Archinect - News

City of London approves record-tying skyscraper design from Eric Parry Architects

2024-12-18T12:11:00-05:00

A challenger to The Shard’s title as the tallest skyscraper in the UK is moving forward with plans to construct a new building designed by Eric Parry Architects that will equal its record height of 309.6 meters (or 1,015.75 feet). The height is limited by aviation safety rules for the City of London, where the planned 1 Undershaft will soon begin construction towards an anticipated early-2030s completion.

As was first reported by The Guardian, "On completion, 1 Undershaft, which is being built on the site occupied by insurer Aviva’s former headquarters, will provide almost 13% of the office space required in the City of London to 2040."

Image: DBOX/Eric Parry Architects

KPF’s James von Klemperer on 520 Fifth Ave. and being a 'good neighbor'

2024-10-18T11:20:00-04:00

I think all tall buildings, especially, have a kind of responsibility that goes beyond the program and the site. Because once you emerge into the skyline in a significant way, which this building will, the skyline is almost viewed, I think, by us New Yorkers as public property. If you put up a terrible profile on the skyline, everybody has to look at it from uptown, downtown, Long Island, New Jersey. And it’s very subjective.

The firm's forthcoming 1,002-foot supertall, which we first previewed back in February, is ramping up construction towards completion in 2026. Its language of setbacks and arches is a nod to other towers shaped by the famous 1916 zoning envelope mandate that produced the Chrysler Building and many other quintessential designs through mid-century.

KPF is currently working on what will be the new tallest building in Texas for 2026 while the city prepares an 11-block Fifth Avenue pedestrian corridor redesign led by Field Operations.

Image credit: Binyan Studios

Image credit: DBOX

Jeddah Tower restarts construction after nearly seven years

2024-10-09T13:54:00-04:00

CNN is reporting on the resumed construction of Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower, the Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS + GG) project that will become the world’s tallest structure once completed in 2028. Progress had been stalled at roughly one-third the height of the 3,280-foot building in January of 2018 due to labor shortages. The buttressed core utilized to achieve its final height could key a new wave of megatall designs as was outlined in the firm's 2022 title Supertall | Megatall: How High Can We Go? Some others to keep an eye on have been rumored for Thailand and Riyadh within the past year.

Antony Wood steps down as CTBUH President

2024-09-11T11:23:00-04:00

The Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has announced the departure of President and former CEO Antony Wood after 20 years.

Wood, who led a tenfold increase in membership during his tenure, said he was lending to a "future generation of leaders" in stepping down. In a statement, colleague and the CTBUH’s current Chairman Shonn Mills said: "Antony has completely modernized the organization over nearly two decades, while growing it into the significant global presence it is today."

UNESCO assessing impact of skyscrapers on Tower of London

2024-08-07T19:29:00-04:00

The Tower of London’s status as a world heritage site may be at risk due to the influx of new skyscrapers in central London. UNESCO has requested that the UK government submit a State of Conservation Report that addresses the historic site’s preservation and the threat of increased high-rise buildings in the area. As reported by the BBC, a UNESCO spokesperson said the request was due to concerns about “cumulative impacts” from nearby high-rise developments and insufficient protection of the Tower’s “outstanding universal value”.

Previously on Archinect: The City of London skyline is expected to add these eleven towers by 2030

Concerns were initially raised by the English historic preservation body, Historic England, regarding City Plan 2040, the City of London Corporation’s (CLC) draft policies for new office, residential buildings, and overall development. Historic England believes these policies are likely to “severely harm” the likes of the Tower of London. On the other hand, depu...

What’s holding up mass timber's ascent in Chicago?

2024-07-30T08:00:00-04:00

The Tribune recently asked why mass timber construction is so lagging in Chicago while nearby Milwaukee and other cities in the Pacific Northwest and Europe are making strides to embrace the movement by altering their building codes and fire safety regulations.

Even after an amenable update to its citywide code in 2020, forces such as the collective memory of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire are one such impediment to the development of new wooden designs. A two-year-old residential project from Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture — a rare approved proposal over five stories — appears to have stalled. The DOB says it considers additional exceptions to the limit "on a case-by-case basis," but there remains an impression it is too late to the table, leaving the city known for its architectural innovations disappointingly out of the vanguard while a new race to the top unfolds.

