Comprehensive collection of isometric skyscraper illustrations

October 31, 2005 10:56 PM

If you were to make a huge database of skyscrapers where users could submit their own isometric drawings, I'd tell you that you'd done a wonderful thing.

If you compiled these isometric drawings in to neat collections (see: World's Tallest, New York 1935, and Evolution of World's Tallest) I would then acknowledge that you had made something of substantive import and value, and extend my sincere thanks.

But it is when you provide a robust and responsive search functionality that allows me to include any type of structure, and sort by city, by project status, (eg. "Built", "Under Construction", "proposed", "destroyed") that I drop to my knees and reverently fellate you while holding back tears.
posted by cadastral (40 comments total)

Also know that by virtue of the fact that they accept user submissions, there are a wide variety of different renderings of the same building available (here are 29 Drawings of the Empire State Building).

(Extra bonus... the worlds tallest Churches, Chimneys, and Pyramids)
posted by cadastral at 10:57 PM on October 31, 2005

It's also worth mentioning that the regional forums at skyscraperpage are _the_ place to find out what is being built in your city. OK, it holds true where "your city" = Vancouver, elsewhere YMMV. The quality of debate can be a bit sub-Mefi (I would not be at all surprised to discover that the average age of posters is 17), but it's a fantastic site regardless.
posted by pascal at 11:03 PM on October 31, 2005

This is absolutely wonderful. I'm such an architecture nerd; this is going to waste days of my life.
posted by kyleg at 11:10 PM on October 31, 2005

I drop to my knees and reverently fellate you while holding back tears.

Get in line.
posted by homunculus at 11:14 PM on October 31, 2005

Wow. There are so many versions of each building when you get closer - someone should make a crawler that saves all the images of a given type, to save me from breaking my right mouse button due to overuse. This is fantastic, thanks a googolplex, cadastral.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 11:21 PM on October 31, 2005

awkward
posted by punishinglemur at 11:21 PM on October 31, 2005

This has expanded unbelievably since I saw it last. I mean, the 152 tallest structures in Wisconsin?! (Unfortunately, very few of them outside Milwaukee and the State Capitol have drawings.) What about the 18 tallest in Alaska?

Alas, I note that even in the few moments I've been using it, the site's performance has begun to suffer.

It's too bad you can't do searches that exclude items easily, though, e.g. "all buildings in Illinois except Chicago".
posted by dhartung at 11:33 PM on October 31, 2005

I'm glad they got the tallest building in the world correct; many such sites seem to have somehow "overlooked" Taipei 101, either listing older, shorter buildings, or newer, as-yet unbuilt ones at No. 1.
posted by Poagao at 11:40 PM on October 31, 2005

I was waiting for the last part of the last paragraph to say "I'd tell you that the FBI demanded that the site be pulled because tuhrrists would be too interested."

Seriously.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 11:59 PM on October 31, 2005

Suck it world - Sears Tower is still da biggest.
posted by wfrgms at 11:59 PM on October 31, 2005

Those aren't isometric drawings. Did you read the wiki article you linked?

other than that, great post.
posted by pmbuko at 12:05 AM on November 1, 2005

You're right. I'm re-reading the article, and these drawings are not isometric. They resemble isometric drawings in that many of them allude to depth, but they do not have equal x, y, and z angles of projection. Apologies to anyone misled.

Would also hate for anyone to interpret my (euphamistic, prurient) description of the depth of my gratitude as trivializing contributions made by the unfellatable. In a project of this size and scope I'm sure that many women played a huge part.
posted by cadastral at 12:22 AM on November 1, 2005

I've seen this before, but then it didn't have any cute little pixelated pictures of buildings my dad designed. Now they're there! How ridiculously complete. I'll have to show this to him.
posted by painquale at 1:07 AM on November 1, 2005

I got a kick out of seeing the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the Indianapolis page- it looks like the world's largest aircraft carrier on the site :)
posted by pjern at 1:22 AM on November 1, 2005

cadastral, does this mean women won't get reverent cunnilingus?
posted by BrotherCaine at 1:46 AM on November 1, 2005

This is my favorite fpp of the past... say, 6 months. Bravo!
posted by shmegegge at 1:46 AM on November 1, 2005

Great link. I found this page a few years ago and found some interesting and improbable structures, of which, this is my favorite. Hard to believe Dear Leader Kim would have feverish dreams of a skyline from Blade Runner.

