Happy 4th of July from RISA! Wishing all our U.S. neighbors a happy holiday weekend!
As we commemorate the United States’ 250th birthday, RISA celebrates the country’s longstanding spirit of innovation. This spirit is clearly visible in the evolution of our structures and city skylines.
Over the past 250 years, advancements in materials, construction methods, and structural analysis have transformed how buildings are designed and built. Today, finite element analysis (FEA) tools, including RISA, allow engineers to analyze complex behavior, iterate quickly, and design more efficient structural systems with confidence.
Long before modern computing, engineers were already achieving remarkable feats. One of the most iconic examples of pushing the boundaries is the Empire State Building.
The Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world when completed in 1930. The structure consists of a steel moment frame which was the primary structural system used in the early 20th century. It was the first building to exceed 100 stories, 10 times the height of the first modern skyscraper built just 50 years earlier.
The construction schedule also set records with 4-½ stories built per week resulting in only a 13 month construction schedule. For comparison, Chicago’s Willis Tower, another steel framed building that held the title of tallest building in the world, is only 200 feet taller and took more than twice as long to build.
Today, the skylines look a bit different. The Empire State Building remains the 10th tallest building in the United States with a new generation of buildings rounding out the top 10 tallest buildings in the United States.
Name |
Location |
Height (ft) |
Year Completed |
|
One World Trade Center Central Park Tower Willis Tower 111 West 57th Street One Vanderbilt 432 Park Avenue Trump International Hotel and Tower 270 Park Avenue 30 Hudson Yards Empire State Building |
New York, NY New York, NY Chicago, IL New York, NY New York, NY New York, NY Chicago, IL New York, NY New York, NY New York, NY |
1,776 1,550 1,450 1,428 1,401 1,396 1,389 1,388 1,296 1,250 |
2013 2019 1973 2021 2019 2014 2008 2025 2019 1930 |
Unlike the Empire State Building, today's tallest structures are designed with the help of advanced computing, enabling entirely new scales and shapes of buildings. Modern FEA software enables engineers to model real-world behavior. Tools like RISA continue to improve design by helping engineers evaluate complex behavior, refine conservative assumptions, and optimize structural systems.
As technology continues to advance, the definition of what’s possible in structural design keeps expanding. RISA is proud to play a role in supporting engineers as they take on the next generation of challenges and continue to shape our skylines.
Whether admiring the innovations of a city skyline or lounging poolside, RISA wishes you all a great holiday weekend!