What is the spire on the Empire State Building for?
2. ITS ICONIC SPIRE WAS DESIGNED AS A PORT FOR DIRIGIBLES. Following completion of the design for what was intended to be a 1050-foot-tall skyscraper, construction chairman and former New York State Governor Al Smith decided to tack on an additional 200 feet for good measure.
Did the Hindenburg dock at the Empire State Building?
“The notion that passengers would be able to descend an airport-style ramp from a moving airship to the tip of the tallest building in the world, even in excellent conditions, beggars belief,” notes the Times. At the time, no airship had docked at the Empire State Building.
What is on the top floor of the Empire State Building?
The 102nd floor of the Empire State Building has an enclosed observation deck with large floor-to-ceiling windows on all sides, giving visitors a 360-degree view of the city. This is the highest observatory in the building, and visitors access it through a one-of-a-kind glass elevator.
When was the spire added to the Empire State Building?
1931
In 1931, when the Empire State Building was completed, the distinctive spire stood decorated with Art Deco sculptural aluminum wings and multi-story illuminated glazed lanterns.
Who designed Empire State Building?
Shreve, Lamb & Harmon
Empire State Building/Architecture firms
With the foundation of the Empire State Building Corporation and his new role as its president, Smith announced the plans for the record-breaking building on August 29, 1929. Its architects, Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates, designed a building that would surpass 100 stories.
What is on the top floor of the Empire State building?
What was the purpose of the Empire State Building’s mooring mast?
Pictured above is an illustration from Popular Mechanics that shows the Empire State Building’s proposed mooring mast. This mast was designed to act as a dock for dirigibles, or airships, who would be able to moor themselves to the top of the tower’s crown and load or unload passengers.
Was there a Zeppelin on the top of the Empire State Building?
Postcard showing a zeppelin moored to the top of the Empire State Building. The mooring mast idea was abandoned, but the spire was still built and can still be seen today. In the end, attaching a massive weathervane to the top of the Empire State Building just wasn’t practical.
Why isn’t there a weathervane on top of the Empire State Building?
In the end, attaching a massive weathervane to the top of the Empire State Building just wasn’t practical. The plans were abandoned, but the tower still got it’s signature mast atop the flat roof. Over time, four buttresses were added to its base, as well as a needle-like antenna to its top.
Would it be possible to build an airship to the Empire State?
Donald Friedman, a structural engineer who contributed an essay to the 1998 book “Building the Empire State,” edited by Carol Willis, said that strictly from a structural standpoint the notion of securing an airship to the Empire State Building, even at the very top, was a reasonable one.