Archinect - News

Plans for world’s tallest residential tower unveiled in Dubai

2024-04-27T08:00:00-04:00

Hospitality brand Six Senses has unveiled plans for a new residential tower in Dubai Marina, set to be the world’s tallest. Sprouting up in Dubai Marina, the Six Senses Residences will be the second Dubai location to come from Six Senses, joining the nearly-opened Six Senses The Palm Jumeirah hotel. The tower is said to boast an impressive 122 floors, when it is eventually completed in 2028.

The height of the new Six Senses Residences Dubai Marina tower is equal to the under-construction Burj Azizi tower nearby, a $1.5 billion commercial project that was announced to have broken ground in January and will be completed the same year.

Image credit: Select Group

They will become two of the world’s six 120+ story structures. Reported amenities include a 109th-floor lap pool and cryotherapy chambers, crystal sound healing room, movie theater, and spa.

Image credit: Select Group

Despite the size, only 251 high-end residences are included. The current record-holder for tallest residential building, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture's Central Park Tower in New York City, has 179 units over 131 floors.

Image credit: Select Group

WSP Middle East and Woods Bagot are reportedly in charge of the architectural design.

In Oklahoma City, plans for North America’s new tallest building move toward approval

2024-04-13T10:00:00-04:00

The Oklahoma City Planning Commission voted yesterday, April 12th, to recommend its city council's approval of the proposed 1,907-foot-high tower design from AO (fmr. Architects Orange) that would become North America's tallest building when realized.

Plans are still contingent on the success of the proposed first two towers' leasing agreements, as we reported in January. AO, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary, is working for a local Orange County-based developer named Scot Matteson to realize the design after increasing its initial proposal for a 1,750-foot design that would have been America’s second-tallest building. The so-called Legends Tower would be built at a total of 126 stories and include 944 luxury residences plus another 99 condominiums and 352 rooms reserved for the Hyatt Hotel chain.

Just 48 of the tower's apartments will be considered affordable (all of which are to be located in the podium). The proposed LED signage is the only part of the proposal that was...

Pelli Clarke & Partners opens Mori JP Tower, Japan's new tallest building

2024-03-18T13:56:00-04:00

Pelli Clarke & Partners has shared news of their completed work on the Mori JP Tower project inside the Azabudai Hills District in Tokyo. The new tallest building in Japan is a 64-story mixed-used design complementing the two other high-rise structures included in the redevelopment district and was completed last fall at a total height of 330 meters (1,082 feet).

“Mori JP Tower, and with it Azabudai Hills, is among the first buildings visitors see upon arrival to Tokyo, creating a new center and landmark for the city,” Mitch Hirsch, Partner at Pelli Clarke & Partners, said in a project announcement of the scheme. “To design a tower of this significance in a city renowned for its unique skyline is a privilege.”

Photo by Jason O'Rear

The building is designed to evoke the symmetry of a lotus flower form, clad in a distinctive pearl-grey glass curtain facade and topped by a crown made from four separate curved glass pedals.

Photo by Jason O'Rear

Photo by Jason O'Rear...

Oklahoma City proposal for the U.S.'s new tallest building is fully funded, developers say

2024-03-15T12:11:00-04:00

While many have wondered if the project is financially feasible in Oklahoma City, Matteson told The Oklahoman the entire $1.5 billion development is fully funded. But, Matteson admitted there are some outstanding questions about whether the tower can be built. The outcome lies in whether he can receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, zoning approval from the city and whether the phase one apartment towers are sufficiently leased.

By extending the spire of the 1,907-foot Legends Tower, the Architects Orange (AO) plan would become, as we previously reported, the tallest building in North America. The developers of the 5-million-square-foot proposal have stated at least 50% of units in the first two smaller towers will have to be leased first before they build at that height.

Speaking to reporters about the prospect of realizing America's tallest building in a small city like OKC, developer Scot Matteson said: "I’m used to this skepticism by the public and other people, but we have goals, and we seem to meet them all the time."

Matteson Capital also said they won’t be able to obtain a building permit until at least September.

New Yorkers are still pissed about disrupted view sheds and 262 Fifth Avenue

2024-03-10T08:00:00-04:00

“It really pisses me off,” Clark said while standing in the plaza in front of the Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue, a few blocks south of the dueling skyscrapers. “The whole New York skyline has been destroyed. When I moved here I was thrilled with it, and now it’s just getting disgusting. These new buildings have no identity, no design to them. We’ve lost the character of New York, and it breaks my heart.”

