“You don’t build [the world’s tallest] skyscraper to house people, or to give tourists a view, or even, necessarily, to make a profit. You do it to make sure the world knows who you are.”

-Paul Goldberger, American architecture critic, born 1950.

This quote was taken from Paul Goldberger’s New Yorker article “Castles in the Air” from 2010.[1] Goldberger is discussing the motivation behind building the tallest skyscraper in the world, and how past examples of this became icons of tall buildings everywhere. Here’s the quote with a bit of context from the article:

“Buildings put up to garner titles like “the world’s tallest” or “the world’s second-tallest” are usually erected in cities that have reached a critical juncture in their maturity, and which want to assert their position for the first time on the world stage. The Woolworth Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building, each of which was the world’s tallest for a time, were all put up to announce the primacy of their city to the world, and they succeeded. That’s just what Asian and Middle Eastern countries are trying to do now. You don’t build this kind of skyscraper to house people, or to give tourists a view, or even, necessarily, to make a profit. You do it to make sure the world knows who you are.”


[1]: Goldberger, Paul. "Castles in the Air." The New Yorker, February 08, 2010.