“Cities in the Sky: The Quest To Build the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers” To Publish in May

Rutgers University Professor Jason M. Barr tells ELEVATOR WORLD his new book, “Cities in the Sky: The Quest to Build the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers,” will be published by Scribner Books on May 14. The book takes the reader on a tour of the world’s great cities — Chicago, NYC, London and Hong Kong to name a few — to see why they are building their skyscrapers and skylines. Along the way, the book busts myths and dispels misconceptions about tall buildings and dives into the reasons the world’s tallest buildings — notably those on the Arabian Peninsula and in mainland China — are getting taller and taller. The book begins in Chicago in the 1880s, moves on to NYC in the Roaring Twenties and then to post-World War II America. The last part of the book takes a global view and covers the good, bad and ugly of the skyscraper and predicts where we’re headed next. Look for a forthcoming review of the book in EW.