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Rethink Society

Architecture · 50+2 series · Industry Changes Architecture

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1880s–1890s

When the City Learned to Grow Upward

The Chicago School

Historic photograph of Chicago's Home Insurance Building.
The Home Insurance Building, an early Chicago steel-frame skyscraper.Chicago Architectural Photographing Company · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · Source record

The Moment

Steel-frame construction, elevators and commercial development transformed urban height.

The Rethink

The city could grow vertically.