Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is an Art Deco skyscraper located on Manhattan Island in New York. It is situated in the Midtown area at 350 Fifth Avenue, between 33rd and 34th Streets. Inaugurated on May 1, 1931, it measures 381 meters (443.2 with the antenna) and has 102 floors. It is currently the tallest building in New York City (a position it regained following the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, which destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center) and the third tallest in the Americas, behind two towers in Chicago, the Willis Tower and the Trump Tower. The Empire State Building was for decades the tallest building in the world. It takes its name from the nickname of the state of New York, The Empire State. This same "nickname" also appears on automobile license plates.

The Empire State Building is a characteristic building of the New York skyline and ranks among the most famous symbols of New York, much like the Eiffel Tower in Paris. On the 86th floor, a public observatory offers an impressive panoramic view of New York. The top of the building is illuminated according to various events on the calendar, from the American national holiday to the New York marathon.

The most famous depiction of the building is undoubtedly in the 1933 film King Kong, in which the giant gorilla climbs it to escape from pursuing airplanes. However, the Empire State Building appears in many films and television series set in New York, such as Friends and Sex and the City, where it appears in transition scenes.
The plans for the Empire State Building were created by the architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon. The chief architect, William Lamb, described the project assigned to him in these words:

“The program can be summed up in a few lines: fixed budget, no more than 8.5 meters between the window and the corridor, and as many floors as possible. Limestone façade and completion date of the work on May 1, 1931, which means a deadline of a year and a half from the drafts of the plans. ”

A skyboy, a worker working on the construction site of the Empire State Building, with no protection above the void. In the background, the Chrysler Building.

The plans were completed in just two weeks and were inspired by those of the Reynolds Building, which had been created by the same architectural firm, and the Carew Tower, located in Cincinnati, which had been designed by architect Walter W. Ahlschlager. The construction was overseen by Starrett Brothers and Eken. The project was financed by John J. Raskob (former executive of General Motors), who had created, in 1929, in partnership with Coleman du Pont, Louis G. Kaufman, and Ellis P. Earle, Empire State Inc. The construction was thus supervised by Alfred E. Smith, former Democratic governor of New York State and unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1928, appointed president of the company by Raskob

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