Skylines As Value Indicators

New York A Few Years from Now, an 1881 cartoon for Harper's Weekly by Thomas Nast.

Take a look at this 1881 Cartoon by Thomas Nast for Harper’s Weekly titled New York A Few Years from Now. Nast shows the southern tip of Manhattan Island, jam-packed with a phalanx of skyscrapers. The buildings are pushed so close together it’s hard to imagine where the streets are. Back in the shadows, you can just make out the spire of Trinity Church, which at the time was the tallest building in the country. Nast is being hyperbolic, of course, but the reality of most modern cities isn't far off.

Our skylines reflect our society’s values. They do this more directly than most other metrics, because of the amount of time, effort and money required to successfully build something tall. Throughout history, every civilization has put the greatest amount of resources into the construction of tall buildings of some kind. Tall buildings are statement-makers. They convey a sense of importance and prestige for the owner, as well as the city or town they exist in. More importantly, they convey what the city is interested in.

A pair of drawings from Augustus Pugin's Contrasts illustrate this elegantly. He shows a pair of skylines from the same town, one in Medieval 1440 and one from the Industrial Revolution in 1840.

Catholic Town from 1440, from the 1836 Contrasts by Agustus Pugin.

Here's the medieval skyline. In a time when God was the most important aspect of society, skylines were dominated by church steeples. These buildings announced their importance to the surrounding landscape through their height, as if to say I must be important, because I’m tall and someone spent the time and money to build me! They were also built tall to be more visible, as if to out-compete the surrounding town for visual importance.

The Same Town in 1840, from the 1836 Contrasts by Agustus Pugin.

Check out the same skyline during the industrial revolution. The church buildings now have plenty of competition for height with smoke stacks. The town is announcing to the world that industry and progress (the human world) are becoming just as important as God. There is a war for the skyline, and the tide is turning away from God.

Now return to the first image. The transition is complete. The human world has overtaken the world of God, and the skyline of the city reflects it.