls were not load bearing or essential to the building. These walls were only in place for the aesthetics of the building. Another feature of the non Load bearing walls was that they could be thinner, allowing the inside to be less claustrophobic, and also allowed for the addition of windows which before had only been able to be very small windows that didn't allow for much light or views. This set the precedent for later construction of skyscrapers and the techniques that were involved in the process.
New York City followed closely behind Chicago in the creation of their first skyscraper. The skyscraper was the Flatiron Building which was constructed in 1902 and still stands today. The building was model after the style used to create the building in Chicago. This style was called Chicago School and was the first real style in which to fashion a skyscraper and the intricate details that covered the aesthetic curtain wall. The Flatiron Building in New York was arguably more advanced than the building in Chicago because of the size of the Flatiron Building compared to the Chicago skyscraper. Jenney's building stood 10 stories tall at about 120 feet whereas the Flatiron Building in New York is 22 stories tall and an overall height of 285 feet. Trumping Jenney's smaller building the Flatiron Building became the leader in construction and size of skyscrapers of the age. Both of the buildings were used as office spaces that were non-residential but as the buildings get taller and the elevator comes into play companies will begin to only occupy the lower levels of the building and rent out the higher floors.
The Equitable Life Insurance Building in New York City was the first non commercial building to have a passenger elevator installed into the building. The Equitable Life Insurance Company held a contest for architects to design their office building. The only requirement in the contest was that the design of the building contain an elevator in the plans. When the winner was chosen and the building was constructed the company realized that they could make better use and profit off of the top floors if they were to rent them to people to live in. Now that the elevator was in place it wasn't a hassle to venture to the higher stories of the building and was actually more desirable. The top floors were more desirable because the higher you got in a building the farther away you got from the noise and the dirt of the street below. Making the top floor units more comfortable and peaceful. Though the building was only 7 1/2 stories tall the elevator was the major improvement that made things easier.
The original elevator was one that was steam-powered and was mostly used in commercial and industrial settings. The elevator was invented by Mr. Otis whose company still makes a majority of the elevators in today's society. It was initially used in order to make carrying heavy things from one floor to the next less of a struggle, especially as factories and industrial plants began to grow upwards when the cost of urban plots was high. The elevator was not used in the original skyscrapers because of its inefficiency. The fact that the elevator was steam-powered required that there always be a person feeding a fire under the boiler that produced the steam. And it was not until the creation of the first electric elevator that was practical and safe to put an elevator in a skyscraper.
The electric elevator was the only feasible way that an elevator could be installed in a commercial or residential skyscraper safely and effectively. The first electric elevator was built and tested in Germany in 1880. The creator of the electric elevator was Mr. Von Siemens whose company now makes elevators and medical equipment. The elevator was not put in any American buildings at first because they had not come up with a practical way to control the start and stop points of the elevator. They would not find a solution until the early 1890's when it would begin to be installed in some of the taller buildings that people began constructing.
The skyscraper and elevator were both two important creations that made the urban scene change dramatically. The increase in urban real estate costs was solved by making the buildings go up instead of out. And this was made practical by the invention of the elevator and the appeal it brought to being able to live on the higher levels of some of the new buildings. Overall the skyscraper and elevator are arguably the two most important inventions of the Gilded Age in the way that they still effect modern life in urban areas.
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