Milwaukee developer proposes new record-setting mass timber tower

2024-07-28T08:00:00-04:00

Get ready for another record-breaker, Milwaukee. The city has reentered the race to build the world's tallest mass timber building with a proposal for a new, 50-story tower designed by Michael Green Architecture.

Details of the reportedly $700 million project include a mixed-use design with 750 residential units, 300 hotel rooms, and 190,000 square feet of office space. The 24-person Vancouver-based firm is seen as a leader in mass timber design.

The current record-holder, Ascent MKE tower by Korb + Associates, was on track to lose its title to the forthcoming C6 project from Elenberg Fraser in Perth, Australia, (which is also 50 stories) before the announcement of the new tower (dubbed "The Neutral Project") was made.

'Turning skyscrapers into batteries': SOM unveils energy storage prototypes partnership

2024-05-31T12:17:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill has announced a new partnership with the Swiss energy storage company Energy Vault Holdings that will produce a series of prototype designs for deployable structures and vertical energy storage units up to 1,000 meters (3,280 feet).

Led by SOM Partners Adam Semel and Scott Duncan in collaboration with Burj Khalifa’s structural engineer Bill Baker, the initiative will be the first such technology to integrate gravity-based energy storage technology within the superstructure of tall buildings, enabling a carbon payback within accelerated 3–4 year timeframes.

SOM says: “The 10-year agreement is expected to result in multi-GWh of long duration Energy Vault GESS deployments to contribute to SADC region’s energy storage needs estimated to be 25 GW/125 GWh by 2035.”

The City of London skyline is expected to add these eleven towers by 2030

2023-11-01T18:58:00-04:00

The City of London Corporation has revealed new images depicting the 2030 skyline of the Square Mile ahead of the completion of a planned cluster of tall buildings that are expected by the end of the decade.

The plans depicted include the 11-building ‘City Cluster’, which strategically closes an existing gap between Rafael Viñoly’s 20 Fenchurch Street (aka the “Walkie-Talkie" tower) and adjacent plots in the body's local plan. Other key areas of change included in the City Plan 2040 call for the construction of new pedestrian routes and public green space, added ground-level accommodations for retail, and a mix of education and cultural spaces.

“These new CGI images clearly illustrate the ever-changing nature of London's incredible skyline. It demonstrates that the City office is here to stay, and that the Square Mile's real estate sector is robust and thriving, despite wider economic concerns,” Chair of the Planning and Transportation Committee at the City of London Corporation, S...

Record-setting 50-story mass timber skyscraper approved in Perth

2023-10-05T17:55:00-04:00

Australian architecture firm Elenberg Fraser is moving forward with a new $350 million AUD ($223 million USD) high-rise tower in Perth on the country's west coast that could set the record as the world’s tallest mass timber structure once completed.

Plans for the new 627-foot C6 Tower were approved last week by the city’s Metro Inner-South Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP) for client Grange Development.

The firm’s newly-formed research arm Fraser & Partners will be leading the project and says their hybrid steel frame and wood design will utilize a total of 9,678 cubic yards of locally sourced timber in its construction. At 50 stories, it is more than twice the size of the Milwaukee Ascent Tower and another 11 stories taller than SHoP’s forthcoming 39-stroy Atlassian Headquarters in Sydney. Grange says it will be the first carbon-negative construction in the history of Western Australia, though some academics caution this is misleading under current IPCC guidelines.

Image c...

Frank Gehry’s Forma development begins construction in Toronto

2023-06-12T14:49:00-04:00

Frank Gehry’s biggest-ever contribution to the city in which he was born is now underway after construction began on the two-tower Forma condominium scheme in downtown Toronto.

A total of 2,087 residential units will be constructed as part of the process, filling out the pair of 73- and 84-story towers that, once built, will stand as the tallest buildings the 94-year-old Gehry has completed during the course of his illustrious six-decade career in architecture.

Image courtesy Forma/Great Gulf.

Gehry himself was on hand for last week’s groundbreaking ceremony, where he commented on the project’s significance as a new landmark rising from the busy commercial core of the city that has recently become a battleground for developers looking to surmount the fray of tall building proposals proffered there since the beginning of 2021.

Image courtesy Forma/Great Gulf.

