Forbes explains :. One of the first skyscrapers was designed and built by Bradford Lee Gilbert in It was designed to solve a problem of extremely limited space resulting from the ownership of an awkwardly shaped plot of land on Broadway in New York City.
Gilbert chose to maximize the value and potential occupancy of the small plot by building vertically. His foot structure was ridiculed in the press, with journalists hypothesizing that it might fall over in a strong wind.
Friends, lawyers and even structural engineers firmly discouraged the idea, warning that if the building did fall over, the legal bills alone would ruin him. To overcome the skepticism of both the press and his advisors, Gilbert took the top two floors for his personal offices.
Today, these monster buildings do actually have many of the same problems that Gilberts critics cited. Their answers are in this video.
The man behind the soon-to-be tallest tower, Adrian Smith, says in the video that elevators are the real issue. The Atlantic Cities:. Somewhat of a theoretical practice, the design team identified between 8 and 10 inventions that would have had to take place to build a building that tall. Not innovations, Johnson says, but inventions, as in completely new technologies and materials. An average house weighs about 50 tons, and a good foundation keeps it from sinking, tilting, or shifting.
Movement isn't the only concern. A good foundation will also keep out moisture, improving the thermal efficiency of your home. Plus, a home's foundation is integral to its value. Foundation damage can result in a 30 percent loss in market value. This means your building foundation is critical to both structural stability and financial equity.
Just like skyscrapers, residential foundation depth and design vary significantly. Deep foundations are common in the Northeast where construction must reach below the frost line. This is why full basements are common in the colder regions.
Other home foundations have a narrow crawl space below the home. The shallowest foundation is a concrete slab that's poured directly at ground level. It's usually about a four or six-inch deep concrete mat with gravel underneath for drainage. This concrete depth provides a stark contrast between a residential foundation and a skyscraper foundation.
In a home, the concrete mat may only be a half of a foot deep, but the Burj Khalifa in Dubai has a foot deep concrete mat. Your home foundation may be underground, but there are telltale structural signs of foundation damage so you can know how your foundation is performing even though you can't see it.
The first thing to look for is cracks in the interior walls or exterior concrete block. Skyscrapers also need a big base, which limits their space saving potential. A unique Y-shaped design with a hexagonal core and three wings has been used to create perfect stability. The biggest problem, though? It looks like something went wrong. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service technologyreview.
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