Chrysler Building In The 1920s

The Roaring Twenties was an age that brought much political and social change to America, and specifically to New York. Throughout the 1920s, many Americans moved to cities to find work in factories and other businesses after World War I. After the war, real estate began to boom and tourism rose. This became an immediate cause for the expansions of highways and roads. During this period, newly developed technology allowed for the development of skyscrapers to be built, causing the establishment of the New York City, “Greatest City in the World”. The limited available land inspired many architects and builders to compete for the title for the world’s tallest building. After the completion of the Chrysler Building, many architects felt inspired to follow in the footsteps of this building. The Chrysler Building became a major reason for tourism in New York City. In 1921, talks began about the development of the Chrysler Building. It wasn 't until 1928 when developer William H. Reynolds, a former New York State Senator, hired William Van Alen to build the site between 42nd and 43rd Street in New York City. Originally, William H. Reynolds plan was to build a penthouse design for the five-story building located at 405 Lexington Avenue. However, Reynolds disregarded those plans and asked Van Alen to Reynolds scrap those plans and asked him …show more content…
With competition on being the tallest building in the world, Van Alen had his workers secretly assemble a twenty-seven-ton steel tip, or vertex, which exceeded the height of its competition and even surpassed the height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Although it did become the tallest building in the world, that prize would soon be lost the next year when the Empire State Building was created. The Empire State Building would total 202 feet taller than the Chrysler Building (Chrysler Building,