"You think about the buildings in other cities like Rockefeller Center, where there’s an ensemble of buildings that create publ...

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.

‘Skyscrapers are an absurdity’ says Architects Declare in open letter to CTBUH

2022-11-24T13:18:00-05:00

Architects Declare has published an open letter to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, setting out the group’s position on the environmental cost of skyscrapers. The letter, published on the Architects Declare website, was originally sent to CTBUH in July but has now been made public after the group claims not to have received any response.

“The evidence now is overwhelming that tall buildings hinder, rather than assist, our efforts to address key challenges of climate breakdown, resource depletion and biodiversity loss,” the letter reads. “Today, UK Architects Declare is therefore calling on CTBUH to transform its register of ‘The World’s Tallest Buildings’ and shift its focus from a fixation on height to the other part of its mission, Urban Habitats. and crucially address critical environmental challenges.”

The letter claims that CTBUH’s register of tall building...

BIG's pixelated Telus Sky Tower in Calgary stands 'like a lady in a cluster of cowboys'

2022-11-21T12:04:00-05:00

Bjarke Ingels Group has released newly-commissioned photographs of their Telus Sky Tower in Calgary, Canada. First unveiled in 2013, the mixed-use 60-story residential and commercial project broke ground in 2015 and was completed in 2020. Situated in downtown Calgary among a cluster of corporate office towers, BIG’s scheme incorporates residential units on its upper levels in an effort to create urban activity after the workday finishes.

Photograph © Ema Peter

While the tower’s ground floor adopts the same orientation as surrounding buildings, the scheme undergoes a diagonal shift as it rises, creating terraces and balconies for residents while offering the building its distinctive “pixelated” façade. Above the main entrance, the façade pixels extend beyond the site limits to create a series of canopies and terraces, while at night, a 160,000 sqft art installation, Northern Lights by Douglas Coupland, lights up the north and south façades, creating the largest public art piece in Cal...

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.

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.

Central Park Tower by AS+GG. Image © Royce Douglas

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...

Foster + Partners completes EU's tallest building in Warsaw, Poland

2022-10-26T09:00:00-04:00

Foster + Partners has completed work on Varso Tower in Warsaw, Poland. At 310 meters (1,017 feet) tall, the scheme overtakes Frankfurt’s Commerzbank Tower (also designed by Foster + Partners) to become the tallest building in the European Union.

The new tower is also nearly 400 feet taller than the Intempo skyscraper in Benidorm, Spain, which became the tallest residential building in the European Union following its completion last year.

Image courtesy of Foster + Partners

At ground level, the project includes a plaza enclosed within a glazed screen. Described by the designers as an ‘urban room,’ the plaza contains full-height trees and seating for office workers on breaks and the public.

Image courtesy of Foster + Partners

Inside, the tower’s lobby features a 33-foot-high ceramic artwork by local artist Krystyna Kaszuba-Waclawek. Above, office floors are accessed by two banks of double-deck elevators where each c...

MVRDV's first U.S. building creates a 'colorful vertical village' in upper Manhattan

2022-10-03T11:56:00-04:00

MVRDV has unveiled final images of the Radio Hotel and Tower in upper Manhattan, marking the Dutch firm’s first completed building in the United States. Located in New York’s Washington Heights, and delivered for developer Youngwoo & Associates with Stonehill Taylor as architects of record, the scheme is described as a colorful “urban village” providing “much-needed hotel, office, and hospitality amenities” for the area.

Image © Ossip van Duivenbode

The 300 million-dollar mixed-use scheme is composed of a series of stacked blocks whose proportions were derived from the site’s surrounding buildings. The tower is further distinguished by its bold color scheme, which sees eight different colors of glazed brick; colors chosen in reference to the greens, yellows, blues, reds, and oranges of local shopfronts.

Color scheme diagram © MVRDV

Axonometric diagram © MVRDV

“Washington Heights has a unique and exciting character, very different from the other Manhattan nei...

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...

Fire erupts in a 42-story skyscraper in Changsha, China

2022-09-16T17:14:00-04:00

A skyscraper in the central Chinese city of Changsha was seriously damaged after a fire engulfed the 42-storey building. The fire in the China Telecom building was reported at 3.48pm. Thirty-six fire engines and 280 firefighters from 17 stations were sent to the blaze, according to the Hunan Fire Department. By 5pm the fire had been extinguished but firefighters continued rescue efforts.

