the Chrysler Building

Construction

Construction commenced on September 19, 1928.[9] In total, almost 400,000 rivets were used[9] and approximately 3,826,000 bricks were manually laid, to create the non-loadbearing walls of the skyscraper.[14] Contractors, builders and engineers were joined by other building-services experts to coordinate construction.

Prior to its completion, the building stood about even with a rival project at 40 Wall Street, designed by H. Craig Severance. Severance increased the height of his project and then publicly claimed the title of the world's tallest building[15] (this distinction excluded structures that were not fully habitable, such as the Eiffel Tower[16]). In response, Van Alen obtained permission for a 56.3-metre (185 ft) long spire[17] and had it secretly constructed inside the frame of the building. The spire was delivered to the site in 4 different sections.[18] On October 23, 1929, the bottom section of the spire was hoisted onto the top of the building's dome and lowered into the 66th floor of the building. The other remaining sections of the spire were hoisted and riveted to the first one in sequential order in just 90 minutes.[19]

Completion

As construction was completed on May 28, 1930,[9] the added height of the spire allowed the Chrysler Building to surpass 40 Wall Street as the tallest building in the world and the Eiffel Tower as the tallest structure. It was the first man-made structure to stand taller than 1,000 feet (305 m). Van Alen's satisfaction in these accomplishments was likely muted by Walter Chrysler's later refusal to pay the balance of his architectural fee.[20] In less than a year after it opened to the public on May 27, 1931, the Chrysler Building was surpassed in height by the Empire State Building.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Building