landscraper
n. An imposingly long building, particularly one that houses a commercial enterprise, such as a factory or hotel.
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Examples
2010
To put up almost a mile of space-age, super-luxury grandstand, including a four-block, 11-storey hotel, within 12 months — the "longest landscraper in the world" — and then to establish two different racing surfaces, one turf, one the artificial Tapeta, which won universal approval, is an amazing achievement.
—Brough Scott, “Lloyd Webbers win Dubai millions,” The Sunday Times, March 29, 2010
2009
But the super structure already has been panned by local author and architectural critic James Howard Kunstler, who has called the building a "landscraper" the size of an aircraft carrier, and compared it unfavorably to a "gigantic brick Yule log" and Darth Vader’s mask.
—Dennis Yusko, “Skidmore’s sounds of music,” The Times-Union, December 28, 2009
1986 (earliest)
Another aspect of the towns we build today is the use of three types of building : the bungalow, the skyscraper and the landscraper (factory) spread out all over the landscape in loose functions of suburb, downtown and industrial zone.
City Magazine, January 01, 1986
Notes
Landscraper is the horizontal equivalent of a skyscraper, a term that has had a fun ride through the English language. In the late 18th century it referred to a kind of tall sail, but was subsequently used to refer to a tall horse, a tall person, a person riding a tall bicycle, a tall hat, and even a tall tale. The "tall building" sense first appeared in the 1880s.
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