Temperature Effects on Tall Steel Framed Buildings

SINCE THE beginning of high rise construction in steel late in
the 1800's up to about 1940, the structural skeleton was
hidden behind the exterior facade in almost all cases.
Typically, such construction used stone or other masonry
exterior facades with window openings of relatively small
size. Even the pioneering structural and architectural
innovations by the Chicago School of Architecture did not
basically change the relationship between the structural
skeleton and the exterior facade. Although some of the
buildings built in the early 1900's, inspired by the Chicago
School, did have large window openings between the
structural columns, the main structural skeleton was
nevertheless completely enclosed and hidden behind masonry
or stone cladding. It is therefore not surprising that for all
practical purposes severe weather changes, such as those
experienced in cities like Chicago and New York, did not
cause any undue vertical movements resulting in structural or
architectural damage in these buildings. Naturally, until very
recently temperature effects on tall structures were seldom
considered a design factor.
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