Skyscraper: The Making of a Building

by Karl Sabbagh

A companion to a five-part PBS series takes a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of New York City skyscraper Worldwide Plaza--from the architects who designed it, to the construction workers who built it, to the community it transformed

Genres: Nonfiction, Engineering, Architecture, Science, History

Paperback

First published November 2, 1989

About the author

​Karl Sabbagh, founder and managing director of Skyscraper Publications, has written nearly a dozen books, ranging across topics as diverse as architecture, psychology, history, mathematics, fraud, Victorian boys’ papers, and the Middle East.​​ Some of his books are derived from major television documentary series he produced and directed; others are pieces of original non-fiction for a general readership. ​

From 2010 to 2012, he was managing director of Hesperus Press, an independent British publisher of minor classics, fiction in translation, and some original non-fiction. While at Hesperus, he acquired the UK rights to The Hundred-Year-Old Man who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, which has so far sold over 500,000 copies in the UK alone.
​
Skyscraper's unique programme draws on Karl's extensive experience as both author and publisher.

Reviews

[Frank Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I just read another book on building a skyscraper in the 1980s, but this was only 75 cents at the local book store so I couldn't turn it down.

While the other book proved that tax breaks and zoning regs were the essential components of a San Francisco skyscraper, this one shows that construction unions and the Mafia are the essential pieces of a New York skyscraper (or at least they were in the 80s). They determined the frame of the building (concrete workers wouldn't work with steel workers, so it was all steel), the order of construction (the mafia run company who rigged the granite bid took its sweet time), and the methods of measuring it (some obscure union requirement forbid using simple plumb lines to see if the building was going up straight).

This book focused on the technical side of building though, how steel and glass interact, how the bedrock is blasted, and they did a good job of it.

[Cole Beyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this books as part of a Sustainable Construction class in college, and this taught me about how buildings get made better than the textbook. Informative, easy to read, and without too much technical jargon, this book shows the whole process of how a skyscraper goes from conception to completion, all while giving you a glimpse into the working world of the construction industry. Highly recommend to those interested in construction or architecture.

[Harlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very pleasant memories of watching the PBS miniseries about the building of this building, in about 1990. I recently picked this book up cheap, hoping it would be as compelling, but I'm sad to say that it's not. The photos and drawings are amateurish (MacPaint?!), and the writing is unfocused and not very evocative. Still, there are some interesting transcripts of conversations with the builders and others, and it's a pretty nice building, after all.

[Angie]

I was reading it for school. It was fairly interesting, but not so much as to make me want to finish it when the semester was over. Plus, I got an old copy that fell apart at about the half way point.

[JP Villalobos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book written about the life of a skyscraper, architects, engineers, developers, governmental entities, contractors, citizens, a behind the scenes look on everyone involved building a skyscraper in New York. Again as an architect, truly enjoyed.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good book, it is difficult to get too into it but it is full of information and lessons learned from the project management point of view. I look forward to reading 21st century jet and watching the PBS series to see the people involved.