The Empire State Building in New York rises in sharp geometric lines and metal trim. To the tip of its antenna it stands 1,454 feet (443 meters).
Work begins on March 17, 1930, in the middle of the Great Depression.
The steel frame climbs about four and a half floors every week. No one waits for a floor to finish before the next one starts. The build runs like a factory line.
On the busiest days about 3,400 workers fill the site.
How long does the whole job take?
It ends in 410 days, ahead of schedule. The official opening comes on May 1, 1931.
There is an odd detail.
The top was first meant as a dock for airships, not only as the crown of the tower.
From that opening it stays the world's tallest building for 39 years, until the World Trade Center towers go up in 1970.
And those 1,454 feet?
That is the Eiffel Tower plus about a third — offices, elevators, and steel, raised in a little more than a year.
The height keeps the title for decades.
The pace wins it in year one.
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