Chicago's Skyscrapers

Season 15

Improvements in elevators and the creation of structural steel made skyscrapers possible.

Skyscrapers were an efficient way to organize businesses within one building. Though skyscrapers were born in New York, the method called Chicago Construction, developed by Chicago architects and engineers between 1880 and 1883, provided the basic structural system for building modern steel-and-glass office towers.

AIR DATE 1/13/03