Lewis Wickes Hine, a construction worker at the Empire State Building, 1931. Gelatin Silver Print 7 1/2 X 9 1/2 in. (Photo courtesy the New York Public Library Digital Gallery)

Lewis Wickes Hine, A construction worker at the Empire State Building, 1931. (Photo courtesy the New York Public Library Digital Gallery)

Books Worth Reading

Skyscrapers: A History of the World’s Most Extraordinary Buildings

By Judith Dupré. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 176 pages

(Photo © Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, Inc. and Judith Dupré)

Architecture is the art form we spend the most time with in our daily lives, and yet it’s a medium that gets little media attention.

But recently, architecture had a rare moment in the sun when One World Trade Center in New York City was officially declared the country’s tallest building, causing a controversy to ensue.

As seen in this hilarious Daily Show clip, the incident ruffled the feathers of Chicago mayor Rahm Emanual, who wasn’t happy to have Chicago’s Willis Tower stripped of its “tallest” title. (Emanual took issue with a panel of experts that decided the antenna on top of One World Trade Center was a “spire” and thus eligible to be included when calculating height.)

British street artist Banksy also joined the dispute during his recent New York “residency.” Banksy further inflamed the debate when he wrote this rejected op-ed for The New York Times (posted on his own website) calling One World Trade Center “104 floors of compromise,” “a shy skyscraper,” “vanilla,” and an “eyesore,” and “something they would build in Canada.”

The minute I read Banksy’s op-ed and saw the Daily Show clip I knew who I wanted to talk