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[...] a demolition application was filed for 270 Park Avenue, the current, but not for long headquarters of JPMorgan Chase. The filing is a pivotal step for the bank, which plans to replace the 1.5 million-square-foot Modernist tower with a 2.5 million square foot supertall skyscraper designed by Lord Norman Foster. — CityRealty
The clock is ticking for the midcentury modernist HQ of banking giant JPMorgan Chase: despite preservationist and environmental concerns, the fate of 270 Park Avenue appears sealed, and the 50-story structure is likely to become the world's tallest building ever to be intentionally demolished... View full entry
Developers of what’s posed to be the tallest building in Los Angeles and west of the Mississippi River are moving forward with their plans to transform the site of a Downtown hotel into a glittering 77-story hotel and condo tower. [...]
The neighborhood council’s approval, if given, would be taken into account by Los Angeles City Council committees as the project moves through the planning approval process.
— Curbed LA
First proposed last summer as a supertall Bunker Hill skyscraper that could take the crown of tallest building in Los Angeles and the western United States, the building was recently presented by a spokesperson of the Chinese development firm, Shenzhen New World Group, during a meeting of the... View full entry
The foundations for what could become Africa’s tallest building, a 390 metre tall tower in Egypt's new administrative capital, will be poured within days, according to the country's prime minister.
"Iconic Tower" is one of several Dubai-style mega projects being built in Egypt’s new administrative capital 45 kilometres east of Cairo. It is hoped that when completed it will stand as the tallest building in Africa [...].
— The National
The title of tallest building in Africa has not been successfully challenged since the 732-ft Carlton Centre opened in Johannesburg in 1973. Other African nations have vowed to bring home the crown with new tall buildings proposed or underway, like the 820-ft Bank of Africa Tower in Morocco, the... View full entry
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates just completed the 400-meter-tall China Resources Headquarters, now Shenzhen's third tallest building. The elegant skyscraper, which takes inspiration from the shape of the winter bamboo shoot, features a number of engineering marvels and impresses with a stunning... View full entry
Abu Dhabi, the Persian Gulf Emirate that’s the Chrysler Building’s majority owner, is considering a sale of the 77-story tower after about a decade of ownership, people with knowledge of the matter said Wednesday. Abu Dhabi Investment Council, the government’s sovereign wealth fund, paid $800 million for a 90 percent stake in 2008. — Bloomberg
Roughly ten years after changing ownership to an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, the iconic Chrysler Building is back on the market again. But what is a trophy worth?, asks Bloomberg. Gorgeous automobile-inspired facade details, symbols of a bygone industrial era. Image via Wikipedia.Strictly... View full entry
Last week, the final piece of the third and highest apex of Jean Nouvel’s first residential skyscraper was anchored and installed over Midtown. 53 West 53rd Street now stands 1,050 feet tall, and is currently the 7th-tallest skyscraper under construction in New York City. — New York YIMBY
If the introduction of 432 Park Avenue, the 1,300-foot-tall Rafael Viñoly and SLCE Architects-designed apartment tower wasn't a jarring enough addition to the New York skyline, the completion of a controversial second building will soon normalize the movement towards ultra-tall residential... View full entry
All sides in the Millennium Tower debacle appear to be nearing an agreement on a $100 million-plus fix to stop the 58-story high-rise from sinking further [...]
The latest plan calls for drilling piles into bedrock from the sidewalk on the building’s southwest corner. The proposal would be less extensive and intrusive than the plan floated in April, which called for drilling as many as 300 micro-piles to bedrock through the building’s concrete foundation.
— San Francisco Chronicle
UNStudio recently completed two impressive high-rise developments in Singapore, bringing the Amsterdam-based firm's portfolio of completed buildings in the Asian city state up to four: the 36-story Ardmore Residence tower (2013), Singapore University of Technology and Design campus (2015), and... View full entry
The new Mahanakhon SkyWalk, however, is a thrilling addition to Bangkok's roster of family-friendly tourist attractions.
