Archinect - News

The Real Deal gets straight with Manhattan’s 'Leaning Tower of FiDi'

2023-03-13T11:43:00-04:00

You’ve heard of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but did you know New York has its very own leaning tower? Manhattan’s “Leaning Tower of FiDi,” developed by Fortis Property Group, has this dubious distinction: It is tilting by three inches to the north, and has been beset by numerous construction delays, disputes with lenders and more. How did this engineering blunder ever come to pass?

One Seaport (aka “161 Maiden Lane”) is now the subject of a contentious lawsuit between Fortis and the project’s construction engineer Pizzarotti. Pizzarotti claims the developers are at fault owing to shoddy preparatory work on its foundation, which left the tower at risk for catastrophic failures for portions of its facade, structural concrete, and even elevators.

Construction has since stalled out as various solutions are proffered. If it is ever actually completed, its 80 luxury units could be filled with tenants lured by yacht rental offers. A rather high-end incentive for the wealthy in a city where their opposites face their own daily risks caused by different forms of structural neglect and incompetence.

Zaha Hadid Foundation announces new leadership and museum effort

2022-03-07T20:14:00-05:00

The long-awaited inaugural phase of what will eventually serve as the future home of London’s Zaha Hadid Foundation (ZHF) is now set to go after the organization announced a new museum and research center initiative slated for two locations in the adopted hometown of its late namesake.

The two sites will be split between the former location of London’s Design Museum at Shad Thames, which was acquired by ZHF in 2013, and the studio’s longtime Clerkenwell home in Bowling Green Lane, which it vacated last year citing concerns over workspace limitations during COVID.

Together they will house a collection of more than 10,000 objects including paintings, sketches, furniture, fashion design, jewelry, models, and other media that are all either directly from or related to the life’s work of the first woman ever to win the Pritzker Prize.

Furthermore, the foundation announced the appoi...

Faulty foundation blamed for leaning 60-story One Seaport tower in Manhattan

2019-04-26T14:57:00-04:00

Construction at One Seaport, aka 161 Maiden Lane, has been noticeably paused for the past several months. [...] new reports have revealed the 670-foot-tall building is actually leaning three inches to the north, leading to a series of legal disputes between Fortis Property Group, LLC, the developer, and Pizzarotti LLC, the current contractor. The project is being designed by Hill West Architects while Groves & Co is serving as the interior designer.

"It remains unclear how this will affect the plans for 80 South Street directly next door," writes Michael Young for New York YIMBY about the unclear fate of the 670-foot-tall tower which structurally topped out last September. "There is a question of whether One Seaport should remain standing or be demolished for imposing a safety concern for the surrounding area and the possible construction of the adjacent supertall."

Leaning Tower of Pisa now actually a bit straighter

2018-11-26T13:39:00-05:00

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is known worldwide for its precarious tilt - but now experts have revealed it's going straight. The tower's Surveillance Group, which monitors restoration work, said the landmark is "stable and very slowly reducing its lean." The 57m (186ft) medieval monument has been straightened by 4cm (1.5in) over the past two decades, the team said. "It's as if it's had two centuries taken off its age," Professor Salvatore Settis explained.

Meanwhile in San Francisco, owners of the leaning Millennium Tower are far less eager to turn their tilting property into a tourist magnet.

Calatrava-designed Dubai Creek Tower completes massive concrete pile cap

2018-06-04T15:11:00-04:00

Concrete placement work for Dubai Creek Tower's pile cap has been completed two months ahead of schedule. A 20m-thick, multi-layered pile cap has been developed for the $1bn (AED3.67bn) Dubai Creek Tower, which is part of the 6km2 Dubai Creek Harbour master development. The pile covers and transfers the load to the foundation barrettes.

Image: Emaar Properties.

Up to 16,000 tons of steel reinforcement, reportedly twice the weight of the Eiffel Tower, have been buried in the sandy Dubai ground to support (what has been promised to become) the world's tallest tower at a yet to be disclosed height: the Dubai Creek Tower designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Construction stalled on 'world's tallest building', so locals made its foundation into a fish farm

2015-07-14T13:39:00-04:00

work stalled after concerns from regulators over the safety of the skyscraper and its environmental impact and funding. With no progress on the project in sight, villagers nearby have started to raise fish in its 2.6-hectare water-filled foundations [...] One villager started to raise fish in March and has invested over 20,000 yuan in his business. “I raise fish on the construction site. It is not in secret, neither have I ever been stopped”

Construction on the would-be world's tallest building, known as Sky City in Changsha, China, began in 2013, under leadership of Broad Sustainable Building. Sky City made headlines not only for its proposed record-breaking height, but for the speed at which it was to be completed – Broad Sustainable Building promised that using a signature method of pre-fabrication techniques, Sky City would be built in just nine months. Now way past that due date, Sky City's vacant foundations have been repurposed by local villagers as a fish farm.

Broad Sustainable Building, part of The Broad Group, is known for pushing tall, rapidly built structures in China – it previously built a 30-story hotel in 15 days, and "Mini Sky City", a 57-story tower built in 19 days. More about The Broad Group's prefabrication techniques can be found here and here.