The Guardian goes inside some locals' struggle against the new 262 Fifth Avenue condo tower by Meganom and SLCE Architects. The East Siders protesting their obstructed view sheds are also not in favor of its appearance or the design for 432 Park Avenue, including several inspired teen critics on TikTok.

NYT critic Michael Kimmelman also wrote of their plight last year, declaring theirs and other opposition attempts a noble attempt at restoring the city’s history in an era defined by zoning manipulation and visible inequality.

A preservationist named Jorge Otero-Pailos told Kimmelman last October that new regulations are needed to “guarantee a collective experience, a sense of shared identity and civic meaning, which can bind New Yorkers across generations and centuries.”

KPF reveals supertall Midtown Manhattan tower behind arched windows

2024-02-05T11:22:00-05:00

KPF has released new images of a supertall tower currently under construction in Midtown Manhattan. Named 520 Fifth Avenue, the tower rises 1,000 feet to “strike a distinctive presence on the most famous skyline in the world and rub shoulders with distinguished architectural icons,” according to the design team.

Image credit: Binyan Studios

When completed in 2025, the 450,000-square-foot tower will contain residential and office functions alongside ground-floor retail. The interiors have been designed to provide “venues of quiet retreat and spirited engagement,” while also targeting LEED, WELL, and WIREDSCORE certifications.

Image credit: Binyan Studios

The scheme’s exterior is defined by a motif of arched windows with design details inspired by the tower’s prominent neighbors including The Century Association, the New York Public Library, Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center, and the Chrysler Building. The tower is also expected to the the second tallest on Fifth Avenue after th...

SOM completes Two Manhattan West, marking a major milestone for corporate office design in NYC

2024-01-31T15:18:00-05:00

SOM has completed work on their Two Manhattan West tower project to culminate the shorter second half of its $4.5 billion mixed-use Manhattan West development in New York City.

The four-year construction effort yielded a total two million square feet of new office space that was built above active railroad tracks in what the firm describes as an "extraordinary" advancement of the methods used in urban design, structural engineering, and architecture.

Photo: Dave Burk © SOM

It joins SOM's already-completed One Manhattan West office tower and five other buildings at the eight-acre mixed-use site, which is being developed to over seven million square feet by Brookfield Properties. Design Principal Kim Van Holsbeke says it offers a "thriving new urban destination."

Photo: Dave Burk © SOM

By extending the urban fabric of the development west to its new boundary at Ninth Avenue and 31st Street, Two Manhattan West creates a new gateway to the neighborhood backed by the four smaller buildin...

The tallest building in the U.S. may be built in Oklahoma City following design revision

2024-01-23T11:22:00-05:00

The team behind the Boardwalk at Bricktown development in Oklahoma City is to request a design variance from city officials which, if granted, would see the project become the tallest building in the United States. Designed by California-based Architects Orange for Matteson Capital, the project contains four towers and spans 5 million square feet, hosting hotels, residential units, and commercial and hospitality functions.

Image render courtesy AO

As we reported earlier this month, the project sees three towers rising 345 feet, with a fourth taller ‘Legends Tower’ originally measuring 1750 feet in height. With the scheme already approved by city officials, the team has sought the approval of a variance that will increase the height of the Legends Tower to 1,907 feet, making it the tallest building in the United States. The record is currently held by One World Trade Center, which measures 1,776 feet tall.

Image render courtesy AO

Described as a “mixed-use marvel” by the design team, t...

Burj Azizi, Dubai's future second-tallest tower, begins construction in the UAE

2024-01-22T15:27:00-05:00

The imminent start of construction of the Burj Azizi, a $1.5 billion new commercial high-rise in Dubai that’s billed to become the city’s second-tallest construction upon completion, has been announced in the United Arab Emirates by a prominent local developer named Azizi Developments.

The tower, which has yet to name an architect or specify its final height at topping out, will reportedly host a vertical mall, luxury residences, and an observation deck. Planned for 122 stories, it will rival the Lotte World Tower and China 117 Tower as one of just five structures in the world to be completed at over 120 stories in height. Its construction will take place not far from the record-holding Burj Khalifa on Sheikh Zayed Road, culminating in a new icon backers say is a gift to the city that has nurtured their business success over many years.

