Building the Metropolis: Architecture, Construction, and Labor in New York City, 1880–1935

This is a virtual program — online only.

New York City experienced explosive growth between the 1880s and the 1930s, when nearly a million buildings, dozens of bridges and tunnels, hundreds of miles of subway lines, and thousands of miles of streets were erected to meet the needs of an ever-swelling population. The new book Building the Metropolis: Architecture, Construction, and Labor in New York City, 1880–1935 (University of Chicago Press, 2025) by historian Alexander Wood offers a revelatory look at this era of urban development by asking, “Who built New York, and how?” Focusing on the work of architects, builders, and construction workers, Wood chronicles the physical process of the city’s rapid expansion. The business of construction became an important motor of economic, political, and social development. Drawing on resources that include city archives and the records of architecture firms, construction companies, and labor unions, Wood describes the course of urban growth of city-building on an epic scale.

Alexander Wood is a historian of American architecture and urbanism. In 2021-2022, he was the Helen and Robert Appel Fellow in History and Technology at the New-York Historical Society. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and a B.Arch. from The Cooper Union.

Image Credit: University of Chicago Press, 2025.