|  |  | A Decade of SkyscraperPage.com |
SkyscraperPage.com is proudly celebrating its 10th year anniversary as a premier destination for the skyscraper and urbanism enthusiast. Expect a few surprises throughout 2008 as we continue to improve upon and grow this resource well into the next decade.
Have you ever wondered how SkyscraperPage evolved to become the resource it is today? The following is a timeline of our evolution over the last decade and a glimpse into what we have in-store for the future.
 1998 - The first year of the diagrams
On December 12, 1997, Dylan Leblanc, then a young college student, launches Nalyd’s Skyscraper Page to display his own to-scale illustrations of the world’s tallest buildings. Dylan’s diagrams are unique in that they show the massing and height of buildings relative to each other on a horizontal plane. Within a year the popularity of SkyscraperPage grows and several other illustrators highly enthusiastic about the concept begin supplying the site with their own illustrations of the world’s skyscrapers and effectively help launch the famous illustration collection.
1999 - Discussion forum introduced, website renamed
The first skyscraper discussion forum of its day, the SkyscraperPage Forum, is launched to complement enthusiasts’ desires to converse about world-wide skyscraper development and the diagrams. In 2008 the forum is the second-largest skyscraper enthusiast forum on the Internet.
The website’s name is changed from Nalyd’s Skyscraper Page to SkyscraperPage.com as distinct domain names become more popular on the internet.
2000 - Database-driven diagram system introduced, first licensed sale of diagram illustrations
Development of the diagram database system, as it is known and used today, begins to take shape. Moving from a static image-based system, a dedicated database is developed with new account functionality for illustrators and diagram searching features for users. Once completed, the diagram system becomes the only such database-driven diagram system in the world.
Report on Business magazine purchases the first diagram illustration license sold by SkyscraperPage on behalf of its illustrators. The graphics of to-scale skyscraper illustrations appear in an article garnering much fanfare from readers.
2002 - Cities database launched, first SkyscraperPage poster published
As a component of the diagram system, the Cities buildings database launches to provide background data and statistics on the world’s buildings. Illustrators are also able to see which buildings in the Cities database have illustrations and which require illustrations. This tool eventually grows to become one of the world’s largest buildings databases and the only such database connected to a skyscraper diagram system.
As the SkyscraperPage diagram system and Cities buildings database continue to grow in popularity, the world can’t get enough of SkyscraperPage illustrations and skyscraper enthusiasts from across the globe begin asking for something they can put up in their homes. The answer is the first SkyscrapePage poster, dubbed Edificios del Mundo, featuring 45 diagram illustrations of the world’s tallest and most renowned buildings such as the World Trade Centre, the Eiffel Tower, Taipei 101, Burj al Arab, CN Tower and the Petronas Towers. The posters’ unique 52-inch width and slim profile make it an instant success around the world.
2003 - Photo gallery system launched
To add additional functionality to the Cities buildings database, a photo gallery system is added to provide editors with the ability to add photographs and renderings of buildings. Unfortunately the success of the photo gallery leads to high server loads and in order to maintain server capacity for the forum and diagram system, the photo gallery is shut down in 2006.
2004 - 10,000th skyscraper illustration approved
SkyscraperPage approves the 10,000th diagram illustration into the database.
2006 - 33 World Buildings poster released
Following on the success of the first poster, Edificios del Mundo, SkyscraperPage’s second poster, dubbed 33 World Buildings, is released and features a striking diagram composed of high-resolution illustrations by SkyscraperPage’s most talented illustrators.
2007 - New website layout, new servers, 550th illustrator joins, new posters
 In mid-2007 SkyscraperPage launches a new site design to complement the massive systems and component overhaul taking place behind the scenes. As users are going about their daily business across the site, much is being done to refresh the content and bring its massive back-end up to current standards. In order to achieve the undertaking, new state-of-the-art servers are acquired to help fuel the ever-growing traffic to both the discussion forum and the main portion of the site.
In late 2007, the 550th illustrator joins the ranks of SkyscraperPage diagram illustrators.
In December, two new posters are released featuring super high-resolution illustrations of the Empire State Building and Sears Tower by the very talented SkyscraperPage illustrator Stefan Tan. The two new posters, measuring 38 inches in height and between 12 and 15 inches in width, represent the first poster releases since 33 World Buildings’ debut in 2006.
2008 and beyond
As SkyscraperPage.com continues to carry out behind-the-scenes work on the site’s systems and components, new features will be released to provide our visitors with an even greater experience and prepare for the site’s evolution well into the coming decade.
As of January 2008, SkyscraperPage features 28,000 diagram illustrations, 70,000 buildings in the Cities buildings database and over 17,000 registered members in its discussion forum.
What’s in store for the future?
SkyscraperPage has a whole slew of goodies planned for release including, but not limited to, a return of the photo gallery, new posters, and new services for illustrators.
As we work to make the site even better, the entire team of administrators, moderators, editors and operators wishes to thank everyone for their continued support of SkyscraperPage and wishes to invite everyone to celebrate SkyscraperPage’s 10th birthday!
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