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[...] tall buildings are still sold on the basis that they are good for the environment. Mostly the argument is about density – if you pile a lot of homes or workplaces high on one spot, it is said, then you can use land and public transport more efficiently. There’s some truth in this, but you can also achieve high levels of density without going above 10 or 12 storeys. — The Guardian
The Observer's Rowan Moore dissects a list of the usual arguments in favor of ever taller buildings around the world and concludes that not much of it passes the reality test of urgent climate crisis, resource scarcity, wealth distribution, city planning, global pandemic, and ultimately, good... View full entry
A Gensler-designed 34-story residential tower currently under construction on Los Angeles's Westside is poised to become the area's first residential high-rise in nearly 40 years. Located west of the 405 Freeway, the 376-unit tower is being spearheaded by developers Douglas Emmett and... View full entry
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has published a list of "The 50 Most Influential Tall Buildings of the Last 50 Years" ahead of its 10th World Congress happening in Chicago next week. Celebrating the organization’s 50th anniversary this year, the high-profile roundup places... View full entry
Which is the world's most vertical city?
You might think of Hong Kong, given its famous skyscraper skyline, but by different measures of verticality other cities come out on top
— The Guardian
"According to building data research company Emporis," writes Matthew Keegan for the Guardian Cities series, "Seoul in South Korea has more high-rise buildings, with 16,359. Emporis defines a high-rise as a building at least 35m, or 12 storeys tall. In second place is Moscow, Russia, with... View full entry
The city recently enacted stricter zoning regulations to curb excessive mechanical spaces in residential buildings, the first in a series of steps geared toward eliminating zoning ambiguities exploited by developers.
[...]
Now, elected officials and preservationists are pushing the city to enact stern oversight on additional types of voids and other perceived zoning loopholes.
— Curbed NY
"Many neighborhood advocates felt the void amendment did not go far enough, and called for the change to recognize unenclosed voids—such as Rafael Viñoly Architects’ disputed 'condo on stilts' on the Upper East Side—as mechanical," writes Caroline Spivack for Curbed NY. "They charge... View full entry
The City Council voted to close a zoning loophole that has allowed developers to boost building heights with excessive mechanical spaces—but it’s only the first step in addressing the issue, say lawmakers. — Curbed NY
The zoning amendment will limit the city's notoriously over-sized mechanical spaces to 25-feet in height before additional space begins to eat into a project's allowable buildable area. New York City lawmakers are pushing to close other loopholes, as well, including rules impacting the use... View full entry
Two new OMA-designed residential towers at Greenpoint Landing, Brooklyn were unveiled this morning by Brookfield Properties and Park Tower Group, the developers behind the endeavor. The towers, in conjunction with a lower seven-story building, will offer 745 housing units and are expected to... View full entry
It has been exactly one year since the enormous eight-tower Raffles City Chongqing development announced that it set the world record for the highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers when it successfully hoisted the three middle segments of the ensemble's signature '9th horizontal... View full entry
A state lawmaker is gunning for more aggressive restrictions on the vast mechanical voids developers often abuse to boost their buildings’ heights as a “more robust” solution to the de Blasio administration’s recent zoning amendment. [...]
Current zoning exempts mechanical voids from a building’s floor-area ratio (FAR)—a given property’s square footage—and puts no height limits on those spaces.
— Curbed NY
"Luxury developers often exploit this loophole in residential towers to hike up the price for apartments on higher floors," explains Curbed NY one reasoning behind the newly introduced bill by New York State Assembly member Linda Rosenthal. 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
One Vanderbilt is officially the latest skyscraper in New York City to claim supertall status. Located at 41 East 42nd Street in Midtown East, the imminently 1,401-foot tall office building already soars above Grand Central Station, and new steel columns continue to sprout along the perimeter and core, having now punctured the 1,000-foot mark. — New York YIMBY
By passing the 300 m/984.3 ft mark, KPF-designed One Vanderbilt is now officially recognized as a supertall structure. Rendering of the completed 58-story tower. Image: KPF.The tower in Manhattan's Midtown East—vis-à-vis Grand Central Terminal and the Metlife Building it recently surpassed in... View full entry
Across Dubai myriad construction projects are underway in the lead up to World Expo 2020. But it turns out there's always room for one more. State-owned investment firm Dubai Holding has released details of a huge post-expo construction mega-project, which will include a 1,804 feet (550-meter) high tower -- taller than One World Trade Center in New York.
The tower, called Burj Jumeira, is situated in the Al Sufouh area of Dubai close to the Burj Al Arab.
— CNN
Image: Dubai HoldingIt's been a few weeks since the last announcement of another megaproject in Dubai, so here's finally a new one: Burj Jumeira is envisioned to become an oval-shaped, 1,804 ft/550 m supertall skyscraper with a flamboyant facade that is covered in a digital display, enabling it to... View full entry
Standing as a symbol of the innovation and inclusiveness of the tech industry, Invicta, a mixed-use development, is set to redefine the public face of San Jose. The three tower development, which is designed by California-based Steinberg Hart and developed by Knowhere Holdings, was recently... View full entry
The long-awaited vision for the 2.2-acre site along the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, unveiled in the first community meeting for the project, is toned down a bit from the 2,000-foot-tall Spire plan that stirred emotions but never advanced beyond a 76-foot-deep foundation hole. The design, by One World Trade Center architect David Childs, includes a south tower rising 1,100 feet and an 850-foot north tower. — Chicago Tribune
Ever since work on Santiago Calatrava's 2,000-foot-tall Chicago Spire came to a halt in 2008 due to financial troubles, the city was left with a gaping hole in the ground rather than the nation's tallest building. Rendering: Related Midwest.A new proposal by Related Midwest for a pair of towers... View full entry
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill just revealed designs for a new mixed-use skyscraper in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, a rapidly growing metropolis with a population of nearly 10 million and host of the Asian Games in 2022. The 280-meter-tall, 54-story Hangzhou Wangchao Center makes a strong... View full entry
