Everyone loves to watch a building taking shape: How high can a skyscraper go? How do engineers know it will actually stand? Who decides what it will look like and what materials should be used?This spellbinding "peek through the fence" lets every sidewalk superintendent watch as a vacant lot is transformed into one of New York City's most impressive new skyscrapers. Skyscraper offers insight into how architects design, engineers apply their technical know-how, and construction workers put it all together. And it goes behind the scenes, to reveal the sometimes selfish concerns of developers, community activists, politicians, and others involved. The personalities, the plans, the headaches, and the ultimate exhiliration are all here, in a dramatic story of a magnificent achievement-and the human forces that made it happen.