Evolution of the City: Skyscrapers in 19th-Century Chicago
This paper discusses the development of the skyscraper (steel frame-supported structure) in Chicago, and how different architects latched onto this new idea in construction. It enumerates the "form vs. function" debate that differentiates the Chicago school from the Neo-Classical architects who designed the Art Institute and many other public buildings during the end of the 19th century. It also explains most of the major innovations resulting from steel-frame construction, and how they related to the function of buildings in society as well as "buildings qua buildings."
