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Cass Gilbert's Woolworth Building

Elevated to New Heights: The Woolworth Building and the Elevator

Rising sixty stories above Broadway, the Woolworth Building remains an iconic building on Manhattan’s skyline. The skyscraper was commissioned by Frank Woolworth, a businessman known for his “Five and Dimes” variety stores. Designed by Cass Gilbert, the Woolworth Building was the tallest building in the world when it opened in 1913. It would hold that status for seventeen years until the Chrysler Building and 40 Wall Street opened their doors in 1930.

Construction of the massive building was an impressive feat of engineering. It became a “benchmark in the sophisticated application of a range of innovative building technologies.”[1] One of the most notable innovations was the use of the gearless traction elevator. The implementation of this new technology led the Woolworth Building to have a lasting impact on the construction of skyscrapers from the 1900’s onwards.
 
[1] Fenske, Gail. The skyscraper and the city: the Woolworth Building and the making of modern New York. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2014): 7

Ray Li

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