“This tower will be our legacy,” said the Chairman of the Azizi company, Mr. Mirwais Azizi. “With Dubai having given my family and I so much — safe...

A proposal for the second-tallest building in North America sneaks forward in Oklahoma City

2024-01-02T19:13:00-05:00

Oklahoma City could soon be home to the country’s second-tallest structure if plans for a new 1,750-foot skyscraper designed by the California practice Architects Orange (AO) are approved along with a larger $1 billion entertainment district proposal from developer Scot Matteson.

The tower is included as part of the mixed-use Boardwalk at Bricktown development that calls for a hotel, two condominium towers, and an LED-lit multilevel podium with a pool and other public areas at a site just two blocks away from where the new home of the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA franchise is now being planned.

Matteson and other developers behind the scheme are hoping the local real estate market can support their ambitions, and say the 134-story apartment tower could be added to the mixed-use scheme provided there is adequate demand. The plan would be funded in part by a $200 million tax increment financing.

Image render courtesy AO.

"We felt that creating someplace can live and work and play and be ...

BIG completes award-winning The Spiral tower in Manhattan

2023-10-25T19:57:00-04:00

BIG has shared photos to follow the firm’s completion of the new 2.8 million-square-foot The Spiral office tower in Midtown Manhattan.

Located at the entrance to the High Line Park on 34th Street between 10th Avenue and Hudson Boulevard, the 66-story structure rises to a total height of 1,031.5 feet and offers the neighborhood skyline a distinctive new visual identity taken from its stepped silhouette and a ribbon of outdoor terraces that cascade down the setback facade to a street level podium.

Photo © Laurian Ghinitoiu

The design team, which also included Adamson Associates, made wind- and drought-resistant biophilic elements a central part of the building’s exterior, working to unprecedented new heights for commercial high-rises. Certain plant species were selected for their ability to flower as early as February, in combination with evergreen ivy varieties. The program also creates flexible workspaces and includes an exclusive clubhouse on the uppermos...

Michael Kimmelman again asks: 'Should New York regulate its skyline?'

2023-10-25T15:11:00-04:00

A generation ago, the New York skyline was a global icon, shaped more or less like a suspension bridge stretched between the Empire State and the Twin Towers, making it possible to, say, pop out of some unfamiliar subway station, gaze up toward the clouds and orient oneself along the skyline’s north-south axis. Today, the skyline is vastly more complex, far-flung and difficult to picture, and it’s common to hear complaints that the city has lost its bearings.

The addition of Meganom and SLCE’s 860-foot 262 Fifth Avenue tower to New York’s accidental skyline also raises questions about legislating ‘view sheds’ and historic sightlines around the city, Michael Kimmelman writes. The city currently only has one protected vista overlooking the Financial District from Brooklyn Heights. Developers have famously been manipulating the local zoning code governing allowable height in order to receive approvals, an issue Kimmelman has preached about in earnest for the past decade.

“It’s time to rethink our assumptions,” preservationist Jorge Otero-Pailos tells him, before adding his opinion that regulations would “guarantee a collective experience, a sense of shared identity and civic meaning, which can bind New Yorkers across generations and centuries.”

Construction of 262 Fifth Avenue is expected to wrap up by the end of 2024.

Take a look inside Woods Bagot's lobby design for The Brooklyn Tower

2023-05-30T19:55:00-04:00

Woods Bagot has shared photos of their ongoing interior work inside SHoP’s supertall landmark The Brooklyn Tower (formerly known as 9 DeKalb), in anticipation of the record-breaking high-rise’s completion later this year.

The project was led by Principal Krista Ninivaggi of Woods Bagot’s New York studio. Their brief for a lobby space and an amenity program called for a seamless transition between the 93-story building’s interior and exterior facade, whose own design was inspired by the imagined “Metropolis of Tomorrow” first envisioned by writer and architect Hugh Ferriss in the late-1920s.

Photo by Adrian Gaut

An assembly of wood veneers and milled panels scaled to the facade's extrusions feature prominently among the building’s interior. Further details include stone cladding and a vaulted ceiling that harkens to the former Dime Saving Bank that forms the tower’s base. Overall, The Brooklyn Tower includes a total of 547 apartment units, a commercial gym, and four pools in addition...

