This is making me feel the nauseating and fear inducing sway of the building just looking at it. Did I ever tell you about going to the empire state building when I was a kid? I must have been 6 or 7.
We were in New York thanks to my Uncle T and of course we visited the Empire State Building. We rode the elevator up (because seriously, who wants to climb that many stairs with a 6 year old? Not my mom! Smart lady) and as we stepped out of the little box the movement of the building became immediately apparent to me.
Now, as you may or may not know, the Empire State building was made to be able to sway with the winds that buffet a building that high; according to the research I’m doing as an adult, it only moves about 1.5 inches (3.8cm). Thats not really very much and the movement was actually very safe.
At least that’s what my parents told me, but my 6 year old brain was having none of it.
I could see how high I was, I could feel the building moving like a ship in the sea, and I just couldn’t deal with it. I know that there are buildings that move more than 3 ft in high winds, but to my motion sensitive brain, I felt like each motion was the building bending over like it was trying to become a bridge.
I managed to make it outside briefly, but as my brother ran around and my parents admired the view I found the exact center of the observable observation deck and laid down, spread out, and hugging the building for all I was worth. It’s not that I didn’t believe my parents on an intellectual level, its that I couldn’t believe them—deep down on a primal level I was convinced that the building was going to tip far enough for me to slip off and fall for eternity.
That is the feeling I get when looking at this building design.
MCM Creative 