I have a report due, and I've tried many books jsut to find out why do some early skyscrapers such as the GE building, Woolworth, and American Radiator Buildings have Gothic crowns and details??? please reply as soon as you can... thanks!!!

• ID# 104.2 (reply to #104.1) - 13 Feb 1999
  They must have been rather uninformative books then ;^), as these buildings only followed a pattern common at the time when they were built: a distinct architectural language of high-rise architecture had not been universally adapted, and the themes from past styles like Renaissance, Greek Classicism or Gothic were usually used in skyscrapers of that time.
  The powerful, soaring themes of Gothic were especially suitable for skyscraper architecture as they brought prestige and a sense of majesticity to the building. The decorative themes were merely an adaptation of the style's features, like the RCA Victor Building's flaming grilles, which were direct French late-Gothic of the Flamboyant era. ED

• ID# 104.3 (reply to #104.1)
  From: Frank Gerlak ([email protected]) - 20 Feb 1999

  An architectural form known as "Collegiate Gothic" was popular in the US in the early 20th Century. Quite possibly the gothic in skyscrapers came from this.
  As the skyscraper evolved, the classical orders of architecture were found to be unsuitable for high rise buildings as they were primarily horizontal styles. Out of the rejection of the classical styles, only the gothic style of the soaring cathedral from middle ages seemed suitable. When the Gothic style first evolved, its name meant "ugly" in the style of the Goth's or other "uncivilized" tribes roaming Europe at the time.
  As skyscraper design finally evolved in the mid to late 1920's, the skyscraper style was often referred to as "Skyscraper Gothic" or "American Perpendicular" or "American Perpendicular Gothic". The name "Art Deco" was not to be coined until 1966. Thus the skyscraper was still regarded as "gothic" even though, by 1929, it did not resemble its predecessor style.