17 October 2016

Megacities: Setting the Scene

Daniel Safarik, Shawn Ursini & Antony Wood; Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

The rise of the megacity presents unprecedented opportunities to understand the human urbanization phenomenon, and to observe the effects of multicore, polycentric cities growing together...

24 August 2015

World’s Highest Observation Decks

CTBUH Research

Perhaps no element of a tall building is more closely related to the pure pleasure of standing high in the sky and taking in the...

01 November 2013

Confronting the Question of Demolition or Renovation

Dario Trabucco & Fava Pablo, Università IUAV di Venezia

Crumbling façades, asbestos, and outdated elevators are often cited as reasons to tear down tall buildings and create new skyscrapers. However, renovating a tall building...

13 June 2013

The History of the European Skyscraper

Nathaniel Hollister, CTBUH

Due to the compact and historic nature of its cities, some unpopular designs, and an unfortunate association with public housing, Europe had historically been slow...

11 June 2013

Debating Tall: Limit Tall Buildings to the Outskirts of Historic Cities?

Phillippe Chaix, EPADESA; Sir Stuart Lipton, Chelsfield Partners

Tall building construction is on the rise in historic European cities. As economic pressures mount to build taller in the central city, we ask, should...

27 April 2012

Debating Tall: Is UNESCO Going Too Far?

Paul Finch, Architectural Review and UK Design Council; Marie-Noel Tournoux & Patricia Alberth, UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Controversy has erupted over development proposals in London and Liverpool in the UK, which UNESCO says will damage views of World Heritage sites. Critics counter...

01 March 2012

Developing Skyscraper Districts: La Défense

Maria Scicolone, L’Etablissement public d’aménagement de La Défense Seine Arche (EPADESA)

European cities chose to develop a purpose-built business district away from the city center. The paper discusses the origins of the development; the forces which...

27 January 2012

Debating Tall: A Supertall Future in the US?

Adrian Smith, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture; Paul Beitler, Beitler Real Estate Services LLC

In 1990, only 11 buildings in the world could be counted as a “supertall” (defined as a building over 300 meters tall), and all but...