In the mid-1880s, Chicago pulled off something nobody else had tried before by building a tall, metal-framed office tower called the Home Insurance Building. We’d call that a skyscraper today. It didn ...

One of Bertrand Goldberg’s twin Marina City towers being built in Chicago. When completed in 1968, the towers were the tallest reinforced concrete structures in the world. (Courtesy Geoffrey Goldberg) ...

In the late 19th century, Newark attempted to announce itself as a modern city by building upward. The Fireman’s Insurance Building dominated the skyline but suffered from awkward proportions and ...