“Plyscrapers”

Clearstory

This Old House

History, Home & Garden, Leisure

4.9 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2021

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Skyscrapers tell the stories of cities around the world. These massive columns of steel and glass continue to be feats of advanced building technologies, innovation and design, especially as super-tall structures push the limits of just how high we can go. But is it possible to build skyscrapers out of … wood? Host Kevin O’Connor speaks to architect Michael Green and Lynn Osmond, president and CEO of the Chicago Architecture Center, about building tall with one of our original building materials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:27.9	slash UK slash AI for people. It was 1853. The World's Fair opened in New York City, and people came from around the globe to see ingenuity at work.
0:42.0	President Franklin Pierce was in attendance, and the band played Yankee Doodle Dandy.
0:50.6	P.T. Barnum, the showman and founder of Barnum and Bailey Circus, gathered a crowd.
0:56.6	And what he showed the audience would permanently change our buildings, our cities, and our way of life.
1:04.5	I think there were a lot of Oz and gas as he actually demonstrated the elevator, and people thought he was going to crash.
1:11.6	He was Elijah Otis.
1:13.6	And as Barnum riled up the crowd, Otis stood on top of a wooden platform, connected to pulleys and a wagon spray.
1:21.6	It was a mobile elevator, all inside of a wooden frame.
1:26.6	Otis was hoisted up 50 feet to the top of the contraption.
1:31.6	Then he ordered the holding rope to be cut.
1:36.5	Just use that magical stop button and he stopped.
1:40.6	I think it was a bit jerky, but it stopped and people were really amazed, and I think it gave great confidence if the guy who invented the elevator demonstrated it.
1:49.6	That was pretty exciting.
1:52.0	Otis's elevator dropped just a few inches before stopping.
1:55.8	He had invented an automatic safety brake.
1:59.2	Now, the elevator wasn't new, but a safe elevator that didn't
2:03.0	suddenly plunge to the floor killing riders, that was new. And it inspired confidence to build
2:09.4	higher and higher. So the evolution of our tallest buildings, that's been driven by technology in materials and engineering.
2:20.3	And current technology just might allow us to build even higher with one of the oldest materials, wood.
2:28.3	So the question is, would you feel safe in a 50-story wooden skyscraper?
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