June 7, 2026 · 8:51 AM
Chrysler Building: How William Van Alen Hid a 185-Foot Steel Crown Inside the Tower — and Raised It in 90 Minutes to Steal the Sky
In 1929, architect William Van Alen secretly assembled a 185-foot stainless steel spire inside the Chrysler Building's dome — then hoisted it through the roof in just 90 minutes, snatching the world's tallest building title from his unsuspecting rival.
More from this channel
- Guggenheim Bilbao: How Frank Gehry Used Aerospace Software to Build a Titanium Museum That Saved a City
- Brooklyn Bridge: How a Ferry Accident, Caisson Disease, and a Wire Fraud Scandal Built New York's Most Iconic Span
- Golden Gate Bridge: How 4,000 Workers Spun 80,000 Miles of Wire and Bridged San Francisco's Unbridgeable Bay
- Hoover Dam: How 21,000 Depression-Era Workers Tamed the Colorado River — With 582 Miles of Cooling Pipe and Sheer Human Grit
- Fallingwater: How Frank Lloyd Wright Cantilevered a House Over a Waterfall — In Just One Weekend
- Chichen Itza: How the Maya Encoded 365 Days into Stone — and Built a Shadow-Serpent That Appears Twice a Year
- Alhambra: How the Last Muslim Dynasty of Europe Built a Palace of Water, Light, and 5,000 Honeycomb Cells
- Petra: How the Nabataeans Carved a City from Rose-Red Rock — With Water, Chisels, and 500 Years
Related content
- Sign in to comment.