FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Quiz about The Thirteenth Floor
Quiz about The Thirteenth Floor

The Thirteenth Floor Trivia Quiz


Or how to build a skyscraper in 10 easy steps.

A multiple-choice quiz by bucknallbabe. Estimated time: 6 mins.
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. Humanities Trivia
  6. »
  7. Architecture

Author
bucknallbabe
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
317,503
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
6280
Last 3 plays: Guest 202 (0/10), peg-az (1/10), 4wally (5/10).
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Step 1. Decide to build high.
It is generally agreed that the first "skyscrapers" were built in Chicago and New York in the late 19th century.

Which of these was NOT one of the factors contributing to their early development?
Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Step 2. Find some land.
In the later part of the 19th century, Chicago and New York saw the rise of centralised districts where business, financial and legal transactions took place. In both cities, the districts could not expand outwards. In New York, the business district grew up on the island of Manhattan, which limited its extent.

Which of the following features was a major constraint in Chicago?
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Step 3. Dig the foundations.
Up to the middle of the 19th century, the traditional method of supporting large structures was to drive clusters of log piles into the ground. For skyscraper construction, alternatives were developed, such as "pyramidal piers", "floating rafts" and "caissons".

What was a caisson?
Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Step 4. Get the materials together.
Any large building places huge demands on suppliers of materials. The Empire State Building needed 76,000 tons of steel girders, which were put into cars and delivered to the point of use, minimising loading and unloading times.

Which innovative technology was used to achieve this?
Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Step 5. Build the frame.
The internal skeleton of a skyscraper is a metal frame of interlocking columns and girders to which the floors and internal walls are attached.

Which advantage of metal frame construction over solid brick wall or wood frame construction contributed most to increasing the height of buildings?
Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Step 6. Build the skin.
Which of these features was an immediate, visible effect of the masonry being used for cladding rather than supporting tall buildings? It also contributed to skyscrapers' profitability.
Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Step 7. Install the lifts/elevators.

Elisha Otis invented the lift or elevator in 1853.


Question 8 of 10
8. Step 8. Stop building.
As technologies and working methods improved, it became clear that buildings could reach previously unimaginable heights. In 1915, the 38-storey Equitable Building on Broadway caused controversy about the size of the shadow it made and there were fears that Manhattan would turn into an area of dark, gloomy streets.

Consequently, in 1916, New York City introduced a zoning ordinance, which aimed to prevent this in future by relating heights of tall structures to which of these features?
Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Step 9. Get the people in.
A typical skyscraper office block may hold 10,000 people or more, and keeping their working conditions agreeable has always been a challenge. The introduction of air conditioning led to many changes in skyscraper design.

Which building is generally considered to have been the USA's first fully air-conditioned building?
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Step 10. Remove the thirteenth floor.
Having struggled long and hard to build structures of more than twelve storeys, one of the first things to be done was to bow to superstition and make it appear that there was no thirteenth floor. Various fictions, such as naming it 12A, 12B, 14 or M after the thirteenth letter of the alphabet, have been adopted. Other cultures are superstitious about different numbers.

In which country are you unlikely to find a fourth floor?
Hint



(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

arrow Select a User ID:
arrow Choose a Password:
arrow Your Email:




Most Recent Scores
Oct 30 2024 : Guest 202: 0/10
Oct 30 2024 : peg-az: 1/10
Oct 21 2024 : 4wally: 5/10
Oct 17 2024 : Maybeline5: 7/10
Oct 17 2024 : Coachpete1: 10/10
Oct 14 2024 : Nana7770: 2/10
Oct 09 2024 : Guest 172: 5/10
Oct 06 2024 : Guest 136: 8/10
Sep 25 2024 : Guest 70: 6/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Step 1. Decide to build high. It is generally agreed that the first "skyscrapers" were built in Chicago and New York in the late 19th century. Which of these was NOT one of the factors contributing to their early development?

