From ascetic individualism to the dissolution of the self: A sociological approach to the religious symbolism of Chicago and New York skyscrapers.

This article examines the symbolic profile of North American skyscrapers as a reflection of the evolving features of North American culture, particularly its religiosity and capitalist values. Using a Weberian comprehensive sociology combined with an emerging sociology of skyscrapers, it reveals how skyscraper styles parallel shifts from an original Protestant-inspired ascetic individualism toward a consumerist, expressive individualism marked by fragmentation and evanescence. The study highlights four key transformations: skyscrapers' initial mimicry and later replacement of cathedrals; their verticality symbolizing spiritual elevation; the shift from rationalist geometric abstraction to ethereal, dematerialized forms; and the expression of individualism that ultimately leads to a diminished or fragmented self. Overall, skyscrapers serve as a primary sociological object to observe the interplay between architecture, religion, and capitalism in North American society.