And having a $100 million penthouse in a supertall with a view of everywhere has a cachet only money can buy. But ownership is supposedly an investment for wealthy buyers. To be profitable, developers have to sell units at an exorbitant price per square foot, which isn’t appealing to commercial tenants, who lease rather than buy. The logic is straightforward: buildable lots are fewer, smaller, and more expensive. Scarcity of large plots and escalating land prices forced developers to recalculate their business models. In recent decades, the evolving economics of building tall began to inf luence real-estate, financing, regulatory, and planning decisions. So why aim for the stratosphere? The short answer: Profit. While that problem can be reduced, the publicity has increased awareness of the drawbacks of living high on the hog. Now dampers have become an invisible amenity, after wine cellars and dog showers, as potential buyers begin to seek assurances that their lofty perches will not sway in the wind. (Hat trusses on top of each twin tower promised stiffness.) These dampers reduce unwanted vibrations by converting kinetic energy into heat. When the late Leslie Robertson, the structural engineer for Minoru Yamasaki’s 1,368-foot-tall World Trade Center (1973), found out that sway caused motion sickness for occupants of tall buildings, he and his team installed viscoelastic dampers between columns and floor trusses.
#THE DOWN SIDE SUPERTALL TOWER CREAKS CODE#
Residents there have complained of mechanical malfunctions and acoustical discomfort-creaking walls, whistling sounds-as well as swaying and even stalled elevators, all because of the wind.ĭampers are not required by code (although 432 has two) but are considered essential: super tall towers can sway as much 3 feet in on each side. The New York Times recently reported big problems and angry rich people at 432 Park Avenue, designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects and currently the tallest occupied residential building in the western hemisphere, according to the developers.
But in the past decade, residential towers have started to rise to staggering heights in Midtown Man hattan and other parts of the city-and the globe-but with repercussions. Historically, skyscrapers have been mostly commercial buildings, where companies lease space and build it out for their needs.
WHAT CAUSES billionaires to get dizzy in supertall and megatall towers? Is it the price tag or the side effect of dwelling so far off the ground? Is the public smirking about the correlation between price and altitude? Here is a deep backgrounder for those architects, urbanists, and the concerned public who wonder about the up and down sides of this race to the top of the world. Architectural Record - May 2021 COMMENTARY: The Way They SwayĪ Cliff Dweller’s Guide to Supertall Skinny Buildings
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