Answer: The availability of new building technologies

The technologies typically associated with skyscraper construction were not new when the first ones were built in the 1880s. Internal iron frames and non-load-bearing walls had been in use in the USA since the early part of the century on buildings of five and six storeys. Fireproofing by encasing metal in plaster, brick or concrete had been used from the 18th century. Elevators had been known since ancient times and were in regular use in factories. The use of piles in foundations dates to ancient times and caisson technology was imported from Britain in the 1850s.

The architect of New York's Woolworth Building, Cass Gilbert, described the skyscraper as "a machine that makes the land pay" and refers to the idea that economic factors were the spur to build higher and higher.
2. Step 2. Find some land. In the later part of the 19th century, Chicago and New York saw the rise of centralised districts where business, financial and legal transactions took place. In both cities, the districts could not expand outwards. In New York, the business district grew up on the island of Manhattan, which limited its extent. Which of the following features was a major constraint in Chicago?

Answer: Railway tracks

The demand was for office space away from the locations where goods were manufactured, processed or (trans)shipped and the Chicago business district was located close to Lake Michigan on a fork in the Chicago River, in the area which later became known as The Loop.

This area was bounded by a cable-car system at first and later the elevated railway, but in the late 19th century, the huge network of railway tracks over the rest of the city made access to other available land difficult and proved to be a particular problem.
3. Step 3. Dig the foundations. Up to the middle of the 19th century, the traditional method of supporting large structures was to drive clusters of log piles into the ground. For skyscraper construction, alternatives were developed, such as "pyramidal piers", "floating rafts" and "caissons". What was a caisson?

Answer: Metal cylinder filled with concrete

Caissons were provided for each column upon which the building was to be supported and were metal cylinders driven into the ground in sections. Then the earth would be excavated and the cylinder filled with concrete. The technology originally developed from bridge construction where it is still used today.

Layers of concrete of decreasing size were known as "pyramidal piers" and are used today in earthquake areas as they permit the building to move. The "floating raft" developed from the "pyramidal pier" and incorporated iron (later steel) rails into the concrete in each layer at right angles to the one below. The use of log piles was limited by the length and cost of suitable logs and, in areas with a high water table, these had to be topped off with concrete to prevent rotting. Concrete piles were also used.
4. Step 4. Get the materials together. Any large building places huge demands on suppliers of materials. The Empire State Building needed 76,000 tons of steel girders, which were put into cars and delivered to the point of use, minimising loading and unloading times. Which innovative technology was used to achieve this?

Answer: Narrow gauge railway tracks

Each floor had a narrow gauge railway track running round the building perimeter. Cars were loaded, lifted by hoist to the correct floor, and driven onto the tracks and thence to the place where they were needed. Girders were unloaded at the correct position for the frame; bricks were deposited next to the bricklayer who needed them.

The use of cars instead of traditional wheelbarrows quadrupled the number of bricks that could be hoisted per trip.
5. Step 5. Build the frame. The internal skeleton of a skyscraper is a metal frame of interlocking columns and girders to which the floors and internal walls are attached. Which advantage of metal frame construction over solid brick wall or wood frame construction contributed most to increasing the height of buildings?

Answer: Metal frames bear the load

Taller buildings need thicker masonry walls to support them, especially at the base. Thicker walls took up more space, which meant that there was less space to rent out, especially at street level where retail outlets were a common feature. In the days before electric lighting, thicker walls also restricted the amount of natural light which could enter and this also was a constraint.

The issue of fireproofing was particularly relevant in Chicago, following the fire of 1871, and precautions such as not building with wood and encasing metal columns and beams in fireproof materials to prevent buckling were introduced.
6. Step 6. Build the skin. Which of these features was an immediate, visible effect of the masonry being used for cladding rather than supporting tall buildings? It also contributed to skyscrapers' profitability.

Answer: Greater percentage of glass windows

Skyscrapers were office buildings and the size of offices was originally determined by how far natural light could penetrate and the need to have opening windows for ventilation. More and bigger windows meant offices could be larger or there could be more of them and this made them more attractive, which in turn meant they could command higher rents.

The other features may have made the buildings more attractive to look at, but would not affect profitablility to the extent that better-lit offices would.
7. Step 7. Install the lifts/elevators. Elisha Otis invented the lift or elevator in 1853.

