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Introduction
The Empire State Building is an engineering and architectural feat of its time. One of the most remarkable landmarks in New York City, the Empire State Building is the tallest building that was built in the 1930s and held that position for more than 40 years until it was surpassed by the World Trade Center building in 1972. The Empire State Building was constructed as the backdrop of the Great Depression that happened right after the stock market crash of 1929. But despite the economic challenges, the builders were able to finish the construction in a record of one year and 45 days . In order to accomplish this feat, 7 million man hours was employed. With an average rate of 4 and a half stories per week, the construction of the Empire State Building was the fastest that was ever recorded relative to construction projects of similar scale. Its rapid construction process was even documented for publicity purposes. But underlying the rapid and efficient construction process, the Empire State Building is remarkable for its use of project management techniques that are, considerably, revolutionary during its time.
Historical Background
Two important technologies in the early 20th century made the construction of tall buildings possible; the availability of steel as a building material, which is a lighter and more flexible component than wood and concrete, and the invention of elevators, which allowed the transportation of people and materials into higher elevations ( High-Rise Building Definition, Development, and Use 5). Prior to the invention of steel frames in the 1870s, traditional builders were constrained by the construction materials available. It is, for instance, necessary to increase the thickness of the walls as well as to increase the thickness of the foundation in order to support the weight of an additional story ( High-Rise Building Definition, Development, and Use 5). Constrained by the weight of their walls, most traditional buildings build upon masonry could not go more than 12 stories high as local building codes restricts their height. Steel frames, on the other hand, can carry more weight in proportion to its own weight, which allowed builders to do away with load bearing walls. Without the load bearing walls, builders were able to increase the height of the building significantly. Considered as the world’s first skyscraper, the first building to have reached the height of 10 stories is the Home Insurance Building in Chicago in 1885 ( High-Rise Building Definition, Development, and Use 9). In the early 1900s, an unprecedented boom in skyscraper building emerged in American cities; most notably in New York, where many of the highest skyscrapers in America can be found. One of the first buildings to have reached more than 10 stories high is the 22-story high Flatiron Building, which was built in 1903 followed by the 187 meters, 47-story, Singer Building, which was built in 1908. In just a year later, this height was exceeded by the Metropolitan Life Tower with 50 stories at a height of 213 meters ( High-Rise Building Definition, Development, and Use 10). In 1913, the Woolworth Building was completed and became the tallest at 241 meters height with 57 stories. For two decades, the Woolworth Building remained the tallest in the world until it was surpassed by the 319 meters, 77-story, Chrysler Building in 1930. According to observers, during the time when the Chrysler Building was under construction, there was a close rivalry between developers on who would be able to build the tallest building in the world that they even resort to trickery. One of Chrysler Building’s rival projects was the Bank of Manhattan building, which was designed to surpass the planned height of Chrysler by two feet. However, the architect of the Chrysler building is secretly assembling a spire inside the building to be hoisted at the end of construction. Accordingly, “in only 90 minutes the Chrysler building usurped the Bank of Manhattan for the title of tallest building in the world”. But even before the Chrysler Building was completed, plans to create the tallest building in the world were already underway. This building will turn out to be the 381 meters, 102 stories, Empire State Building, which would dominate Manhattan’s skyline for more than four decades.
Figure 1. Height of the Empire State Building in comparison to other skyscrapers in the world today.
