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Chrysler Building
Automotive titan Walter P. Chrysler hired architect William Van Alen, who had previously designed a skyscraper for Reynolds on the site, to create the world’s tallest tower. Reaching a height of 1,048 feet, including its 125-foot steel spire, the Chrysler Building surpassed the Woolworth Building and 40 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan in a “Race to the Sky” to claim the tallest building in the world–a title it held until 1931.