Frightening videos are circulating on social media and appear to show the 22-year-old building almost completely burnt through its facade, although the extent of internal structural damage is not clear. It is also unknown what caused the fire, but the incident should highlight the safety concerns inherent in China’s recent decision to ban all construction of any structure totaling more than 500 meters (1,640 feet) in height following decades of unfettered tall building.

Although it opened as the city's record-holder, the 160-meter (525-foot) tall structure is now only the 46th tallest in Changsha, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

China-Telecom building in Changsha burns to the ground in 20 mins. pic.twitter.com/Xbrn73WAFw
— Dave (@davecoughlan80) September 16, 2022

No fatalities have been reported, although some initial sources indicated concern that deaths from the incident could have numbered in the hundreds.

New CTBUH study on tall mass timber gives us a look at the impacts of the material industry-wide

2022-05-26T13:37:00-04:00

A new study from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has revealed important statistics that provide a clearer picture of the present state of tall mass timber construction across the globe.

There are now a total of 66 completed mass timber projects worldwide totaling of least 8 stories or higher. Nearly two-thirds (64% or 54 buildings) of all projects are residential, while office buildings account for 19% (16 buildings), and the mixed-use typology currently makes up 14% (12 buildings). Including projects that are currently under construction or proposed, there were 139 total projects matching the audit’s criteria.

Illustration courtesy of CTBUH

In terms of height, 12 of the 20 tallest structures are located in Europe. Scandinavia had 4 of those, while the UK and Australia had 3 and 5 apiece, respectively. Additionally, the height of the world’s tallest timber building, now officially the soon-to-be-completed 25-story Ascent tower in Milwaukee, has tripled in jus...

China is once again cracking down on vanity architecture

2021-10-27T16:20:00-04:00

Without special approval, cities with populations of less than 3 million must not build skyscrapers taller than 150 metres (492.13 ft), and cities with larger populations must not construct buildings higher than 250 metres, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said on Tuesday.

China had previously imposed a ban on “oversized, xenocentric, and weird" architecture, including many copycat-type structure’s like the faux Eiffel Tower in the suburbs of Hangzhou. The previous ban set a limit of 500 meters. Violators of the rule “will be held accountable for life” according to the state’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

Building tall isn't necessarily better for the environment, according to new research

2021-08-19T13:05:00-04:00

Vertical living may not be the most environmentally friendly way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Colorado, Edinburgh Napier University, and the University of Cambridge. The study, published in the journal npj Urban Sustainability, suggests that low-rise, high-density cities are more environmentally friendly than their high-rise, high-density counterparts, though both are still more sustainable than low-rise, low-density sprawling suburbs.

The researchers arrived at their conclusion through an analysis of an urban environment’s life cycle GHG emissions (LCGEs), which include both embodied and operational emissions. By feeding 5,000 urban environment simulations into an algorithm, with varying height and densities, researchers concluded that taller urban environments significantly increase LCGEs (+154%), while low-density urban environments significantly increase land use (+142%).

The tea...

China bans construction of skyscrapers over 500 meters tall, citing safety concerns

2021-07-08T12:09:00-04:00

China’s National Development and Reform Commission has implemented an outright ban on the construction of buildings taller than 500 meters, following mounting safety concerns over the quality of some tall projects. The move is seen as a formal ratification of an in-principle ban on new buildings taller than 500 meters announced last year.

The ban follows concern over quality problems and safety hazards for tall buildings in China, stemming from inadequate oversight. In May, we reported on the evacuation of the 291-meter-tall SEG Plaza in Shenzhen, following concerns over mysterious wobbling and swaying felt within the building. The South China Morning Post also notes that the ban is fueled partly by an oversupply of office space in Chinese cities due to three decades of intense skyscraper construction.

Previously on Archinect: Panicked evacuation after mysterious wobbling is felt in Shenzhen skyscraper

In addition to a structural height cap of 500 meters on new buildings, local a...

The U.S. Embassy in London receives a 2020 Award of Excellence from Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

2021-01-21T17:19:00-05:00

The U.S. Embassy in London, designed by Philadelphia-based KieranTimberlake has been awarded a 2020 Award of Excellence by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) in the Best Tall Building Under 100 Meters category.