Located at the top of Thailand's tallest completed building, King Power Mahanakhon, it's a 314-meter-high (1,030 feet) observation deck and rooftop bar that offers 360-degree views of Bangkok.
The terrifying bit comes in the form of a large glass floor, which juts out over the edge of the building.
— CNN
With the opening of its glass-floor observation deck high up above Bangkok's Silom/Sathon central business district the Büro Ole Scheeren-designed King Power MahaNakhon tower is now considered completed (construction of the main building concluded in 2016). Photo: Srirath Somsawat © Büro Ole... View full entry
Six people, including a pregnant woman, have plummeted 84 floors in an elevator inside one of Chicago’s tallest skyscrapers, only learning afterwards how far they had fallen. [...]
One of several cables holding the elevator broke and the car fell rapidly, landing somewhere near the 11th floor.
— The Guardian
Everyone's worst nightmare became a near fatal reality for six people trapped inside an elevator after falling 85 stories inside Chicago's iconic 875 North Michigan Avenue tower, formerly known as the John Hancock Center. According to the Chicago Fire Department, the rescue operation inside the... View full entry
[...] the second supertall to result from the Midtown East rezoning is moving forward, with JPMorgan Chase filing a text amendment with City Planning for a 1,400-foot tower on the site of 270 Park Avenue. Designed by Foster + Partners Architects, the plans also come with the first renderings of the 2.4 million square foot supertall, and massing diagrams that offer a look at what’s in store for New York City’s most central business district. — New York YIMBY
After announcing Foster + Partners as design architect for its new 270 Park Avenue HQ tower a few days ago, JPMorgan Chase has now filed a zoning text amendment with NYC's City Planning department. The document shows two options for a massive supertall tower to replace the current building from... View full entry
Now, his first Chicago skyscraper, Streeterville’s One Bennett Park, is nearing completion. [...]
“It has a very special site,” he said. “It will be a building that is memorable, I hope. I think it has already made an impression on the skyline. I would describe it as a building that has roots in the skyscrapers of New York in the 1920s and ‘30s, which people generally call Art Deco, but maybe that’s a kind of sloppy term.”
— WTTW
"There are a lot of architects who seem intent on entertaining other architects," Stern says in his WTTW interview. "I would like the respect of my peers, but I would like the public to embrace my buildings." Image: Robert A.M. Stern Architects Image: Robert A.M. Stern Architects View full entry
JMF Development Co. [...] hopes to construct a 53-story tower on the vacant, L-shaped lot which wraps the historic structure. [...]
Arquitectonica is designing the proposed 784-foot-tall glass-and-steel tower, which is highlighted by a collection of cantilevered, glass-bottom pools for residents on the building's upper levels. While some of the protrusions would extend over the Pershing Square Building, none would hover above the public right-of-way.
— Urbanize LA
Image: JMF Development Co., via urbanize.la.A rather dramatic example of the stacked-boxes scheme might go up at 5th and Hill, near Pershing Square, in Downtown Los Angeles soon. Designed by Arquitectonica, JMF Development Co. proposes the 53-story tower with its fiercely... View full entry
Idia Designs, an architectural design firm, has revealed some preliminary details on the chosen design of its New Administrative Capital’s landmark, the “Oblisco Capitale Tower,” which is deemed to surpass Dubai’s Burj Khalifa in stature, Invest-Gate reports.
“It is still a concept,” according to the company’s statement. However, some photos and videos were released, showcasing the tower’s features.
Idia notes that state-run El Nasr Housing and Development is the project’s developer.
— Invest-Gate
Not many specifics are known so far about the obelisk-shaped megatall tower concept Oblisco Capitale Tower by Cairo/Dubai-based firm IDIA.Design, but the promotional material hints at a structure taller than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, currently the world's tallest building. View this post on... View full entry
Local officials in Saint Petersburg, Russia have granted the RMJM-designed Lakhta Center Multifunctional Complex the authorization for commissioning of the facility after it passed final inspections this week. While the grand opening as Gazprom's new HQ is still another year out, the... View full entry
