Amazon.com Review
A confluence of technology (the elevator), social change (the increase in the number of office workers), and geology (a downtown limited in area by surrounding water) transformed New York City from an expanse of low buildings to a forest of skyscrapers. Landau, an art history professor at New York University, and Condit, a professor emeritus of art history at Northwestern, explore the development of the skyscraper from the 1868 Equitable Building, the first to use elevators for people rather than freight, to the Woolworth Building, which was called the "Cathedral of Commerce" and for which President Woodrow Wilson traveled to New York to activate the building's lights during its grand opening.
From Publishers Weekly
"Before us is spread the most exciting, wonderful and instructive view to be had on our continent.... Certainly not elsewhere in all New York can such an unobstructed bird's-eye view be had." The New York Sun was not referring to the World Trade Center but, in 1869, to the newly built eight-story Equitable Building, the tallest commercial building of its time. It is also one of the first skyscrapers covered in this scholarly work. The raw energy and burgeoning commerce of New York in the late 19th century, the tremendous egos and avaricious appetites of the CEOs and speculators that gave rise to these monuments, along with the political and public controversy surrounding them, give this book both meat and spice. Chronicling building construction from the pre-skyscraper days of the 1860s, through the extraordinary growth period of the 1890s, it culminates with the Woolworth building and, coming full circle, with the "new" Equitable building, completed in 1915. The most fascinating details concern the unprecedented feats of engineering. The invention of the elevator, the complex foundations needed for such heavy structures, the evolution of fireproofing, the development of iron and steel structures (which lightened masonry loads and radically diminished the wall dimensions needed to support such great heights), combined with the architect's and entrepreneur's vision to make skyscrapers possible. Extensively illustrated with 206 photographs, this is a delight to read. Despite it's size it would have also been useful for walking tours, had it included a quick reference to remaining sites.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Readers without a grounding in the basics of architectural engineering may feel somewhat left behind by Landau (art history, NYU) and Condit's (art history, Northwestern) ranging study of New York skyscrapers. Early on, explanation of heating, elevators, iron framing, fireproofing, and other technical aspects of high-rise construction provides some of the needed background for the later discussion of trends, developments, and advances in skyscraper, but those unfamiliar with the cant of architecture might wish for a glossary. Much more than art history, this work combines an account of the rapidly advancing technology and the social changes that brought about the building boom in Manhattan during the latter half of the 19th century. Extensively illustrated with photographs and drawings of familiar edifices in older contexts and architectural gems long demolished, Rise of the New York Skyscraper is an elegant, exhaustive history that will appeal to specialists and knowledgeable readers. Essential for academic libraries, architectural collections, and libraries collecting in the history of New York City.?Adam Mazmanian, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
When future critics and historians take measure of ... the history of New York skyscrapers, Ms. Landau and Mr. Condit's account of the technical details will provide one important point of departure. -- The New York Times Book Review, Daniel Bluestone 