Previously on Archinect: Rachel Whiteread brings American Suburbia to London. Photo by Mike Bruce.

According to the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Overseas Building Operations (OBO), the building incorporates a number of suitable features including daylight-responsive lighting and shade controls, passive and active chilled beams, efficient mechanical systems, and combined heat and power generation. Photovoltaics and ground source heat pumps provide a means of renewable energy for the structure.

The building opened in December of 2017.

CTBUH develops online resources for those interested in mass timber use

2020-12-28T15:19:00-05:00

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) develops an online resource for those interested in mass timber use in tall building construction. Thanks to a USDA Forest Service grant, the CTBUH aimed to explore the work and research regarding mass timber and its involvement with tall buildings. The "Tiber Rising: Mass Timber Engagement Program" began in 2019 and was led by Daniel Safarik, Will Miranda, and the CTBUH.

Covered on Archinect: California adopts suite of high-rise timber regulations. Photo from the Tzannes-designed International House Sydney. Image © Ben Guthrie.

The CTBUH shares details of the program in a statement.

"What role will tall timber play in our quest for a future, lower-carbon built environment? CTBUH has committed to conducting three major research projects to provide guidance for the use of tall timber worldwide. The first of these projects, Timber Rising, has yielded four resources of interest to anyone involved in the design, classification, and ...

Students from six universities take the top prize at the 2020 CTBUH International Student Tall Building Design Competition

2020-11-24T13:50:00-05:00

In its 9th iteration, the annual CTBUH International Student Tall Building Design Competition highlights the best student work that explores the future of sustainable vertical urbanism.

The competition aims to invite students to submit their best project ideas as they explore a "new light on the meaning and value of tall buildings in modern society." The CTBUH asked participants to find new ways to engage with tall buildings and their relationship to urban settings in addition to exploring the cultural, physical, and environmental variables of the site.

Out of 250 entries, five finalists were selected. View the winning projects below.

1st Place: A Critical Approach to Vertical Graveyards
By: Nikita Klimenko, Yale University & Nikita Shpakov, Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics

A Critical Approach to Vertical Graveyards By: Nikita Klimenko, Yale University & Nikita Shpakov, Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics. Image courtesy of...

The case against skyscrapers

2020-07-15T13:46:00-04:00

[...] tall buildings are still sold on the basis that they are good for the environment. Mostly the argument is about density – if you pile a lot of homes or workplaces high on one spot, it is said, then you can use land and public transport more efficiently. There’s some truth in this, but you can also achieve high levels of density without going above 10 or 12 storeys.

The Observer's Rowan Moore dissects a list of the usual arguments in favor of ever taller buildings around the world and concludes that not much of it passes the reality test of urgent climate crisis, resource scarcity, wealth distribution, city planning, global pandemic, and ultimately, good design.

Rowan writes: "It has been deemed acceptable – by the building regulations, by architects, by the professional media – to rip untold tonnes of matter from the earth and to pump similar tonnes of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, in order to produce magical architectural devices that might, if all their wizardry were to function as promised, pay back some of their carbon debt some time in the next century. By when it might be too late."

What do you know about "Skinny Scrapers?"

2019-08-08T16:09:00-04:00

Rising high in the skies over New York City, Chicago, Hong Kong, and other great metropolises are tall towers that appear impossibly slender. Fueled mostly by market demand from wealthy clients who desire spectacular views, the design and construction of these superslim, generally residential skyscrapers also depend on engineering advances over recent decades in building materials and damping technologies as well as careful coordination by the design teams.

"Slender" towers are beginning to pop up all over the world, notably, in cities like New York, where real estate is scarce, but the desire to maximize ROI is strong. "The limited space for new buildings in places like New York City generally involves small parcels of land, which means that these new structures tend to be both tall and slender," explains WSP director of building structures, Silvian Marcus, in a recent story by Civil Engineering, the official magazine of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The structural acrobatics required for such structures, when coupled with the soaring real estate costs for a place like Manhattan, means that these slim buildings cater almost exclusively to the ultra-luxury market. These buildings often have "just a single apartment or condominium per floor," for example, with some penthouses selling "for as much as $90 million," according to the article.

What constitutes a bonafide "slender" building designation, exactly? According to New Y...