A New Way of Looking
from the guide Rise of the Modern City: Tall Buildings in MoMA's collection

During the early part of the twentieth century, the many advances in science and technology greatly influenced the everyday lives of ordinary people. Cities started to grow and change and in response to these dramatic changes, artists developed new ways of observing and documenting their environments.

Rise of the Modern City
from the guide Rise of the Modern City: Tall Buildings in MoMA's collection

At the turn of the century, technology and mechanical engineering advanced at a rapid pace. Society quickly moved away from handmade objects and toward machine-based production and this changed the way everything was built, including buildings.

Vertical Thinking
from the guide Rise of the Modern City: Tall Buildings in MoMA's collection

Cities were growing quickly at the turn of the twentieth century, and as a result architects began to design buildings with a vertical orientation. In 1853, Elisha Graves Otis introduced the world’s first safety elevator, which changed the shape of the modern world.

Exploring the Design Process
from the guide Rise of the Modern City: Tall Buildings in MoMA's collection

In 1954, Joseph E. Seagram & Sons announced that in celebration of its hundredth anniversary the company would build a corporate office building in New York City to house its headquarters. The Seagram Building became an icon of modern construction, setting the style for skyscrapers in New York for years to come.

Designing for the Future
from the guide Rise of the Modern City: Tall Buildings in MoMA's collection

In the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first, there was a shift in thinking about architecture. Some people believed that as structures grew taller and taller, they got more out of touch with the life of the city below.