Why Is There No 13th Floor In Buildings
By zachary solomon march 9 2020.
Why is there no 13th floor in buildings. Even building owners who are not themselves superstitious realize that the desirability of units on the 13th floor might be compromised because of superstitious tenants or commercial tenants who worry about losing superstitious customers. The most common include denoting what would otherwise be considered the thirteenth floor as level 14 giving the thirteenth floor an alternate designation such as 12a or m or closing the 13th floor to public occupancy or access. That s because superstitious builders thought that omitting the 13thand subsequent floors would prevent unseemly shadows from arising on the streets outside.
These days it s practically scripture. And while the practice of removing the 13th floor or erasing its traces may seem a bit drastic it can be partly attributed to a very real phobia. Indeed if you re staying in a hotel there s a good chance your elevator will magically lift you from the 12th floor to the 14th.
Most buildings just go straight from 12 to 14. Skipping floor 13 in hotels saves patrons who may suffer from this disorder the discomfort of being in elevators with a 13th floor or from having a room on such a floor. Whether you re a lifelong new yorker or a tourist stopping by you ve probably noticed that not many buildings in nyc have a 13th floor.
With the arrival of the first skyscrapers in 1885 it was rare for a hotel or other building to contain more than 12 floors. Starting in the 20th century when skyscrapers began cropping up in bigger cities buildings overwhelmingly forwent marking the 13th floor because of simple economics. They didn t want to give anyone a reason not to want to rent space in their building.
Reasons for omitting a thirteenth floor include triskaidekap. Specifically triskaidekaphobia which is an extreme suspicion of the number thirteen. In nearly every culture the number 13 is an.
The floor doesn t exist. It all comes down to triskaidekaphobia or the fear of the number 13. The answer is simple.