(Please be sure to check the comments for suggested corrections)
The other night I clicked on the list of the tallest buildings in each state and felt curious enough to identify a photo of each states' tallest building.
50. Wyoming, 49. Vermont, 48. Maine, 47. North Dakota, 46. South Dakota
45. New Hampshire, 44. Idaho, 43. Montana, 42. West Virginia, 41. Alaska
40. Kansas, 39. Delaware, 38. Mississippi, 37. South Carolina, 36. New Mexico
35. Utah, 34. Rhode Island, 33. Hawaii, 32. Virginia, 31. Alabama
30. Arizona, 29. Maryland, 28. Connecticut, 27. Arkansas, 26. Oregon
25. Kentucky, 24. Wisconsin, 23. Nevada, 22. Tennessee, 21. Iowa
20. Missouri, 19. Nebraska, 18. Oklahoma, 17. Louisiana, 16. Colorado
15. Michigan, 14. New Jersey, 13. Florida, 12. Massachuesetts, 11. Minnesota
10. Indiana, 9. North Carolina, 8. Washington, 7. Pennsylvania, 6. Ohio
5. Texas, 4. California, 3. Georgia, 2. New York, 1. Illinois
After taking all the time to locate/download all these images (really, it took a bit longer than I thought it would when I started) I think it would be really neat if you could somehow merge the images with some sort of spreadsheet so you could sort the images in ways that would be useful (e.g. sort the photos by age, by state population, etc.)… or somehow represent that the tallest building in the US (Sears Tower) is just shy of being 10 times the size of the tallest building in Wyoming (State Capital). But alas, I'm merely the supplier, not the salesperson. That job is for someone else.
I was able to figure out how to break them into groups of 5 - starting with the shortest and ending with the tallest - and you can click on each image for links to background info / the image source.
Filed under Favorite Posts, Architecture, Special Projects with 15 Comments
|15 Responses to “Images of the Tallest Building in Each State”
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February 6th, 2006 at 12:22 am
very cool
February 6th, 2006 at 11:59 am
this is really neat.
February 6th, 2006 at 4:49 pm
did you spend time to look at the architects and see who has the most. I noticed California and Mass are i.m Pei and a couple are by Cesar Pelli.
It'd be interesting to know who has the most.
February 6th, 2006 at 7:28 pm
Damn Minnesota, You gonna let Indiana beat you???
February 6th, 2006 at 7:42 pm
Nice move using a photo with the art museum in milwaukee.
February 6th, 2006 at 8:50 pm
how many of these building names contain the word "CHASE?"
February 7th, 2006 at 10:37 am
Thanks for the comments guys. It was a fun project. There are so many ways to sort and categorize the buildings (e.g. by architect, by population, strength of business district, etc.) I thought it was interesting that buildings sort of fit into one of three time periods - 1985-present, about 1975-1985, and then pre-depression era.
From there you can really draw conclusions on who the star architects are in each era of tower design.
The idea of a tall buildings list (with photos) is so interesting, because it will change over time.
The Sears Tower will no longer be the tallest. Many cities have taller buildings under construction or planned.
I guess this is still a building boom era for towers - which brings up the other issue that towers are not in fact dead after 9/11. This was a concern of many urbanists and architects - that noone would want to live / work in a tower.
At the heart of it, I'm glad to see that the The US still does towers. It doesn't do the tallest of the tallest anymore - but it still does the most towers. And the concept of the central business district (the downtown) matters.
It's sort of an old model of urban planning for the new US city - the dense downtown - because its benefits (primarily that time - and time savings - are so crucial to commerce that business will pay more to be near the customers, which drives up land costs, so "custormers can reach you in shorter time") are so counterintuitive to modern business life (now that we have the internet and so many people live in suburban areas).
Maybe the reemmergence of downtown living will drive the demand for high rents in dense areas (and as such, drive the demand for towers).
Aketarak - your comments bring up a whole other question.
How buildings are named. it used to be that companies build their own buidings (think woolworth, chrysler, and even sears building). How often to companies actually building buildings anymore - or do developers building buildings and they buy the naming rights (or lease enough space that their name gets on the building).
I know, it still happens alot (companies and banks build towers) - but building names also change. For a while the building I work in bore the name of the company that downsized and moved to another buidling (i.e. The Kinard Company moved to another building, but the building still had the same name of Kinard).
Now the building I work in is just called the "Internation Centre II", which doesn't say much because there I'm not sure if there is a connection to anything international in the building.
June 3rd, 2007 at 9:11 am
Of course, you know that the IDS Center is not the tallest building in Minneapolis. Someone who is into buildings will know the story and about the resulting scandal. If not, then ask me.
-john-
June 4th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
John - Thanks! Yes, I am aware of the story of the tallest building in Minneapolis.
I've received similar feedback on a handful of other buildings in other states.
It seems interesting to me that is not entirely clear what the tallest building is in each state.
What seems like a clear objective measurement can be murkier than one might expect! How do you measure something like the height of a building?
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:08 am
I really like the building in Nashville, Tennessee. According to Emporis it is known as the "Batman Building"!
June 28th, 2007 at 7:09 am
I like the building in Nashville too! It is soon to be dwarfed by Signiture Tower which, in my opinion, looks even neater.
July 18th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
The tallest building in Alabama is RSA towers in Mobile. Its height is 227m. In rank wise it would be in 15th place I guess.
July 18th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Thanks Sree V!
This is a link to the Signature Tower website (comment #11)
August 10th, 2007 at 9:55 am
I think the tallest building in Wyoming might be one of the dorms of the University in Laramie. It sure looks taller than the Wyoming state capitol..
January 28th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Hey, i don't know if you planned to update this ever or not, but the tallest building in Pennsylvania is now the Comcast Center not Liberty Place.