Archinect - News

China's projected tallest building reduces height, now ranking 5th tallest

2018-08-29T16:15:00-04:00

Greenland Wuhan Center, designed to surpass the Shanghai Tower and become China’s tallest building, will be falling short of its planned 636 metres (2086 feet) height, after the local government prescribed a 21 percent reduction in height for the central China supertall, according to an account in local media outlet the Paper.

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture won the competition back in 2010 to design China's tallest, and the world's 4th tallest, building. The supertall was originally designed to reach 126 floors, however construction halted in August last year stopping at the 96th floor.

The height reduction is due to safety concerns with the expansion of the city's air transit hub completed in 2017. The original 126 floors would now be in the path of planes approaching the Tianhe International Airport. The building will now only reach 1,640 feet making it China’s fifth-tallest.

Moshe Safdie's National Medal of Honor Museum is off to a rocky start

2018-07-13T14:45:00-04:00

It isn't often that architect Moshe Safdie is sent back to the drawing board. But that's exactly what happened earlier this year when his soaring vision for the National Medal of Honor Museum clashed with a local height ordinance. [...] planning commission in the Charleston suburb of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, unanimously denied its Safdie-concieved proposal because it would exceed by 75 feet the elevation limit on land zoned for no more than 50 feet.

"Ultimately, it all came down to a lack of communication," writes Jolee Edmondson. "What has transpired in Mount Pleasant underscores the importance of builders engaging in community outreach before submitting a formal plan for public property. Safdie's design was unveiled in 2015, but it was mainly confined to the foundation's website."

Keeping the Disneyland magic alive, by limiting neighbors' building heights

2015-12-14T17:47:00-05:00

The policy, limiting building heights of 75 to 240 feet within a half-mile radius of the Disneyland Resort, isn’t meant to keep outsiders from getting a peek at the rides and attractions. Rather, the Disney Cone is aimed at limiting views of the outside world for the 25 million-plus annual visitors who walk into the parks for a sense of escape and fantasy – just as Walt Disney had first envisioned on Disneyland’s opening day, more than 60 years ago.

As Manhattan grows supertaller, its shadows are getting superlonger

2015-01-19T13:11:00-05:00

But all New Yorkers are losing familiar vistas, and some are losing light and air, as supertall buildings sprout like beanstalks in midtown Manhattan. There are a dozen such “supertalls” – buildings of 1,000 feet or higher – in the construction or planning stages. And the buildings are not, as in Dubai or Shanghai’s Pudong district, being constructed where nothing else had stood. They are, instead, crowding into already dense neighbourhoods where light and air are at a premium [...].

Rescuing Washington's Skyline

2014-10-20T17:10:00-04:00

Clinging to antiquated urban notions, the District’s building height regulations imagine a skyline filled with spires, domes and minarets.

The debate over the Capital's skyline should not pit preservationists against contemporary designers. In fact, regulations that take advantage of the rooftop space would contribute to the monumental character of the city.

Hollywood Target building shut down during construction due to established height limits

2014-08-22T19:09:00-04:00

A judge has called for retail giant Target Corp. to stop work on a partly built shopping center in Hollywood, handing a stinging setback to a project championed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Superior Court Judge Richard L. Fruin Jr. sided with two community groups who said in separate lawsuits that the City Council should not have allowed Target to build a 74-foot-tall structure in a location where such projects cannot exceed 35 feet.

NYC architecture firm launches large balloon over the city to collect building height data

2014-04-21T14:59:00-04:00

The NYPD said the balloon would remain aloft for about nine hours Sunday in lower Manhattan and more than 13 hours Monday in Midtown. Police said the balloon will be about 800 feet in the air as it collects data for a private architecture firm conducting height surveys of Manhattan buildings.

Cities need Goldilocks housing density – not too high or low, but just right

2014-04-17T13:31:00-04:00

In so-called hot cities [...] battles are raging over height limits and urban density, all on the basis of two premises: 1) that building all these towers will increase the supply of housing and therefore reduce its costs; 2) that increasing density is the green, sustainable thing to do and that towers are the best way to do it. I am not sure that either is true.

Seattle may soon reach new heights

2012-02-20T20:43:33-05:00

At the urging of billionaire Paul Allen, planners are considering raising the height limit for new buildings in certain areas of the city