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With a street frontage of just six metres, the Pencil Tower Hotel is barely wider than a terraced house. [...]
Planning documents for the $35.6 million hotel, which are on exhibition until February 2, describe the “improbably narrow” tower as a “skyscratcher” because it is too thin to be regarded as a skyscraper [...].
— The Sydney Morning Herald
The proposal for a 33-story new hotel tower in Sydney's Central Business District is catching attention for its ambitiously skinny proportions: designed by Sydney-based Durbach Block Jaggers Architects to stand 110 meters (361 feet) tall, the structure will occupy a narrow site that is only six... View full entry
Any visitor to New York over the past few years will have witnessed this curious new breed of pencil-thin tower. Poking up above the Manhattan skyline like etiolated beanpoles, they seem to defy the laws of both gravity and commercial sense. They stand like naked elevator shafts awaiting their floors, raw extrusions of capital piled up until it hits the clouds. — The Guardian
In his latest long-form piece, The Guardian architecture critic Oliver Wainwright shows how the advent of the new 'pencil tower' building type is rapidly transforming New York City's skyline, digs in the history of zoning laws, and explains how "air rights" allow (an abundance of) cash to buy a... 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
According to the architects, “The form of the skyscraper is inspired by a unique structural system that separates the building’s functioning core from its living spaces, creating expansive, unobstructed, column-free and [customizable] full-floor residences – an inventive design solution unprecedented in a New York high-rise.” — 6sqft
For their first U.S. project, Moscow-based architecture firm Meganom has designed a 1,001-foot-tall skinny supertall at 262 Fifth Avenue in Nomad.When complete, the residential tower will be the tallest building between the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center, and it will boast a... View full entry
[The tower proposed for 340 Flatbush Ave Ext.] will rise 1,000 feet tall, claiming the title of New York City’s tallest building outside of Manhattan, and giving Brooklyn its first legitimate supertall skyscraper...The residential component will span 466,000 square feet, and be divided amongst 550 units, with approximately 90 floors in total. There will also be 140,000 square feet of commercial development... — New York Yimby
According to New York Yimby, "SHoP’s tower will be a dramatic improvement for both the cityscape and the skyline. With slender proportions capped in pointed, Deco-tinged accents, the building will have a notable presence without overwhelming its surrounds..."Thoughts?More about towers on... View full entry
There's another project coming to Manhattan that's even thinner: 303–305 E. 44th Street, designed by Eran Chen of ODA Architecture.
At 47 feet wide, this one's the narrowest of the bunch. Developed by Triangle Assets, the tower will rise about 600 feet high, creating 115,000 square feet of residential space. [...]
The design for 305 E. 44th is predicated on a stack of volumes; nested between them are the project's signature amenities, private gardens.
— citylab.com
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/
Ever taller, ever thinner, the new condo towers racing skyward in Midtown Manhattan are breaking records for everything, including price. Sold for $95 million, the 96th floor of 432 Park Avenue will be the highest residence in the Western world. As shadows creep across Central Park, Paul Goldberger looks at the construction, architecture, and marketing of these super-luxury aeries, gauging their effect on the city’s future. — vanityfair.com
A forthcoming report from the Municipal Art Society, called “The Accidental Skyline,” bemoans what’s happening on 57th Street, absent New Yorkers’ input. It suggests any new tower casting a shadow over Central Park should require the approval of the City Planning Commission. That’s a plausible trigger for public oversight, dependent on city commissioners with backbone who understand design. — nytimes.com
The tower would have only been 697 feet until the developers bought Steinway Hall — a deal that allowed for the building’s height to double, but also gave the Landmarks Preservation Commission the final say.
The approval was a no brainer, members said.
“It represents the best of both worlds of new construction and design and historic preservation,” Commission Chairman Robert Tierney said Tuesday.
Fellow commissioner Fred Bland called the combo “daring and smart.”
— nydailynews.com
An alley between an old tenement block and a tower block in Warsaw, Poland, will be the location for the skinniest house in the world.
The four-storey home will have a bedroom, lounge, bathroom and kitchen, stretching back nearly 40ft, but instead of the traditional staircase, each floor will be accessed by a ladder.
It will take over from the world's current official narrowest house, The Wedge, on the island of Great Cumbrae.
— dailymail.co.uk