Architectural Design
The Empire State Building is a product of the modern architectural movement that dominated the designs of high-rise buildings in the early 19th century. Its prevalent design feature can be described as the Art Deco style, which became popular in the 1920s. The primary designer of the Empire State Building was the American architect, William Frederick Lamb, a partner of the architectural firm, Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, which was commissioned to build the Empire State Building. Lamb studied architecture in at Columbia University and went on to study in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts wherein he received a diploma in 1911. After studying in Paris, Lamb worked with the architectural firm, Carrère & Hastings and later became a partner in 1920. It is interesting that Lamb preferred the more modern, Art Deco style than the Beaux-Arts architecture that he learned in Paris. It should be noted though that Art Deco architecture offers many advantages to high-rise buildings, particularly when it comes to practicality and functionality. Art Deco was coined after the ‘Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et lndustriels in Paris in 1925. One of the striking features of Art Deco is its streamlined geometric design. A design can be categorized as Art Deco through its emphasis on horizontal and vertical lines, repetitive patterns and symmetry. As observed by experts, “Art Deco can be seen as either trying to scale vertically to reach the heavens or to spread laterally long and low to embrace the horizontal”. The popularity of the Art Deco style can be attributed to important considerations that confronted architects during the time. According to observers, many architects became increasingly dissatisfied with the use of excessive decorative elements that have little or no significance to the function and purpose of the building. The simple geometric design associated with the Art Deco provided an advantage in the utilization of space and is a significant factor in the speed of construction. Also known as the ‘skyscraper style,’ the Art Deco became synonymous with the modernistic movement in architecture during the time. In fact, many skyscrapers that were built during the period followed the Art Deco architecture. Aside from the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building is considered as one of the best examples of Art Deco architecture. Another common trait of the skyscraper architecture during the time is the use of setbacks. Most likely, this design is influenced both by the designers’ desire for stability as well as the restrictions set by the city’s building codes. Skyscrapers cover a large portion of the city under its shadow. For the same reason, a New York City zoning law of 1916 was adopted, which “forbade any buildings over a certain height to occupy the same amount of area at the top of the structure as compared to their base” (The Art Deco Movement and Definition 16). In effect, most of the skyscrapers that were built during the time must gradually reduce the area of its upper levels as the height of the building increases. Both the Chrysler and the Empire State Building, for instance, have a base that is broader than its middle and upper levels. With its stepped back structure, the concept behind Lamb’s design for the Empire State Building is quite simple. According to observers, Lamb “organized the space in the center of the building as compactly as possible containing vertical circulation, toilets, mail chutes, shafts and corridors, and as the height of the building increased, the size of the floors and number of elevators decreased”. This particular organization of space of the Empire State Building is designed to maximize the amount of natural light that gets inside the building. The non-rentable space that could not be reached by daylight is utilized for building amenities while the outer space that surrounds the building is utilized as rentable office space.
Figure 2. The stepped back design of the Empire State Building.
Structural Design
The building’s foundation is made of piles, a technique that has been employed since the time of the Romans. Piles are made of long concrete or steel pillar that is driven beneath the soil to increase the soil’s bearing capacity. It is often installed when shallow foundations such as spread footings are insufficient to support a structure. The use of piles as foundation in skyscrapers is necessary since spread footing may not work considering that too much weight is being applied by the building in proportion to the area of its base ( High-Rise Building Definition, Development, and Use 7). The Empire State Building used steel to create a skeleton frame for its structural support. The building uses braced rigid frames and shear trusses, which provide excellent lateral load support (Ali & Kyoung, 209). Most buildings during the time, however, are over designed. With the absence of computer-aided structural analysis, designers are prone to the excessive use of structural materials (Ali & Kyoung, 206). One particular advantage of the over design, however, is the relative safety of the building and its occupants as compared to modern buildings that are designed with computer precision. In fact, the integrity of the Empire State Building was ultimately put to the test when a B-25 bomber plane of the U.S. army accidentally crashed into the north side of the building on the 79th floor. The plane exploded upon impact, killing 13 people and making a huge hole at the side of the building. But despite the explosion and fire produced by the accident, the structure remained intact with no serious structural issues.
Application of Scientific Management Principles
One of the most remarkable feats of the Empire State Building is the record time of its completion. In a building of its scale, no other building has surpassed the Empire State Building in terms of the speed of which it was completed. Since the building was commenced on March 17, 1930, the building became officially opened on May 31, 1931 with only one year and 45 days of construction. Such feat may not have been accomplished had it not been for the efficient management of the project. Many factors can cause delays in a construction project. Among the major delay factors are the weather; the material shortages; the many revisions of the building’s design; the ineffective communication, planning and scheduling; issues with labor unions and building code restrictions; and the lack of competent project managers (Dozzi & AbouRizk, 1). Except for the weather, most of these factors are manageable. The building of the Empire State Building reflected most modern project management principles that are currently observed today. In particular, the execution of the Empire State Building project reflects many principles that can be found in scientific and lean management theories. The emergence of scientific management in the early 1900s may have influenced the project management methods that were employed in building the Empire State Building. Developed by the American industrial engineer, Frederick Taylor, scientific management easily became a popular management method during the time. Being an industrial engineer employed to supervise production in a steel company, Taylor studied all aspects of production from labor to logistics in order to make the production process as efficient as possible. Taylor removed brainwork in the production area so that workers would only focus on following precisely the methods or the standard operating procedures that were employed. Scholars referred to this technique as the “separation of conception from execution,” which became a central idea in huge projects that employs many workers (Pruijit, H., 2000). The construction of the Empire State Building does not differ much from the activities involved in mass producing industries. Each of the people involved in construction has their own role to play, which should not overlap with each other. The designers plan while the labor executes. Apparently, before a construction project begins, the plans are already being laid out. Any revisions to the building plan are discussed by the designers so that labor will only execute what they are being told depending on their skill or line of job.