The Willis Tower turns 50

2023-05-05T12:24:00-04:00

Now called Willis Tower, the building has been a trendsetter since its debut. After starting life as a headquarters for Sears, Roebuck & Co., the building saw its namesake tenant relocate to the suburbs. Along with the rest of downtown, it suffered other blows, including fears raised by the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the Great Recession. It’s always bounced back. But the tower now faces what might be its biggest test.

SOM won the commission from the Sears corporation in 1970 at a time when office parks and the desire to project a stronger image of America against the backdrop of the Vietnam War were separately prevailing forces in the AEC industry. Sears eventually sold the 110-story building, which was the world’s tallest for 22 years, for more than $1 billion in 1988. More recently it has turned into a focal point of the city’s office vacancy crisis, and new owners Blackstone are now looking forward to returns from a $500 million-plus renovation led by Gensler with optimism.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)'s CEO Javier Quintana de Uña agrees. As he said, "It always keeps ahead of everything else."

The Tribune has historic photos of the tower under construction here.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (@skidmoreowingsmerrill)

Will Austin’s tall-buildings boom survive the skyscraper effect and looming tech recession?

2023-01-19T17:52:00-05:00

But joining the fraternity of cities with supertalls can also be a dubious distinction: Real estate is a lagging indicator, and skyscrapers often arrive after the boom is over, looming half-empty as monuments to a bust. Others, however, are convinced that Austin’s high-rise stampede is just getting started. Given the city’s emerging significance as a next-gen manufacturing hub this building boom could defy the skyscraper effect.

With a slate of high-rises and supertalls, including KPF’s Waterline design and the record-setting Wilson Tower from HKS in the works, Bloomberg asks if the pace of development can be sustained amidst tech’s downturn and the annals of urban economic history. The salvation apparently lies in the influx of manufacturing dollars into the city, along with a downtown area that offers what some consider to be the nation’s highest overall quality of living.

A planned cap-and-stitch project could add even more commercial parcels along a stretch of I-35 downtown beginning in 2025. The risks of repeating the same tax incentive-driven boom-bust cycle that led to so many of Dubai’s architectural headaches a decade ago are not lost on developers. For now, Austin’s only real crisis is the affordability of homes and a dearth of convenient worker housing.

Foster + Partners tapped to design supertall 350 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan

2023-01-17T18:08:00-05:00

Ken Griffin’s empire will occupy more than half of the office space at a new Manhattan skyscraper at 350 Park Ave., which is expected to be completed in 2032. [...] Citadel confirmed plans to construct a tower at 350 Park Ave., a 1.7 million-square-foot (158,000 square-meter) building that would replace three properties in that area. The firm has been working with developers Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management Co.

Citadel's fund is managed by billionaire philanthropist Kenneth Griffin, whose 2018 donation to West Palm Beach, Florida's Norton Museum of Art earned him a special named wing also designed by Foster + Partners' New York office.

If approved, the new 1,350-foot supertall 350 Park Avenue tower will piggyback off the just-opened 425 Park Avenue and 50 Hudson Yards developments as well as the forthcoming J.P. Morgan Chase headquarters and 15 Penn Plaza designs to become the firm's seventh tall building project in Manhattan. Expectations are for construction to be completed by the end of 2032.

Looking back critically on the two-decade supertall building revolution in New York City

2022-12-24T10:00:00-05:00

We’re living through the birth of a new species of skyscraper that not even architects and engineers saw coming. After 9/11, experts concluded that skyscrapers were finished. Tall buildings that were in the works got scaled down or canceled on the assumption that soaring towers were too risky to be built or occupied. “There were all sorts of public statements that we’re never going to build tall again,” one architect told The Guardian. “All we’ve done in the 20 years since is build even taller.”

The ascendency of “accidental skylines” in Midtown Manhattan, Downtown Brooklyn, Miami, and recently Austin and Los Angeles is becoming a defining design trait of American cities as we move into the century’s third decade. “It’s a message of power,” developer Don Peebles told the Atlantic. “It’s not trying to blend in. It’s trying to stand out.”

The changes to New York City alone can be traced to new engineering techniques, rezoning, and the acceleration of real estate development begun under Michael Bloomberg’s administration, unprecedented wealth transfers that underwrite the high-end luxury residential market, and even the rise of architectural media, with lawsuits and public backlash representing the inevitable resistance against the envelope-pushing designs.

