Highrises are the iconic elements of American cities. Reaching radical new heights in technological advancement, skyscrapers fused Classical, Renaissance, and Gothic motifs onto steel and defined a new architectural language with Art Deco and International.

The Highrises project reveals hidden details of remarkable buildings, including many that are underappreciated. The images showcase structures that reflect the values and ideals animating the early 20th century. The stories provide historical context and deepen our understanding of their importance and value.

Highrises

**Union Central Building**

**Art by:** Chris Hytha

**Story by:** Mark Houser

Once briefly the worlds tallest skyscraper outside New York City, this was designed by the same architect  and opened the same year  as the Woolworth Building in Manhattan, which held the highrise height record until the Chrysler Building usurped it.

Union Central Life Insurance traces its roots to Methodists who founded the company in Cincinnati. Unable to decide whether to call it Union or Central, they turned to their bishop, who suggested they use both. His son, Jesse Clark, rose through the ranks from clerk to controller and finally president as the company prospered making loans and mortgages for farms. 

The building appears monochromatic from a distance, such as when crossing the John Roebling Bridge  whose eponymous creator later designed the Brooklyn Bridge, another link between Cincinnati and New York. Careful observers may spot faint fragments of the painted accents Gilbert applied to the terracotta, although most has washed away. The pyramidal roof was a favored classical motif of the era modeled after the tomb of King Mausolus of Halicarnassus, a wonder of the ancient world and origin of the word mausoleum. 

Owners converting the tower to apartments have reversed an earlier lobby remodeling that masked the original ornate ceiling and hid bronze elevator doors behind stainless steel.