“The height of skyscrapers is limited by physical, economic and regulatory barriers, but we should want to overcome them and build taller.”
Steel frames and elevators solved the engineering by the late 1880s. Then cities stepped in. New York passed its first zoning code in 1916, Chicago capped buildings at 130 feet, and floor-area ratios still cap them today. The engineers can build higher. The zoning board says no.