The Tall Building's Effect on Scale, Perspective

Myron Goldsmith is recognized as one of the great innovators of tall-building structure, stemming from his training in architecture and engineering. Although he was responsible for many notable projects during his long career at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Goldsmith is perhaps best known for his 1953 master’s thesis, “The Tall Building: The Effects of Scale,” in which he argued for new structural principles for very tall buildings. He proposed a range of new types, including a concrete “super frame” and a series of diagonally gridded steel-tube structures. This research led to the groundbreaking trussed tube of the SOM John Hancock Center (1965) and underpins many spectacular tall buildings, from Norman Foster’s Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (1986) to the China Central Television Headquarters by OMA (2010).