Skyscrapers were born in the United States. Although several high-rise buildings had already been built by the end of the 19th century, the first skyscraper itself was the Home Insurance Building built in 1899, which was 30 stories high.
In the early decades of the twentieth century, nine of the ten tallest buildings were built in that country. The tenth was in Toronto, Canada.
Today there are only two in the U.S. (the Sears Tower in Chicago and the Empire State Building in New York), while the other eight rise in Asia. U.S. developers are not encouraged to build so high because of the economy and the terrorist attacks of September 11.
Even before this date, in Western countries, skyscrapers had lost their symbol as a parameter of wealth, power and importance, unlike the rest of the world where they still retain that status.
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