Yule Heibel's Library tagged skyscrapers →  View Popular, Search in Google

Ed Glaeser on development limits. (This fits in with the recent spate of interest in Vancouver around Market Urbanism, too.)
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The relationship between housing supply and affordability isn't just a matter of economic theory. A great deal of evidence links the supply of space with the cost of real estate. Simply put, the places that are expensive don't build a lot, and the places that build a lot aren't expensive. Perhaps a new 40-story building won't itself house any quirky, less profitable firms, but by providing new space, the building will ease pressure on the rest of the city. Price increases in gentrifying older areas will be muted because of new construction. Growth, not height restrictions and a fixed building stock, keeps space affordable and ensures that poorer people and less profitable firms can stay and help a thriving city remain successful and diverse. Height restrictions do increase light, and preservation does protect history, but we shouldn't pretend that these benefits come without a cost.
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This sentence, "Simply put, the places that are expensive don't build a lot, and the places that build a lot aren't expensive," applies very well to greenspace-eating suburban sprawl, too. It's cheap to build single-family homes for Victoria families on Langford's Bear Mountain or in the Cowichan Valley, but our city politicians (and NIMBY community organizations) continue to ensure that it's prohibitive (if not impossible) to develop (tall) buildings right downtown, where we have ridiculous height restrictions to go with a moribund economy and scores of empty storefronts. Further down in the article, Glaeser also notes: "One could quite plausibly argue that if members of the landmarks commission have decided that a building can be razed, then they should demand that its replacement be as tall as possible." This makes sense, and again, we don't do it (here), insisting that razed, empty parking lots in heritage-designated districts can only be built up according to severe height and density restrict

edward_glaeser skyscrapers urban_development urbanplanning density development market_urbanism

File under "inspiration":
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Over the past two years, the Brazilian artist has created a series of photographs of the facades of contemporary architectural gems from a skewed point of view. Looking straight up the surface of modern skyscrapers, [Bruno] Cals composes pictures that look more like surrealist landscapes than depictions of buildings.
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architecture photography skyscrapers flavorwire

Interesting interview with Kenneth Yeang on building green skyscrapers & cities.

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The industry must revolutionize the entire building cycle, says Mr. Yeang, "from the extraction of materials to make the building material...to [their] transportation, storage and delivery, to the design, construction and assembly of the building, to the...transportation and movement of people to and from the building." The goal is to build structures that not only have a minimal impact on the natural environment but also benefit the ecology of the site and the world's climate.
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kenneth_yeang skyscrapers cities green_buildings

Impressive-looking vertical farming on a 26-storey tower to be built in Singapore.

skyscrapers skyfarming kenneth_yeang

Photos & text about the planned 200 m. tall triangular skyscraper (called Le Projet Triangle) by Herzon and de Meuron, for the Porte de Versailles in Paris. Allegedly so slim that it will hardly cast a shadow, it will also incorporate solar and wind power components.

herzog_demeuron paris architecture starchitecture skyscrapers inhabitat

Nice article by Richard Rys about architecture critic Inga Saffron in Philadelphia. Ok, I know I can't be her, but I loved the article, if only because I wish I had the energy to dress like her -- my perennial jeans & t-shirt thing is wearing thin (literally). (Although I DO have a Pashmina shawl EXACTLY like the one she's wearing. Hmmm, maybe there's hope -- if only sartorial? -- for me yet!)

architecture critics inga_saffron journalists magazine philadelphia skyscrapers

- one of many pages on "Innovations for the Built Environment" conference coming up in London, Feb. 26-28/08. This page is from the "seminars" section, which lists many sessions over those 2 days. Other sections include links to the "exhibit," "attractions," "the arena," "conference," and more.

built_environment conference ecology energy london reference skyscrapers tall_buildings urbanism

Four and a half minute video of Santiago Calatrava's planned "Chicago Spire" (also called "Fordham Spire"), which will be the tallest residential building in the world. Looks beautiful -- as does Chicago.

architecture chicago cities santiago_calatrava skyscrapers video

architecture christopher_hume cities skyscrapers toronto urbanism urbanplanning

density knute_berger reference skyscrapers vancouver