“In 2050, when these slender towers are eligible for landmark protection,” Skyscraper Museum director Carol ...

HKS debuts revised plans for Texas’ tallest high-rise

2022-11-15T13:13:00-05:00

[...] Wilson Capital announced this morning that its redevelopment of the Avenue Lofts site will be significantly larger than previously reported. The multifamily residential building planned for the 0.8-acre property at 410 East Fifth Street, now known as Wilson Tower, is set to rise 80 floors to a total height of 1,035 feet — and yes, that would make the project the new tallest tower in Texas upon completion, exceeding the height of the Waterline supertall project [...]

HKS is behind the Wilson Tower project, which will complement the 43-story 700 River development that broke ground recently on a tract fast becoming Austin’s “second” downtown. The would-be new record-setter had been previously planned for only 54 stories and is now advertising lets for its 450 available luxury units. Amenities like a movie theater and indoor dog run are included in a four-story block. The rest of the program appears standard fare for a city that now boasts nine of the wealthiest 1,000 neighborhoods in the country.

Image courtesy HKS/Wilson Capital

"I don't think the need for housing is going anywhere," an unnamed developer told Austin Business Journal, referencing the state capital’s dual status as the fastest-growing city in America. "Looking into the future, when this building is planned to come online, we still see Austin with the incredibly strong fundamentals needed to support a project like this."

Image courtesy HKS/Wilson Capital

...

Toronto’s race to the top gets a new 105-story contender

2022-11-14T18:58:00-05:00

In the quest to build the tallest skyscraper in Canada, developer Pinnacle International appears to be inching ahead, with a new proposal that would see the second tower at the foot of Yonge Street reach over 100 storeys. Pinnacle submitted an application late last month with the city, seeking to allow 12- and 10-storey increases to the already approved 80- and 95-storey towers in its development at the site of the current Toronto Star building.

Hariri Pontarini Architects’ amended design for the already-underway SkyTower could become Toronto’s first triple-digit-story supertall, equaling the height of the CN Tower’s observation deck. Anson Kwook, a VP of marketing for the developer said it would also add a “piece of artwork” to the city’s skyline.

Previously on Archinect: Construction kicks off on SkyTower, Canada's tallest residential tower

Toronto’s planning division has been flooded with proposed tall building designs since the beginning of last year, including designs for Studio Gang’s first Canadian venture; the forthcoming 55 Yonge mixed-use development by PARTISANS and Quadrangle; Frank Gehry’s revised King Street West apartments; and a proposed 31-story mass timber structure from local studio ICON Architects that would topple Milwaukee’s Ascent Tower for the world record use of that material upon its speculative completion in 2027.

Title of world's highest outdoor pool goes to new supertall tower in Nanning, China

2022-11-10T13:08:00-05:00

Goettsch Partners has completed work on a new 1,322-foot-tall tower in Nanning, China, topped by a special feature they say sets the record for the world’s highest outdoor swimming pool.

The new Guangxi China Resources Tower is a mixed-use design that incorporates a 336-room hotel, office spaces, and retail into its over 2.93-million-square-foot supertall structure, which now stands as the 18th tallest building in China and the 37th tallest in the world.

Image: © Arch-Exist

GP CEO James Zheng called his team’s design a “symbol of rising prosperity for the city.” At 1,060 feet above grade, the swimming pool feature, located inside the 71st-floor terrace of the hotel, is higher than the iconic infinity pool located on the 57th floor of Moshe Safdie’s Marina Bay Sands, which was previously considered to be the world-record holder.

Image: © Arch-Exist

Its tapering form presents clear delineations between the lower-level office program and the hotel amenity above. The t...

New AS+GG book explores design process behind world’s tallest towers

2022-11-07T12:37:00-05:00

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) has published a new book charting the firm’s design and delivery of some of the world’s tallest structures. Titled Supertall | Megatall: How High Can We Go?, the book uses drawings and details from AS+GG’s archives to explore projects from the viewpoint of sustainability, technology, programming, and contextualization.

Among the schemes featured in the book are the Central Park Tower in New York City, the Chengdu Greenland Tower in China, and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which still holds the record of the world’s tallest building.

