----帝国大厦的前世今生//----

AD经典：帝国大厦

AD Classics: Empire State Building / Shreve Lamb and Harmon

即使在高楼林立的曼哈顿 ， 帝国大厦也比其周边的建筑高出许多 。 自1931年竣工以来 ， 帝国大厦一直是美国最具标志性的建筑之一 ， 并保持着世界上最高的建筑记录 ， 直到40年后世贸中心双子塔在曼哈顿市中心落成 。 帝国大厦建设在大萧条的初期 ， 雇佣了成千上万的工人 ， 并且需要大量的物质资源 ， 这不仅仅是商业利益所驱动的：帝国大厦是一座“耸立于天地之间”的美利坚合众国的纪念碑 。

Even in Manhattan—a sea of skyscrapers—the Empire State Building towers over its neighbours. Since its completion in 1931 it has been one of the most iconic architectural landmarks in the United States standing as the tallest structure in the world until the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were constructed in Downtown Manhattan four decades later. Its construction in the early years of the Great Depression employing thousands of workers and requiring vast material resources was driven by more than commercial interest: the Empire State Building was to be a monument to the audacity of the United States of America “a land which reached for the sky with its feet on the ground.”