Brian Potter, of Construction Physics, recently tried to determine which cities build skyscrapers the fastest. Here’s how he went about that: Here are the results: And here’s one thing he had to say about them: Interestingly enough, the huge outlier in slow construction isn’t the… Read More
Hong Kong is known for having mysterious holes in many of its tall buildings. The Repulse Bay Hotel (pictured above) is one example. Completed in 1986, its hole is 16m wide by 24m tall. The reasoning for these holes is apparently twofold. They started because… Read More
Liz Diller of Diller Scofidio + Renfro was recently asked by designboom about how her firm approached the design of Fifteen Hudson Yards (the first residential tower in New York’s Hudson Yards). The firm had never designed a high-rise before. So while their typical approach would… Read More
There’s an old saying that we shape our buildings and environments and then they in turn shape us. Here is a fascinating research report about “the influence of physical elevation in buildings on risk preferences.” I discovered it through this MarketWatch article, which my friend John… Read More
David Chipperfield Architects has just won a design competition for the tallest building in Hamburg. It is set to rise 230 meters and look something like this: There’s a real elegance to its simplicity. It also feels like an appropriate pairing with the nearby Elbphilharmonie designed by… Read More
One of the pedestrian overpasses in Central has an exhibition running right now called Density 2.0. Here is a photo of one of the posters talking about Hong Kong’s typical “8-units-per-floor” tower plan. Noteworthy is the fact that the floor plates contemplate minimal tower separation… Read More
At the time of writing this post, it’s still 2015 – at least here in Toronto. But by the time you (subscribers) get this post in your inbox, it will be 2016. So happy new year! I am thrilled about getting this year started and… Read More
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat recently published an interesting report called, New York: The Ultimate Skyscraper Laboratory. The money shot is this image here: It is a timeline of all tall buildings (over 100 meters) completed in New York since 1908 when… Read More
I’ve written about the Ponte Tower in Johannesburg before. At 54 storeys, it is the tallest building in Africa. It’s located in Hillbrow, which is an inner city neighborhood known for its crime and poverty. In the 1970s when the tower was built, Hillbrow was… Read More
Urban Land Magazine recently published an interesting article on the Hudson Yards project in New York, which is the largest private real estate development project ever undertaken in the United States. Click here for the article. Thanks to my friend Evan Schlecker for passing it along. It’s… Read More
BRANDON DONNELLY 