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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 Atlantic
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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. — 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... View full entry
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. — Civil Engineering Magazine
"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... View full entry
The best things in life are free, but construction cranes still cost money, which has prompted an investor to sue the developers behind SHoP's 111 West 57th Street for failing to budget appropriately for the cost of cranes (among other things) for the super skinny tower, which is already way over... View full entry
That’s a lot of accolades for one building, but the SHoP Architects-designed tower at 111 West 57th Street is looking to sweep the supertall competition. Originally planned to rise 1,397 feet, the tower will now soar to 1,421 feet, surpassing 432 Park Avenue (the current tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere) by 24 feet, according to city records uncovered by Crain’s. It will also retain its title as the world’s slenderest tower. — http://www.6sqft.com/
