The perennial appeal of penthouse and loft living.
In 1884, the world’s first skyscraper was completed. Designed by William Le Baron Jenney, the Home Insurance Building in Chicago was only 10 storeys tall, but its innovative steel frame transformed cosmopolitan architecture forever. In those days, urban expansion was driven upward by increasing real-estate values in land-poor areas such as downtown Chicago and Manhattan. Today, however, high-rises have taken on a more symbolic standing as each country races to construct the loftiest structure in existence. Naturally, the allure of the penthouse has risen with the buildings. After all, is there any greater status symbol than occupying the uppermost floors of one of the pinnacles of human enterprise?
By: Mercedes Hutton
Photography: Frank Ouderman, Charlie Xia and Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen
These soaring structures are pieces of art in their own right.
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