With only 173 completed supertall buildings around the world, defined as a building whose height measures between 985 and 1,970 feet (300 and 600 meters), AS+GG sees the retrospective look at built precedents as an important tool for informing future high-rise projects.

"To go back and see something that was done 15 years ago, and how that's weathering, or how...

These are the global cities with the most skyscrapers

2022-09-22T14:15:00-04:00

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has released data chronicling the prevalence of buildings with total heights taller than 150 meters (492 feet) in major metropolitan areas across the world.

The statistics speak to several yearslong industry-wide trends as well as a preference for the recently-halted practice of (extremely) tall-building in China, which had more entries in the Top 25 (10, excluding Hong Kong) than the United States, Canada, and Australia put together.

Dubai has by far the largest stock of 300-meter (984 feet) or more structures at 28. New York, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen are the only cities with 10 or more in the same category. Australia’s largest city, Sydney, had fewer overall entries than the Philippines city of Makati, despite hosting a population almost tenfold its size. London was one of only two UK metros listed.

The new overall Top...

SHoP's 111 West 57th Street supertall tower is one important step closer to completion

2022-04-05T20:00:00-04:00

A milestone development on the way to what is one of the most anticipated new openings of the year as the exteriors have been completed on SHoP’s award-winning 111 West 57th Street supertall tower in Midtown Manhattan.

Once completed, the building will stand as the second-tallest residential structure in the Western Hemisphere and sit atop the landmark Steinway Hall building, which houses 14 of the 60 total full-floor and duplex residences located within the 1,428-foot-tall development.

Video courtesy of SHoP Architects.

The exterior is defined by a stepped design that tapers along the south-facing facade as it reaches ever skyward to create a dramatic visual statement in combination with an east-west oriented terra cotta pilaster cladding system and a 300-foot decorative steel crown.

Photo by Evan Joseph, image courtesy SHoP Architects.

Per the architects: “The intricate façade is designed to be viewed from multiple scales and vantage points: Terra cotta panels with 22 different ...

Passersby injured by falling ice from Billionaires' Row supertall

2022-02-28T13:55:00-05:00

Ice believed to have fallen more than 1,400 feet from a Midtown condo crushed the roof and smashed the windshield of Deneice O’Connor’s car as she drove up Sixth Ave., the shaken motorist said Saturday. “It just crashed down on me. I immediately thought a body had fallen on my car,” O’Connor, 35, told the Daily News.

The ice is believed to have fallen from the SHoP Architects-designed 111 W. 57th Street supertall, one of the world's thinnest skyscrapers and tallest residential buildings in the Western Hemisphere. It is a prominent fixture along “Billionaires’ Row”. Police have also reported that another person, a 17-year-old girl, was injured by falling ice originating from 40 W. 57th Street. The Friday afternoon incidents are being investigated by the city Building Department, with the inspectors issuing a violation against the owners of 111 W. 57th Street.

The TikTok post below shows large panes of ice falling one by one onto the surrounding street as pedestrians walk by.

@japanesecarlos The thump was loud af #nyc #nyclife #nycproblems #omg #newyorker #newyorklife ♬ Paris - Else

Lawsuit against Viñoly-designed skinny tower is ‘ill-advised’ claims developer, says building is 'without a doubt safe'

2021-12-23T11:48:00-05:00

The developer behind 432 Park Avenue on New York’s Billionaire’s Row has hit back at a lawsuit alleging design defects. As reported by The Guardian, LA-based CIM Group calls the claims within the lawsuit “vastly exaggerated” in their response filed this week to the New York state supreme court.

As we reported in September, the lawsuit is being brought on behalf of the tower's condo board. The $125 million suit seeks damages for around 1500 alleged design and construction defects, causing multiple floods, faulty elevators, a string of electrical explosions, and an “intolerable” noise caused by the building’s sway.

Speaking to The New York Times at the time of the filing, a lawyer representing the condo board compared the uncovering of defects as “peeling an onion,” hinting that more may be discovered in the future. “This is a work in progress in ascertaining what’s wrong,” he noted.

In their resp...

