In the late 1920s, automobile magnate Walter P. Chrysler commissioned architect William Van Alen to design th tallest building in the world. Completed in 1930, the striking Chrysler Building was indeed the tallest, rising to 1,048ft (77 stories)—until the Empire State Building opened the following year. One of the first buildings to feature exposed metal as an essential part of its design, the Chrysler Building is topped by a distinctive spire of radiant stainless steel arches that glimmers in sunlight and glows in the nighttime illuminations.