“Rigid Flesh on Creeping Things”: The State of the Skyscraper Art in the 1890s

Ricker compiled The Elements of Construction during a period of unprecedented change in building technology. Developments in structure, cladding, foundations, and vertical transportation all made skyscraper design and engineering an evolving field. No advances were more impactful or more written about than the gradual replacement of cast and wrought iron by steel—a technical change that seems inevitable in hindsight but that brought with it deep concerns about the rapidity with which new materials were being implemented. Ricker, in his discussion on steel, noted that it was “excellent for resisting wear, shear, and compression … a safer and more reliable