skyline

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(skī'līn') pronunciation
n.
  1. The line along which the surface of the earth and the sky appear to meet; the horizon.
  2. The outline of a group of buildings or a mountain range seen against the sky.

The outline of buildings against the background of the sky.


  See crossword solutions for the clue Skyline.

A skyline is the overall or partial view of a city's buildings and structures against the sky. It can also be described as the artificial horizon that a city's overall structure creates. Skylines serve as a kind of fingerprint of a city, as no two skylines are alike. For this reason news and sports programs, television shows, and movies often display the skyline of a city to set location. The Sky Line of New York City was a new term in 1896, when it was the title of a color lithograph by Charles Graham for the color supplement of the New-York Journal.[1]

The skyline of Hong Kong

Paul D. Spreiregen, FAIA, has called a skyline "a physical representation [of a city's] facts of life ... a potential work of art ... its collective vista."[2]

In general, larger cities have broader and taller skylines, though lower density cities often have smaller skylines than expected for city size.[citation needed] Taller buildings are found where either land value or desire for visibility is higher, and the tallest buildings in a city are usually office buildings.[citation needed] Because of this, the skyline of a city can be seen as symbolic of the city's influence and economy.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ New York Public Library: "Moving Uptown": "When Charles Graham's view of New York was published, the new term used in the title, "sky line," caught on immediately."
  2. ^ Paul D. Spreiregen (1965). Urban Design: The Architecture of Towns and Cities. McGraw-Hill. http://books.google.com/books?id=6zYFAAAAMAAJ. 

External links


Top

Dansk (Danish)
n. - horisont, kontur, omrids

Nederlands (Dutch)
horizon, silhouet, skyline, stadsgezicht

Français (French)
n. - ligne d'horizon, ligne des toits

Deutsch (German)
n. - Silhouette

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - γραμμή του ορίζοντα, ορίζοντας, (τυπογρ.) τίτλος τυπωμένος πάνω από λογόγραμμα

Italiano (Italian)
panorama della città dai tetti, orizzonte, linea

Português (Portuguese)
n. - linha (f) do horizonte

Русский (Russian)
видимый горизонт, линия горизонта, очертания (на фоне неба), контур здания

Español (Spanish)
n. - horizonte, silueta, perfil

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - horisont, himlarand, kontur, silhuett

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
地平线, 天际, 架空索, 空中轮廓线

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 地平線, 天際, 架空索, 空中輪廓線

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 지평선, (산, 건물 따위가) 하늘을 배경으로 하는 윤곽

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 地平線, スカイライン

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ألصورة ألظلي, ألافق‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮קו רקיע, אופק טבעי‬


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