Supertall buildings are a relatively recent addition to the history of cities around the world. 19th century technology made their development possible. Steel, concrete and masonry materials have existed for a long time in the history of civilization, but not in this configuration. Masonry is the oldest material. Concrete in its current form is the youngest of these three basic structural building materials. Research shows that early societies used lime as a binding element in mortar. These included the Phoenicians and their colonies, Cyprus to Mycenae, Minoan Crete, Egypt and Mesopotamia. Structures dating back to 1200 BC with polished limestone concrete floors and hard, colored plaster surfaces have been found. Even earlier, during the Neolithic, builders knew about "burning limestone, slaking lime, mixing mortar, laying concrete, and finishing the surface" [1]. The current frame of reference tends towards a comparison between the history of concrete and its use in tall buildings and that of primitive Roman concrete buildings. In the early centuries as today, time, money and human skill were important factors in the choice of building materials [2]. Building the formwork required skill, skill that may have been difficult to identify within large groups of slave laborers. Designs involving elaborate arches and utilitarian structures were supplemented in their strength by bricks and forms left in place in an attempt to economize and conserve skilled labor [3]. With the decline of the Roman Empire, society lost the ability to mold ingredients into cementitious materials. There are only ruins that bear witness to Roman ingenuity and the history of concrete. The use of co...... middle of paper ...... cold-related problems. These two innovations changed the exterior walls from those that carried their own loads to those that integrally supported the rest of the system. This created the possibility of using concrete as a structure with a curtain wall that seals the building from external forces [3]. Another innovation, which moved the construction industry away from traditional building techniques that imitated steel and wood, was Robert Maillart's use of slab instead of beams and beams to carry loads. These discoveries, along with concrete's ability to resist fire, carry heavy loads, and dampen noise, made it a good choice for factories and apartment buildings at the turn of the century. The difficulty for the inventors was therefore to convince the public that its uses went beyond low-rise apartment blocks. Like steel, it could also soar towards the sky.