Answer: False

Otis did not invent the elevator but he did add the safety brake, which prevented the car falling to the ground in the event of a cable snapping. At the time, elevators were used for moving freight, but the improved safety would later inspire confidence in the provision of people-carrying elevators in tall buildings.

Simple elevators had been known for about 2000 years and for most of that time had been powered by humans, animals or water wheels. The Industrial Revolution brought steam technology and later hydraulics. The first electrically-powered elevator was built in 1880 by Werner von Siemens.
8. Step 8. Stop building. As technologies and working methods improved, it became clear that buildings could reach previously unimaginable heights. In 1915, the 38-storey Equitable Building on Broadway caused controversy about the size of the shadow it made and there were fears that Manhattan would turn into an area of dark, gloomy streets. Consequently, in 1916, New York City introduced a zoning ordinance, which aimed to prevent this in future by relating heights of tall structures to which of these features?

Answer: Width of the street

The idea of relating the height of buildings to the street width had been used in Europe for some time, but for aesthetic reasons. In New York it was a response to practical problems. The city was zoned into districts with a formula for calculating heights which was a multiple of the street width and an angle of "setback". Thus a "1.5 times district" would permit a first wall rising to 150 feet on a 100 feet wide street but, above this, construction could continue provided it did not protrude beyond the extension of an imaginary line joining the middle of the street to the top of this wall. To keep to this, skyscrapers became "stepped" in appearance. These regulations applied to only three quarters of the site with unlimited height permitted on the rest. If the plot was large enough, it became economically feasible to build a central tower as the rental income would justify the expense of installing lifts and services.

These ordinances gave New York its characteristic skyline, which differed from that of Chicago at the same period. In that city, there was a maximum height for the first wall and unlimited height on a quarter of the site.
9. Step 9. Get the people in. A typical skyscraper office block may hold 10,000 people or more, and keeping their working conditions agreeable has always been a challenge. The introduction of air conditioning led to many changes in skyscraper design. Which building is generally considered to have been the USA's first fully air-conditioned building?

Answer: Milam Building, San Antonio

The Milam Building was constructed in 1928 of brick with a concrete frame. Even though they were no longer necessary, the building had windows that opened. The use of air conditioning, combined with fluorescent lighting, led to reductions in the height of rooms which in turn meant more storeys for the same height and increased profit.
10. Step 10. Remove the thirteenth floor. Having struggled long and hard to build structures of more than twelve storeys, one of the first things to be done was to bow to superstition and make it appear that there was no thirteenth floor. Various fictions, such as naming it 12A, 12B, 14 or M after the thirteenth letter of the alphabet, have been adopted. Other cultures are superstitious about different numbers. In which country are you unlikely to find a fourth floor?

Answer: China

The Chinese superstition around the number four derives from its pronunciation being very similar to that for the word for "death". As well as omitting the number from floor levels, a four in an address can adversely affect the value of property.

The lack of a thirteenth floor in many buildings has given rise to suspicions about actual uses and has entered popular culture in the form of urban myths, films, sci-fi literature and television programmes. According to the Otis lift manufacturers, as many as 80% of lifts do not have a floor designated 13.
Source: Author bucknallbabe

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor CellarDoor before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
Related Quizzes
This quiz is part of series Commission #4:

And now, a by-the-numbers review of all of the quizzes submitted to our fourth Commission in the Author's lounge, all of which involved numbers in some way and started in September 2009.

  1. From Zero to Hero Average
  2. 100 Percent Chance of Rain Average
  3. Euler's Number and Euler's Constant Tough
  4. As easy as 1-2-3 Easier
  5. One Billion and One Dalmatians Average
  6. 1337 - Leet and Loving It Average
  7. Six Days, Seven Nights Tough
  8. The Number of the Beats Average
  9. Raised in the 1660s Average
  10. It Takes Two, Babe Average
  11. Painting by Numbers Average
  12. Fiction By The Numbers Average

10/31/2024, Copyright 2024 FunTrivia, Inc. - Report an Error / Contact Us