Race to the sky.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel,

Let down your hair."

Then Rapunzel let down the braids of her hair, and the witch climbed up to her.

"If that is the ladder by which one mounts, I will for once try my fortune," thought the Prince, and the next day when it began to grow dark, he went to the tower and cried,

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel,

Let down your hair."

Immediately the hair fell and the Prince climbed up.

Who can forget the tale of poor Rapunzel having to let down her hair to be rescued?

What if there was no tower in the middle of the woods, with neither stairs nor a door, and only one room and one window.

Would the story still have the same plot and Rapunzel would have been liberated?

From the legendary Tower of Babel to the iconic Burj Khalifa, humans have always aspired to build to ever greater heights. Over the centuries, we have constructed towering edifices to celebrate our culture, promote our cities – or simply to show off.

Historically, tall structures were the preserve of great rulers, religions, and empires. For instance, the Great Pyramid of Giza – built to house the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu – once towered over 145 meters high. It was the tallest man-made structure for nearly 4,000 years, before being overtaken by the 160-meter-tall Lincoln Cathedral in the 14th century. Other edifices, such as Tibet's Potala Palace the monasteries of Athos were constructed atop mountains or rocky outcrops, to bring them even closer to the heavens.

Today, we take for granted the towers of iron, steel, and glass that make up the modern-day skyscraper. These monuments to urban life started taking shape in the late 1800s before really coming into their own in the early to mid-1900s. Since then, the relatively quiet modern age of the skyscraper has seen their heights growing ever higher.

Towers- a sword of eternity

Be as a tower firmly set; Shakes not its top for any blast that blows.

Towers are structures that come out of a tradition as old as our memories of time and their symbolism has evolved with our cultural development. The many towers around the world standing today are a potent reminder of all our desires for hope and freedom. They are symbolic of a future filled with faith and promise for everyone.

Great towers take time to construct

The higher the tower, the greater the fall thereof. The accuracy of design and construction are the most attractive features of these incredibly tall structures. We visit them to behold their magnificence. One thing that most of these buildings and structures have in common is that they were built over a very long period.

Leaning Tower of Pisa – The decision to build the tower was made to showcase the city of Pisa as both powerful and influential. It was designed as a circular bell tower made of white marble in the medieval Romanesque style. This is one of the most beautiful yet curious structures today. Located in Pisa, the leaning tower took 199 years to be completed. It was designed by Bonnano Pisano and he wanted it to be straight. However, today it leans 3.99 degrees. It has a collection of 297 steps that lead from the bottom to the top. The construction of the tower began in 1173 and upon its completion around two centuries later, it was one of the tallest bell towers in Europe.

A deeper kind of beauty

Isn't it insane to know that the People in Paris hated the Eiffel tower at first? When the Eiffel Tower was built, many eminent intellectuals of the day protested vehemently against it, calling it 'a gigantic black smokestack' that would ruin the beauty of Paris.

Well, who knew that its classic, iconic shape will instantly become a recognizable symbol of Paris. So you might be surprised to learn that while the tower was being built, art critics were not quite as glowing in their praise. To modern eyes, the tower's shape is elegant and graceful, perhaps even timeless. Gustave Eiffel used latticed wrought iron to construct the tower to demonstrate that the metal could be as strong as stone while being lighter. The Eiffel Tower is 1,063 feet (324 meters) tall, including the antenna at the top. Without the antenna, it is 984 feet (300 m). The Eiffel Tower provided Paris with the most distinguishable silhouette". Its distinct look has made it an enduring symbol of Paris.

Do you wish to rise?

It has been a long journey over centuries to see a remarkable leap upwards from historic towers to the making of the modern skyscraper. Yet these grand historical efforts are dwarfed by the skyscrapers of the 20th and 21st centuries.

But what is a skyscraper? The specific definition of a skyscraper is commonly accepted as a building that is continuously habitable high-rise and has over 40 floors and is a height of at least 130 meters.

The first skyscraper construction projects in history appeared in the bustling cities that exemplified the spirit of the roaring 20s in the design. Employing mixes of largely neo-gothic and neoclassical styles, the resulting design marvels are buildings that have shaped not only the spatial design of cities for the coming century but have changed our lives entirely. From how we live, work, sleep, play, eat and create, these marvels of engineering and design are perhaps the most important design idea to come from the early 20th century.

Thus, structures like Empire State Building, New York, China Central Television Headquarters, The Shard, London, Elephant Tower, Bangkok, and many more have been a treat to our eyes and souls with their immaculate details and construction techniques.

 

So the next time you take a picture with a tower in the background, don't forget to Embrace the power of little things and you will build a tower of mighty things. Mighty things are made up of varieties of little things put together!