3, It Became Quite Evident That The Motive To Build The Tallest Building Was

3, it became quite evident that the motive to build the tallest building was quite often a prestige issue more than anything else.
The Chrysler wanted to show in supremacy in the automotive world and built a crown of aluminium to demonstrate that to the world.
To show that is it the largest insurance company in the world, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company commissioned the world's tallest building.
Woolworth wanted to flaunt of its richness and built and luxurious building without any mortgage.
The Park Row in New York saw a number of tallest towers by newspapers, each trying to prove that it is bigger than the rest.
Owning the world's tallest building is very obviously something to be proud of. If the company is in a business where image is a mater of prime importance, then it is also something that can be used as a strong marketing tool. The building can even turn up being the icon of the company.
Determinant Factors
The History of skyscrapers is marked by major developments in technology that have made the creation and use of such tall buildings possible. There are developments in steel construction, in lifts design, in fire engineering and other structural engineering advancements that have made it possible to build so tall. They have also made it possible to make those building practical and attractive.
Steel
Right from the start, skyscrapers existed only because of steel use in construction. A concrete or masonry building built so tall would result in a base so thick that it would be impossible to use. It is not commonsense to have walls that occupy more space than the room they provide. It is not aesthetically pleasing either. Wrought iron and later steel brought new life to the development of tall buildings. The great difference in strength permitted slender shaped buildings to provide large areas. The airy look that resulted from a steel structure was appreciated by many architects and used intelligently in tall buildings. Steel has its weaknesses as well but masonry or concrete were used to cover those areas of weakness. Thus, hybrid systems were common where both steel and concrete were used.
When a house or low rise is built, the major concern in design is the weight of the structure. But as building grow in height; other lateral effects such as wind came into play. It was no longer sufficient to make every piece sit on the one below. Now, it was also important to tie things down because despite their weight, wind could produce uplifts that would put parts of the structure in tension. Concrete is very poor at resisting tension and steel had to come to the rescue.
The development of steel originates form the development and cats iron in buildings. Cast iron was used primarily in ships and boilers before. Because of its amazing strength to mass ratio, many builders became interested in cast iron.