You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
alternatehistory.com
The Citicorp Center (actually 601 Lexington Avenue) is one of the tallest buildings in NYC and the first in USA to use a tuned mass damper system.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citigroup_Center) One of its main characteristic is that is essentially an skyscrapper on stilts, supposed to stand safelty due chevron load braces designed by William LeMessuier.
The problem is that during construction the original welded joints are substituted by bolted joints, turing the whole structure much more weaker towards quatering winds, allowing a 70 miles-per-hour (113 km/h) wind to topple the building in the middle of Manhattan - a wind of such strength is predicted to happen eash 16 years...
The discovery of this facts that lead to the Engineering Crisis of 1978 (and the secret correction of the design flaws) started by a phone call by a Princeton University student, Joel Weinstein... but why if the phone call was never made?
What if the Citicorp Center did collapse domino-style over Manhattan?
What would be the effects? For NYC? For architecture?