NOTE: the time on this class has been changed from the original time in the catalog. It is now 11:00am-12:40pm. If you do not wish to remain in the class, please contact Osher@pitt.edu.
This course will start with an examination of the factors that led to the appearance of tall buildings in American cities. Among those factors were the use of new materials such as iron and steel, new technologies such as the passenger elevator, and, finally, the economic pressures which made tall buildings practical. The remaining sessions will cover skyscraper development in chronological order: the late-19th and early-20th century, the period between the two world wars, mid-20th century, and recent trends.