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A generation ago, the New York skyline was a global icon, shaped more or less like a suspension bridge stretched between the Empire State and the Twin Towers, making it possible to, say, pop out of some unfamiliar subway station, gaze up toward the clouds and orient oneself along the skyline’s north-south axis. Today, the skyline is vastly more complex, far-flung and difficult to picture, and it’s common to hear complaints that the city has lost its bearings. — The New York Times
The addition of Meganom and SLCE’s 860-foot 262 Fifth Avenue tower to New York’s accidental skyline also raises questions about legislating ‘view sheds’ and historic sightlines around the city, Michael Kimmelman writes. The city currently only has one protected vista overlooking the... View full entry
Woods Bagot has shared photos of their ongoing interior work inside SHoP’s supertall landmark The Brooklyn Tower (formerly known as 9 DeKalb), in anticipation of the record-breaking high-rise’s completion later this year. The project was led by Principal Krista Ninivaggi of Woods... View full entry
Now called Willis Tower, the building has been a trendsetter since its debut. After starting life as a headquarters for Sears, Roebuck & Co., the building saw its namesake tenant relocate to the suburbs. Along with the rest of downtown, it suffered other blows, including fears raised by the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the Great Recession. It’s always bounced back.
But the tower now faces what might be its biggest test.
— The Chicago Tribune
SOM won the commission from the Sears corporation in 1970 at a time when office parks and the desire to project a stronger image of America against the backdrop of the Vietnam War were separately prevailing forces in the AEC industry. Sears eventually sold the 110-story building, which was the... View full entry
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.
— Bloomberg
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... View full entry
Ken Griffin’s empire will occupy more than half of the office space at a new Manhattan skyscraper at 350 Park Ave., which is expected to be completed in 2032. [...]
Citadel confirmed plans to construct a tower at 350 Park Ave., a 1.7 million-square-foot (158,000 square-meter) building that would replace three properties in that area. The firm has been working with developers Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin Management Co.
— Bloomberg
Citadel's fund is managed by billionaire philanthropist Kenneth Griffin, whose 2018 donation to West Palm Beach, Florida's Norton Museum of Art earned him a special named wing also designed by Foster + Partners' New York office. If approved, the new 1,350-foot supertall 350 Park Avenue tower... View full entry
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
[...] 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 [...] — Towers Austin
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... View full entry
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.
— The Toronto Star
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... View full entry
Goettsch Partners has completed work on a new 1,322-foot-tall tower in Nanning, China, topped by a special feature they say sets the record for the world’s highest outdoor swimming pool. The new Guangxi China Resources Tower is a mixed-use design that incorporates a 336-room hotel, office... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... 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
The developer behind 432 Park Avenue on New York’s Billionaire’s Row has hit back at a lawsuit alleging design defects. As reported by The Guardian, LA-based CIM Group calls the claims within the lawsuit “vastly exaggerated” in their response filed this week to the New York state supreme... View full entry
Brooklyn’s first supertall skyscraper has officially topped out. 9 DeKalb, now officially known as The Brooklyn Tower, stands at 1,066 feet and comprises 93 stories. View this post on Instagram A post shared by JDS Development Group (@jdsdevelopmentgroup) Designed by SHoP Architects and... View full entry
