Reaching For The Sky

Debates about the significance, efficacy and even the morality of tall structures, especially skyscrapers have been raging since the building type was invented in Chicago more than a hundred years ago. There were fear of heights (ironically, the architect of the WTC, Minoru Yamasaki, was slightly acrophobic one reason why the windows were so narrow) and fear of fire (that many people legitimately experience in high structures). But the recent terrorist attacks on WTC, renewed the debate that these types of structures make ideal targets for terrorists stable, highly visible and big [Subramanian (2002)]. In spite of the debate many tall structures are under construction and many countries are vying to have the world’s tallest structure in their own soil.