For extra geeky crossover action, Starship Dimensions uses some of the drawings from skyscraperpage as a point of reference for comparing a Cardassian crusier to the CN Tower.
posted by pandaharma at 2:27 AM on November 1, 2005

Cool, I never knew that the building that I worked in for five years was designed by the same architect, Max Abramovitz, as the UN and Lincoln Center.
posted by octothorpe at 4:08 AM on November 1, 2005

Why all the talk about blowjobs, cadastral?
posted by Meatbomb at 4:15 AM on November 1, 2005

Wow, some of those "proposed" buildings are really great. So is it true that building codes in the USA don't allow the kind of shapes we see in places like Spain, Dubai and Shanghai?
posted by mediareport at 4:39 AM on November 1, 2005

Wow! the tallest building in Sydney is less than half the size of the worlds tallest. What's the base on that thing?
Thanks for this cadastral... just thanks, that's all.
posted by tellurian at 5:21 AM on November 1, 2005

Excellent. A very good post.
posted by OmieWise at 5:23 AM on November 1, 2005

I del.icio.used this a while ago, with the intent that I would teach myself how to create those kinds of images. After that, I would merrily document the various buildings of Richmond. Then I found out that somebody beat me to it.
posted by patgas at 5:50 AM on November 1, 2005

FYI emporis.com is also a very useful and highly comprehensive skyscraper database, although their more in-depth material is subscription-only.
posted by azazello at 6:06 AM on November 1, 2005

And of course no skyscraper resource would be complete without what I consider to be the most beautiful high-rise in the world.
posted by azazello at 6:13 AM on November 1, 2005

Ok, so now the page is MeFi'ed so all I'm stuck with is commenting on the oral sex references.

Is cunnilingus a verb? Would it be fair to use cunnilingate? Would someone confuse that with a politcal scandal involving lesbians? So many questions. Page still loading...
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 7:03 AM on November 1, 2005

I work for The Skyscraper Museum in NY. I would like to suggest, in that professional self-linking sort of way, the Museum's VIVA project, a visual index to our archive of skyscraper postcard's from lower manhattan using a 3d map. Also timeformations, a multi-layered flash interface of different maps of Manhattan. We are currently working on VIVA2, which will document construction photos of the Empire State Building and World Trade Center.
posted by pinto at 7:07 AM on November 1, 2005

Glad to see the relatively controversial Fordham Spire on the list. Thanks for the great link!
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 7:15 AM on November 1, 2005

Tallest skyscraper in Vermont is 9 floors.
posted by jessamyn at 7:41 AM on November 1, 2005

Taipei 101 is the tallest building in the world? Is that wise with all the earthquakes they have? Five of the top ten buildings are in China. Sounds like they're trying to compensate for something.
posted by disgruntled at 7:48 AM on November 1, 2005

Tallest skyscraper in Vermont is 9 floors. - jessamyn

Wow. I didn't realize there was actually a part of North America less impressive than Saskatchewan.
posted by raedyn at 7:58 AM on November 1, 2005

I've done some of these. Where exactly do I recieve this fellatio of which you all speak?
posted by Mcable at 8:50 AM on November 1, 2005

I drop to my knees and reverently fellate you while holding back tears.

Cool site, but icky post. Seek help in embracing your genuine sexuality; keep MeFi out of it (i.e. for your issues, gyobfw).
posted by squirrel at 8:55 AM on November 1, 2005

I like this post, because it is like a little story.
posted by aparrish at 9:19 AM on November 1, 2005

azazello, the last pic from your link makes me dizzy. Great posts all around!
posted by uni verse at 9:39 AM on November 1, 2005

Ok, now that's just ridiculous.
posted by pmbuko at 10:28 AM on November 1, 2005

Cadastral blows skyscrapers!
posted by insomnia_lj at 11:24 AM on November 1, 2005

They even have the most important building in my hometown
The Big Chicken
posted by Megafly at 12:22 PM on November 1, 2005

I found about 50 versions of the Freedom Tower in New York city and they are all different.
posted by patcoston at 11:45 PM on November 1, 2005

Oh man, I saw this and now my hands won't stop sweating.
posted by Tubes at 11:45 AM on November 2, 2005