The Sad History Of The Tower Block

The Grenfell Tower fire is only the latest tragedy in the troubled story of high-rise living.

When were tower blocks first built? 

There are reports of apartment blocks ten storeys high in Ancient Rome and of even higher residential buildings in 11th century Egypt. But the modern tower block owes its existence to mid-19th century inventions: steel construction frames; reinforced concrete; and Elisha Otis’s safety elevator, invented in 1852. The first commercial skyscrapers were built in the 1880s in Chicago and New York; the first residential high-rises followed around the turn of the century, reaching up to 15 floors. The Ritz Tower, built in New York in 1926, was 41 storeys and 165 metres tall, and started a fashion for large, luxurious high-rises. By the early 1930s, New York had about 150 of them. And after WWII, residential tower blocks spread across the world.

Why did so many spring up after the War?