Brooklyn's first supertall skyscraper officially tops out

2021-10-28T12:58:00-04:00

Brooklyn’s first supertall skyscraper has officially topped out. 9 DeKalb, now officially known as The Brooklyn Tower, stands at 1,066 feet and comprises 93 stories.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by JDS Development Group (@jdsdevelopmentgroup)

Designed by SHoP Architects and developed by JDS Development Group, the tower rises adjacent to the historic 20th-century Dime Savings Bank. Its form and façade are informed by the hexagonal composition and patterning of the landmarked former bank, along with its materiality that includes bronze, steel, and marble. Ascending the building, the façade transforms into blackened stainless steel and shades of bronze and copper. Alternating panels of glazing in different sizes and materials create a fade from bronze to black as the tower moves upwards.

The Brooklyn Tower has been under construction since 2018 and cost $750 million to develop. JDS Development Group bought the Dime Savings Bank for $95 million in 2016. ...

Only three of New York's 25 tallest residential buildings have reportedly received a final certificate of occupancy

2021-10-01T19:23:00-04:00

The skyscrapers of New York’s so-called Billionaires’ Row in Midtown Manhattan have something in common besides eye-watering prices: The city still considers them active construction sites, with a range of safety-related requirements that remain incomplete, sometimes years after occupancy.

All of the eight new Billionaires’ Row towers are reportedly missing final signoff from the Department of Buildings on elevators and plumbing, with seven lacking final signoff on fire sprinklers and standpipes. Five are missing approvals from the fire department. According to The New York Times, there are at least hundreds of buildings across New York City that have similarly not received a final certificate of occupancy, with many operating with temporary certificates. The paper reports that only 3 of the 25 tallest residential buildings have obtained the final certificate.

The increased rise of supertall towers in New York, skinnier and more complex than ever, has exposed the gaps in the city’s inspection and enforcement strategy. Engineers, urban planners, and former employees of the Department of Buildings have expressed concerns over the safety risks that arise as a result of these shortcomings.

Previously on Archinect: Residents of NYC's 432 Park Avenue are suing the develope...

Supertall swaying could soon be a thing of the past

2021-09-28T20:18:00-04:00

Although far from soothing, advances in materials science and construction technology, along with experience, are starting to help residents’ day-to-day comfort levels climb along with buildings’ heights. Experts are constantly refining ideal structural shapes, masses, and weights, as well as more obscure features like the multiton machines known as tuned mass dampers, which are designed to limit a building’s sway.

Residents of Rafael Vinoly’s billion dollar 432 Park tower have begun to pursue legal remedies against the property developers over the building’s annoying sway and a host of other abject failures. Case studies, in addition to advancements in building science could mean a future with fewer problems. Bloomberg CityLab has more on the nauseating lessons of supertall developments here.

Residents of NYC's 432 Park Avenue are suing the developers for $125 million in damages

2021-09-24T16:38:00-04:00

The condo board at the supertall tower 432 Park Avenue, one of the most expensive addresses in the world, is suing the developers for $125 million in damages, citing multiple floods, faulty elevators, “intolerable” noise caused by building sway, and an electrical explosion in June — the second in three years — that knocked out power to residents, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.

Reports on the shortcomings of the nearly 1,400-foot-tall, Rafael Viñoly Architects-designed luxury tower were initially released in February. Identified by an engineering firm hired by the condo board, damages include the estimated cost to repair around 1,500 construction and design defects in common elements of the building. The damages could continue to rise.

Previously on Archinect: The not entirely untroubled life in supertall luxury towers

As reported by the Times, the decision to go public with the lawsuit was due to the developers’ “band-aid approach” to resolving many of the building’s issues.

A domino-inspired design has been unveiled for Africa's potentially second largest tower

2021-09-03T18:42:00-04:00

A spiraling new supertower hopes to grace one of Tanzania’s most spectacular coastal islands thanks to an ambitious, albeit repurposed design from Dubai-based firm xcassia.

Taking its design from a set of dominoes, the proposed 70-story tower will inhabit a manmade island on the Zanzibar archipelago 100 miles away from the capital Dars es Salaam.

Once completed, the scheme could become the second-largest tower on the African continent as well as the first skyscraper to be built on a manmade island outside of Dubai.

Made up of 360 individual component “keys,” the 1.2-million-square-foot Zanzibar Domino Commercial Tower will play host to Africa's largest luxury hotel topped in addition to 500 residential units by an observation deck that offers visitors views of the surrounding Indian Ocean.

Related feature article on Archinect: The Emerging Female Architects of East Africa

According to the architect: “I dreamed of building this project for over a decade. Between its innate mathematic...

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