Application of Lean Management Principles
Time was a major consideration and a key driving force in the construction of the Empire State Building. From conception to execution, the designers must consider the requirement that the building should be completed by May 1, 1931. For the same reason, almost all aspects of the building are designed to speed-up construction, which is one of the primary motivations of the building’s stakeholders. It is remarkable how the builders of the Empire State Building employed Lean principles before the term ‘Lean’ were invented. As observed by scholars, “the Empire State Building was rooted in what has come to be referred as lean construction, and bears a close resemblance to the Lean Project Delivery System” (Ghosh & Robson, 1). Commonly associated with the Japanese manufacturing system, the Lean management is a modern project management approach that emphasizes the elimination of waste (Kilpatrick 2). Based on the Lean principles, wastes in production may manifest in wasted movement, delay, defects, overproduction, transportation inefficiencies and other non-value adding activities (Kilpatrick 2). In order for a production system to become efficient, these wastes must be eliminated or minimized. The builders of the Empire State Building approached the construction of the building in such perspective. In order to construct the building as fast as possible, all materials were made readily available and must be fabricated in a precise and detailed manner and in close proximity. According to observers, “Windows, spandrels, steel mullions and stone, all fabricated in various parts of the country, were designed so that they could be duplicated in tremendous quantity and brought into the building and put together almost like an automobile on the assembly line”. Even the choice of materials used in the interior and the façade of the building is designed in consideration of those materials that can be easily obtained. As the general contractor of the project, the construction firm, Starrett Brothers and Eken, was commissioned for the enormous task of organizing labor and equipment. Scheduling was one of the most crucial aspects of the construction. No time was wasted as every aspect of the construction was planned and foreseen. The site of construction is on the old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, which must be demolished before the foundations of the Empire State Building can be laid out. According to observers, the construction of the Empire State Building was in such a hurry that even before the demolition of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was complete, the excavation for the foundation of the Empire State Building has already taken place. With everything planned and executed according to details, the workers were able to build at a rate of four and a half story per week. The construction firm’s 3,500 workers of varied skills put in 7 million man-hours; regular days, holidays and overtime included . The efficiency by which the building was built was remarkable since the builders managed to complete the project three months ahead of schedule . Also, instead of spending $43 million as anticipated, the project only cost $24.7 million when it was completed .
Figure 3. Rising at the rate of four and a half story per week, the Empire State Building is one of the fastest construction feats that have been undertaken.
Construction Issues and Challenges
One of the major problems while the Empire State Building is being built is in worker’s safety and insurance. As seen in the construction documentaries, the workers of the Empire State Building have no protective gears or safety precautionary measures while they were working on the site. It is understandable, though, since during the time, worker safety is not a primary concern of most employers. However, over the years, employers and stakeholders begin to realize that safety is a major work problem that may cause damage, not only to the worker’s involved, but also to the organization. Depending on the extent of the accident involved, poor work safety can cause project delays and legal issues, which can be avoided with proper safety training and orientation. Problems in occupational safety have plagued many employers, particularly in the construction industry. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Organization (OSHA), the construction industry has the highest rate of fatal occupational injury than the rest of the industries in the United States . Apparently, there are many potential safety hazards that are present in a construction site than in other work environment. Safety hazards such as falling objects, scaffold collapse, falling from heights, electric shock and other safety issues that can cause fatal injuries are among the work hazards that a construction worker is exposed on a daily basis. This safety issue, however, can be significantly minimized by incorporating work safety practices. Consistent with international and local labor laws, modern construction firms should adhere to acceptable safety practices in order to protect the health and well-being of their workers. In the long-term, good work safety practices are mutually beneficial for employers and their employees alike.
Figure 4. With no safety harness or other safety measures, workers of the Empire State Building are in constant threat of injury or fatal accidents.
Conclusion
The construction of the Empire State Building has its precedence with two important drivers. One is the need to maximize the space of central business districts in urban centers and the other is to achieve the coveted honor of being the tallest building in the world. The booming economy in the late 19th century is marked by the rapid growth of American cities. Downtown areas become overly populated, which encouraged the emergence of skyscrapers. The invention of mechanical, electrical and plumbing amenities and equipment also contributed to the emergence of skyscrapers. Heating, lighting and air-conditioning technologies are already in existence and are already employed in buildings, which made the creation of skyscrapers possible. The availability of construction materials and technologies for making high-rise buildings is also a major factor for the growth of skyscrapers that led to the eventual construction of the Empire State Building. One of the most remarkable aspects of the building’s construction is the use of project management techniques that can be considered as revolutionary and way beyond the practices of the time. The employment of Taylor’s scientific management principles and the Lean management principles made the construction progress unprecedented even in today’s standards. Safety issues, however, is evident in the construction of the building, which could have been prevented if the builders have placed more emphasis on worker’s safety.
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